Chamise's dried flowers in russet red add another hue to the colorful scene. Baughman Spring's large, famous and beautiful cottonwood, recently trimmed way back, seems to be doing well, and growing again. Rabbitbrush, a late bloomer, begins to be seen as the road rises. At Mill Creek Summit, 4,910', the highest elevation on the Angeles Forest Highway, is another convenient rest stop with shade, restrooms and picnic tables. It is almost always cool and breezy up here.
Interpretive signs identify the plants.
There is also an informative sign about the Big Tujunga Canyon Auto Tour. Mill Creek Summit Station, called Tie Summit Station until the 1960s, is up the hill a little way. Tie Canyon got its name from the ties for construction of railroad tracks that were cut from the timber there. The view from the station towards Big Tujunga Canyon provides a good contrast to the one from Clear Creek Station. In this case, the stream does not follow a fault trace, and its path is more crooked and the ridges more intertwined.