Mount Burnham is one of the highest peaks in the San Gabriel Mountains

San Gabriel Mountains

The San Gabriel Mountains Range is located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert, with Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 15 to the east...

. It is in the Sheep Mountain Wilderness

Sheep Mountain Wilderness

Sheep Mountain Wilderness is a wilderness area of in the Angeles National Forest located in Southern California. The US Congress passed the California Wilderness Act of 1984 which created the wilderness and added it to the National Wilderness Preservation System.Notable hiking in the area includes...

. It is named for Frederick Russell Burnham

Frederick Russell Burnham

Frederick Russell Burnham, DSO was an American scout and world traveling adventurer known for his service to the British Army in colonial Africa and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell, thus becoming one of the inspirations for the founding of the international Scouting Movement.Burnham...

 the famous American military scout who taught scoutcraft

Scoutcraft

Scoutcraft is a term used to cover a variety of woodcraft knowledge and skills required by people seeking to venture into wild country and sustain themselves independently. The term has been adopted by Scouting organizations to reflect skills and knowledge which are felt to be a core part of the...

 (then known as woodcraft) to Robert Baden-Powell

Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell

Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....

 and became one of the inspirations for the founding of the Boy Scouts

Scouting

Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....

. Mount Burnham was officially recognized by the USGS at a dedication ceremony in 1951.
It was original known as (West Twin) "North Baldy Mountain". The peak is within Los Angeles County, about 16 miles (26 km) north of Glendora

Glendora, California

Glendora is a municipality in Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. As of the 2010 census, the population of Glendora was 50,073....

, and 66 miles (106 km) from Los Angeles. In 1956, Mount Burnham was added to the list of Signature Summits by the Hundred Peaks Section of the Sierra Club

Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...

.

The 53 miles (85 km) long Silver Moccasin Trail

Silver Moccasin Trail

The Silver Moccasin Trail is a trail located in the San Gabriel Mountains, just northeast of Los Angeles. It begins at Chantry Flat Recreation Area above the city of Arcadia, California, traversing upward and down through several canyons and along the high ridges of the Angeles National Forest....

, a Boy Scout trail, connects the mountain with Mount Baden-Powell, Throop Peak

Throop Peak

Throop is a peak in the Angeles National Forest. The high peak provides views of both the Mojave Desert and the Los Angeles Basin all the way to the ocean. The peak was named for Amos G. Throop, founder of Caltech, formerly called Throop College.-Access:...

 and Mount Hawkins. The Pacific Crest Trail

Pacific Crest Trail

The Pacific Crest Trail is a long-distance mountain hiking and equestrian trail on the Western Seaboard of the United States. The southern terminus is at the California border with Mexico...

 follows the same route in this area.

Most of the forest on Mount Burnham and along the trail consist of plants native to the region. The peak is covered by limber pines

Limber Pine

The Limber Pine, Pinus flexilis, is a species of pine tree-the family Pinaceae that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States, Mexico, and Canada. It is also called Southwestern White Pine and Rocky Mountain White Pine...

 (Pinus flexilis), lodgepole

Lodgepole Pine

Lodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...

 (P. contorta), sugar pine

Sugar Pine

Pinus lambertiana, commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine, is the tallest and most massive pine, with the longest cones of any conifer...

 (P. lambertiana), and Jeffrey pine

Jeffrey Pine

The Jeffrey Pine, Pinus jeffreyi, named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey, is a North American pine related to Ponderosa Pine.-Distribution and habitat:...

 (P. jeffreyi). Other plants of note include Holodiscus microphyllus

Holodiscus discolor

Holodiscus discolor, commonly known as ocean spray, creambush or ironwood, is a shrub of western North America. It is common in the Pacific Northwest where it is found in both openings and the forest understory at low to moderate elevations.-Description:Holodiscus discolor is a fast-growing...

, Monardella cinerea

Monardella

Monardella is a genus of 28 species of annual and perennial plants native to western North America. They are grown for their highly aromatic foliage, which in some species is used for herbal teas...

, Eriogonum umbellatum

Eriogonum umbellatum

Eriogonum umbellatum is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common name sulphurflower buckwheat, or simply sulphur flower. It is native to western North America from California to Colorado to central Canada, where it is abundant and found in many habitats...

, Oreonana vestita, Cycladenia humilis

Cycladenia

Cycladenia humilis is the sole member of the monotypic genus Cycladenia. Known by the common name Sacramento waxydogbane, it is an uncommon plant native to the southwestern United States, especially California. It is found at some elevation in several mountain ranges in the region...

, and the rare, local yellow-flowered Peirson's lupine

Lupinus peirsonii

Lupinus peirsonii is a rare species of lupine known by the common names Peirson's lupine and long lupine. It is endemic to the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, California, where it grows in woodland and forest habitat. It is an erect, branching perennial herb growing 30 to 60...

 (Lupinus peirsonii). The area is occasionally visited by bighorn sheep

Bighorn Sheep

The bighorn sheep is a species of sheep in North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to , while the sheep themselves weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae...

 and a rare mountain lion.

Rocks in the area range in age from Pre-Cambrian (probable) igneous and metamorphics to Pre-Cretaceous metamorphics. The Vincent Thrust Fault, the oldest major fault in the range, dating to the Mesozoic, passes through the area.