The hook
On the desert edge of the San Gabriels, the San Andreas Fault has tilted whole slabs of sandstone up on end, and you can walk down into the jumbled bowl of them.
01Why it's worth it
The Punchbowl and Pinyon faults, offshoots of the San Andreas running right along here, squeezed and lifted layers of sandstone until they stood nearly vertical, then erosion stripped the softer ground away to leave a great tilted amphitheater of rock, striped and jagged and strange. It sits at forty-seven hundred feet where the Mojave's edge meets the pine country of the mountains, so the setting is half desert, half forest. A short loop drops from the nature center down into the bowl among the fins of rock; for more, the trail to the Devil's Chair follows the fault out to a railed perch over the formation. It's one of the most vivid places in the county to actually see the fault that made California doing its work.
02How to experience it
It's near Pearblossom on the north side of the San Gabriels, about six hours from the Bay and a bit over an hour from LA. There's a small nature center and a free short loop; the Devil's Chair is a longer out-and-back. Spring and fall are best, since it bakes in summer and can ice up in winter at this elevation. It pairs with Vasquez Rocks and the poppy fields out this way.