Hellman Wilderness Park, Whittier California

Hellman Wilderness Park

The Mariposa Trail is on of the several connected trails at this location. Pictured below it be accessed through the entrance at the north end of Greenleaf Avenue in Uptown Whittier past Beverly Blvd on the right hand side of the street you will notice a small parking area. On Beverly Blvd just a few blocks to the east is where you will find the entrance to the Turnbull Canyon trail, in Whittier CA.  

Mariposa Trail (looking South West) the small trail off the the left ahead is the Peppergrass Trail, its narrow!

This is the view looking back down where we came from. We took the Peppergrass Trail which was to the right of the Mariposa Trail, they met up at one point, but be careful when choosing paths. There are several hills and we thought we would choose the small trails to the side in order to avoid the steep hills. This wasn't the greatest choice with little ones as the smaller paths are narrow and there is a ravine off to the side with a steep drop. There are also bicyclists coming down most of these trails and when you are on a narrow path it can be dangerous fighting for space with the bikes that are traveling at high speeds. 

We reached the top of this trail and headed west onto Rattlesnake Ridge Trail. From this trail you can see the neighboring cemetery Rose Hills to the north, and the majestic peaks of the Buddhist Columbarium in Rose Hills. Which I didn't capture a pic of! Sorry my cameras battery died, but here is another pic of the hillsides near the Rattlesnake Ridge Trail.  

Rattlesnake Ridge Trail is an easy hike, straight across to the next trail we traveled which was Hellman Park Trail. This trails name is very accurate! It was like traveling down into Hell! Not a recommended path to take with children. It was getting dark and it had been a while since we seen other hikers. If we would have turned back and taken the Mariposa Trail back down it would have taken too long and I didn't want to get stuck out there in the dark with the kids. 

But I will never ever go back on the Hellman trail even on my own. Call me a wimp if you will, to each their own. I prefer nice hikes and enjoy the view, but I don't want to risk my life out there. The sign at the trail head from Rattlesnake Ridge to the Hellman Park Trail was missing, the pole was still there but the sign was gone. I should have printed out the map and taken it along, note to self! 

The trail on Hellman at one point is so steep it zig-zag's from left to right which helps, but its narrow and full of loose gravel and dirt, so its very slippery. So hike it at your own risk. 

Overall I would rate this as a 5 out of 5 view for the series of trails available in the area. We didn't see much wild life except for a few larger birds, maybe a Hawk or two. It was well worth the effort, just remember what I said about Hellman Park Trail! Next I will be posting about the connecting trail to the north of these series of trails, the Sycamore Canyon Trail. 

Top of Mariposa Trail, looking West.

As always get out there and have fun and remember to be safe...

Trail map:

http://www.habitatauthority.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/map-Sycamore_Hellman-2012.pdf