Directions to the Trailhead: From the 210 Freeway take the Michillinda Blvd. off-ramp and go north on Michillinda. The transition to Michillinda Blvd. is a little tricky, so pay attention. After about 1.2 miles turn right (east) at Grandview. Turn left (north) at the third street, Grove. Grove will dead-end at Bailey Canyon Park. Go through the gate and park in the parking lot. If the lot is full there is plenty of parking along Grove just before the park entrance. There is a restroom in the park.
Summary:
The “macho” hike is up the Mt. Wilson Trail and after going up a steep connector trail continues back down the Bailey Canyon Trail to the Bailey Canyon Park. This hike is 9.3 miles and 2800 feet elevation gain. Keep in mind that there won’t be any easy exit once the loop is started, except for turning around before the connector trail.
For the "mere mortal" hikers, the Bailey Canyon Trail has several options with different degrees of difficulty. The first is to hike up the Bailey Trail to Jones Peak. Round trip distance to the peak is 7.4 miles and 2400 feet elevation gain, not an easy hike either. It is steep, but the trail is in good condition.
A shorter option is to hike up 2.4 miles (one way) and 1350 feet elevation gain to the Old Cabin site. All that is left of the cabin are some low stone walls. It is shady there and a short trail leads down to the stream with lots of trees. The view from the trail going up is great with several good turn around spots if you don’t want to go as far as either of the above options.
The shortest option is to take the Canyon View Nature Trail, which goes to the falls. That trail branches off the Bailey Canyon Trail after .45 miles with a total distance to the falls one way from the Park of about .75 miles and 300 feet gain. Another short loop that could be combined with the Falls Trail is the Live Oak Nature Trail, which begins by crossing a bridge .3 miles from the Park.
The Hike:
Macho hike: We will walk .75 miles along Carter Avenue which takes us to the beginning of the Wilson Trail. We hike up the Wilson Trail 3.5 miles to the Connector Trail to Bailey Canyon. The Connector Trail starts up a streambed for a few hundred yards and then switchbacks up the slope about a mile and 720 feet gain to a junction where one could hike to the Mount Wilson Toll Road, but that is not our objective, we go left down the Bailey Canyon Trail. It is downhill most of the rest of the way to the trailhead at Bailey Canyon Park except for a jaunt up to Jones Peak.
For the others, the Bailey Canyon Trail starts at the NW corner of the parking lot, proceeding through the park and through a turnstile in the fence, then briefly follows a closed-off paved road. The road goes up the canyon past a debris dam on the right. The pavement ends here and at this point a bridge over the Bailey Canyon creek on the right leads to the Live Oak Nature Trail. The main trail continues straight going up and up with the various options discussed above.