Thunder Mountain Loop via Three Ts Trail
15.3 mi
Distance
6 hrs 56 min
Time
terrain
4,023 ft
Elev Gain
Overview
This is a difficult loop trail to Thunder Mountain in Cucamonga Wilderness.
This trail goes by Columbine Spring, Icehouse Saddle, Timber Mountain, Telegraph Peak, Manker Flat, and Icehouse Canyon Trailhead.
Sights to See
Rate this Hike
★★★★★
Solo day hiked 6/05/25 – Rode my bike up Mt Baldy Road at 2 AM to start this one and it was, by far, the hardest part of the day, although it meant cooler weather and only a few cars to deal with. Walking the last bit of Mt Baldy/San Antonio Falls roads to the Baldy Bowl trailhead was a good recovery stretch and erased my regret over opting for the steep uphill ride before the hike. I planned to do this 6 peak loop clockwise so that I could enjoy coming down scenic Icehouse Canyon in the early afternoon and it turned out to be a good choice. The Baldy Bowl Trail was in good shape all the way up with a few streams suitable for water filtering (marked on my gps track). I brought a 3L water bladder and another 1L bottle for the 22 mile loop but 1L and a filter would have been more than adequate for Baldy Bowl itself with the warm but not hot weather. The views off of West Baldy, Mt San Antonio and Mt Harwood were great, especially of Mt Baden-Powell to the northwest and Etiwanda-Cucamonga peaks to the southeast. The silhouettes of San Gorgonio and San Jacinto were easy to discern through the light haze. The only snow left was one sizeable patch holding out on Mt Harwood with a bighorn sheep track running through it. After going down Devil’s backbone to cross the Notch and then climbing back up on the 3 Ts trail, Thunder Mountain was a nice place to take a break with great views of the Baldy peaks and the Baldy Resort, but also providing a clear look at the work ahead to go up Telegraph. As usual, looking up the switchbacks at a towering summit makes things more ominous than they really are and the trek up Telegraph seemed to go by very quickly. After leaving Telegraph and heading to Timber Mountain, things warmed up a bit but not long after, a cool breeze started up and it was nice. Descending from Telegraph and contouring around Telegraph Wash to the Timber Mountain summit, the trail has a few minor slide/washout areas that require more careful footing but are not difficult to traverse (focusing on not stepping on hundreds of 2 inch lizards darting on the trail seemed like more work). Of the 6 peaks, Timber Mountain had the only summit register intact, most likely because it’s camouflaged quite well and not easily smashable. The trip down Icehouse Canyon was as nice as always with a few streams crossing the trail, downhill from Columbine Spring which was on the dry side. The shaded rocks next to Icehouse Creek were a great place to take one last break to filter some nice cold water before getting back to the trailhead. It was unexpected and a real plus to see the Baldy trails relatively trash free. Logged 20.8 mi /33.5 km & 7382 ft / 2250.0 m with Gaia
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Public Tracks
Hike the Three T’s Trail
The Three T's Trail hike is one of the more peaceful hikes in the Mt Baldy area. This loop trail starts at Icehouse Canyon, climbs to Icehouse Saddle, then hits Timber Mountain, Telegraph Peak, Thunder Mountain, and then descends down to Baldy Notch, Manker Flats, and back to Icehouse Canyon. It's a long hike, but a favorite for those avoiding crowds.
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