West Valley Hike
Mission Point via Bee Canyon Trail
December 16, 2020

Meet at 8:00 am

GPS Data:
Distance: 5.6 miles RT.
Elevation gain: 1,443 feet

Directions:   From west SFV, head east on the 118. Take the Balboa Blvd. off-ramp, then turn left  Head north on Balboa Blvd. for 2.25 miles. Turn left on Sesnon Blvd. Go 0.5 miles on Sesnon Blvd., then turn right into O'Melveny Park.  Park in the lot.  There are no restrooms.

Hike:  This is a very fun and challenging hike, with great views all along the way. The only problem is parking - you have to get there very early to find parking at the O' Melveney State Park, where the trail head is located.

The hike starts on the hard ball road at the base of O' Melveney Park and continues for about ½ mile through the park itself. Once you get to the actual trail going up, the road gives way to a narrower dirt trail that brings you into gulch in the center of a canyon. The scenery is beautiful and there is some shade nearby the stream. Once you get out of there and start the climb in earnest, however, there is little shade. The trail snakes around the backside of the hill and cuts sharply upwards for a good distance, then flattens out for a bit, only to continue up again even more sharply. There are several nice viewpoints along the initial part of the climb. Once you get to the top of the first hill, the trail flattens out for about ½ mile before you come into the most difficult part of the hike, the final two ascents. These portions offer the hiker multiple routes going up the nearly bald hillside. The final ascent to the summit offers two main options - the road going around the backside and up the finger and the more direct route, which scales straight up the steep hill to the top. The latter is more challenging, but the former is a bit longer. On the top of Mission Peak is an amazing view of the LA area and the adjacent mountains. There is also the Widowers Bench, a large rock pile that keeps getting added onto, and a monument. (Abridged from Robert Garnsey's review on AllTrails. June 30, 2020)

AllTrails Map: Mission Point via Bee Canyon Trail 


Updated:  2020-12-08