San Diego Hiking – San Diego County Trails

Cedar Creek Falls
3 mi RT / moderate; off Hwy 78

From Santa Ysabel on Hwy. 78, drive E 6 mi, turn right on Pine Hills Rd.
1.50 mi., bear right on Eagle Peak Rd.
1.25 bear right again (signs point to Eagle Peak Ranch)
Drive 8 mi. (dirt & paved) to Saddleback, 4 way junction.
Park & hike the fire road downhill for 1.25 mi.
At the fork, bear left & continue into the Cedar Creek bed
Some rock scrambling down to the swimming hole

Hot Springs Mountain
5.5 miles RT/ strenuous (elevation gain/loss =1,250 feet)
Near Warner Springs, 10 miles northeast of Lake Henshaw; Off Highway 79

From Temecula Interstate 15, take Highway 79 East to Warner Springs
Drive up Los Coyotes’ Indian Reservations main road, past the intersection of Middle Fork Borrego Palm Canyon (6.1 miles past the entrance gate )
Turn left (west) and drive up the valley on a sandy road to reach a saddle above the valley 2.2 mi. farther
At Nelson’s Camp, on the left side of the road, Park at the camp
Begin hiking southwest up along a small tributary stream that flows north & west into Agua Caliente Creek.
Follow an old Jeep trail up, gaining more than 500 feet in just over a mile.
At the top, you’ll meet a better road that runs up the south slope to Hot Springs Mountain
Turn left (west) on this road and climb another 1.6 miles along the ridge line to the tower.
Pass through dense forests of black oak, Coulter pine and white fir, and across meadows dotted in late spring with wildflowers.
Lookout tower, dilapidated and seemingly on its last leg, sits on the west shoulder of the mountain.
Go a bit higher on the ridge by following a faint trail through thick brush and around boulders to the true summit. A flat concrete platform caps the summit block.
option – Seven-mile dirt road going up the mountain’s southern slope (drive, hike or mountain bike)

Maps Mountains / San Diego Maps

• CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST MAP
• AGUA TIBIA Wilderness Map
• ANZA BORREGO DESERT MAP
• SAN DIEGO BACKCOUNTRY MAP (Tom Harrison)
• PCT Trail Maps
• PINE CREEK /HAUSER Wilderness Map

see also – San Diego Anza Borrego 4×4