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Location: San Bernardino County, about 13 miles north of Banning, 90 miles from Los Angeles

Maps

Auto Club: Los Angeles and Vicinity, San Bernardino Mountain Area

Forest Service: San Bernardino National Forest

USGS Topo: San Gorgonio Mountain 7½, Moonridge 7½

HPS: Route(s), waypoints and explanation of usage (Older version)

Nearby Peaks: Charlton Peak, Dobbs Peak, San Gorgonio Mountain

Distance: 15 miles round trip on trail and cross-country

Gain: 5360'

Time: 7-8 hours round trip

Rating: Class 1, strenuous

Original: Warren E. von Pertz, September 1968

DRIVING ROUTE 1

• Take I-10 east past San Bernardino to the Orange Street exit (SR 38).
• Go one block east, then go north (left) 0.5 mile to Lugonia Avenue. Turn right on SR 38 (east).
• Go 8.0 miles to the Mill Creek Ranger Station.
• Continue east on SR 38 about 5 miles to the Valley of the Falls Road on the right. Turn right.
• Drive 4.25 miles to the Big Falls parking area at the end of the road. Park here.

HIKING ROUTE 1

• From the parking area (6080'), hike past the locked gate on the initially paved road east for 1/2 mile to where the trail descends into the wash.
• Cross the wash and pick up the trail again on the north side.
• Hike up the trail to where it intersects the San Bernardino Peak Trail (1W07) at 11,240'.
• Turn left and hike about 1/2 mile to a saddle just northwest of elevation 11,171'.
• Leave the trail on the right and follow the ridge northwest another 1/2 mile to the summit.

Distance: 17 miles round trip on trail and cross-country

Gain: 4450'

Time: 8-9 hours round trip

Rating: Class 1, very strenuous

Original: Warren E. von Pertz, September 1968

DRIVING ROUTE 2

• Take I-10 east past San Bernardino to the Orange Street exit (SR 38).
• Go one block east, then go north (left) 0.5 mile to Lugonia Avenue. Turn right on SR 38 (east).
• Continue east on SR 38 about 26 miles to Jenks Lake Road on the right. Turn right (south).
• Continue to the signed South Fork Trailhead parking lot on the left. Park here.

HIKING ROUTE 2

• From the parking area (6850'), hike the South Fork Trail (1E04) past the old Poopout Hill trailhead to South Fork at Slushy Meadows where the Dry Lake Trail forks left (8200').
• Keep right on the South Fork Trail and continue to the fork to Dollar Lake (9520').
• Keep right again and continue to Dollar Lake Saddle (9960'), at a junction with the San Bernardino Peak Trail (1W07).
• Turn left on 1W07 and follow it south about 2 miles to a point where it crosses a ridge at about 10,880'.
• Leave the trail on the left and follow the ridge northeast about 1/4 mile up to the summit.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

There is water at High Meadow Spring Campground, 1 mile northwest of Dollar Lake Saddle, along trail 1W07. This is an excellent campsite for backpacking along this ridge.

Wilderness permits are required for all routes. They are issued at Mill Creek Ranger Station, 9 miles from Redlands on SR 38. Day use permits are self-issue on the day of the hike or by mail. Overnight permits must be acquired in person or by mail.

HISTORICAL NOTE

The peak was named for Willis Lynn Jepson, University of California botanist, who made a study of plant life in the San Bernardino Mountains about 1914. He was known for his books "Trees of California" (1923) and "Manual of the Flowering Plants of California" (1921). He was a charter member of the Sierra Club and a lifelong hiker.

History of Summit Signature

Climbing Archives

Please report any corrections or changes to the Mountain Records Chair.