Along the Santa Clara Divide Road, you’ll find two seasonal Forest Service campgrounds: Bandido Group Campground and Horse Flat Campground. The names have stuck over time, preserving the stories from the past that once took place in this area….

As early as the 1850s, ranchers enlisted the help of vaqueros to drive their starving cattle and thirsty sheep to the high-country pastures of Chilao and Horse Flat. At the same time, bandits found refuge in the rugged San Gabriel Mountains, using the remote flats as hideouts. These secluded areas proved perfect for moving stolen horses and cattle. The animals would be rebranded, fattened up, and then driven to mining camps, where livestock was in high demand. One notorious route, known as the “Horsethief Trail,” wound its way up Big Tujunga Canyon, through Alder Creek, and onto the pastures of Chilao and Horse Flats.

Among the most infamous of these bandits was Tiburcio Vasquez (1835-1875), a notorious Mexican outlaw who roamed the early California frontier. Vasquez was intimately familiar with the San Gabriels, with several hideouts scattered throughout the mountain range. His favorite seemed to be the Chilao-Horse Flats area, where the expansive pastures provided ample food for his stolen horses. The massive boulders of Mount Hillyer offered natural cover and protection in case the law was ever on his trail.

The man, the myth, the legend. Credit: California State Library

Bandido Group Campground

Bandido (Spanish for bandit) campground – Perhaps a nod to Tiburcio Vasquez. Open seasonally from early April to mid-November.  The campground accommodates groups as large as 60 campers, with 5 group camp areas. It is used frequently by equestrian groups, and offered by the forest service on a reservation basis.

Horse Flat Campground

A very popular seasonal US Forest Service campground with 26 campsites, known for the excellent granite bouldering adjacent to the campground. Campers, hikers, mountain bikers, climbers, horseback riders all flock to this area which include nearby Mount Hillyer Trail and Silver Moccasin National Recreation Trail

From the summit of Mt Hillyer. Credit: David Funk and Keng Watanalumlerd