Location: Riverside County, about 8 miles southeast of Idyllwild, 121 miles from Los Angeles

Maps

Auto Club: Riverside County

Forest Service: San Bernardino National Forest

USGS Topo: Palm View Peak 7½

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

Nearby Peaks: Palm View Peak, Pyramid Peak, Pine Mountain #2, Lion Peak

Distance: 11 miles round trip on trail and cross-country

Gain: 2900' total, 2000' out plus 900' on return

Time: 6-7 hours round trip

Rating: Class 2, strenuous

Original: Charlie Knapke, June 1993

DRIVING ROUTE 1

• Go south on I-215 to the Ramona Expressway. Turn left (east).
• Go east and then southeast on the Ramona Expressway until it ends at SR 74. Turn left (east).
• Go east on SR 74 to Mountain Center.
• Continue east on SR 74 for 8.7 miles to Morris Ranch Road on the left at a fire station. Turn left.
• Go north on Morris Ranch Road for 3.7 miles to an iron gate on the right with a sign "Cedar Springs Trail". Park off the pavement near this spot.

HIKING ROUTE 1

• From your parking spot, hike down the road to the trailhead (5340').
• Go through the gate. (There are several gates on this trail. Be sure to close each gate as you pass through it.) Immediately on the left is another gate. Ignore it. It is another access to the trail for equestrian riders in the area.
• Continue up the road past a water tank to another gate. The trail turns left just before the gate.
• Soon you come to another gate. Go through this gate. Here you leave the fences behind as this is the National Forest boundary.
• Continue up the road as it becomes a trail and it begins to climb until you come to another gate. This is not a boundary but is part of a cattle drift fence. This keeps range cattle out of selected sections of the National Forest.
• Continue up to a saddle at 6800'-. This is the junction of the Cedar Springs Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) on the Desert Divide.
• Turn left on the PCT and follow it northwest until you reach a point directly between Palm View Peak and elevation 7123'. This is the turnoff for Palm View Peak.
• Continue towards elevation 7123'. Just before you reach the high point on the trail there is a large grassy slope descending on your left (south). Go down through this area picking up the faint remains of a trail.
• Follow it as it goes into some trees and then swings right (west) to the center of the ridge. It soon becomes a large horse trail 10-12' wide.
• Follow this trail down until it passes through a gully just below the saddle north of Cone Peak.
• Leave the trail and go up the gully towards this saddle. As you approach the saddle it becomes brushy. Leave the gully and follow use trails on the left side of the gully.
• As you go over the ridge, turn left (south) and go up over some rocks. Here a well brushed-out route begins.
• Follow this south along the ridge. It soon goes off to the right side and then up to the summit.