This hike is erroneously classified as "Difficult". It is actually quite easy with a nice moderate elevation gain. Only the last .75 miles is a bit harder on the dirt road to Bertha Peak.
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Semi well maintained path high clearance recommended. Kidd Creek yellow post camping site and Buff Mesa camping site on this trail
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The trail is difficult to find as it’s not well maintained. We followed the app in order to guide us because it was difficult to find the trail. No great place to look out here. But we saw deer.
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This is a well-built trail. It climbs through open forest which afforded ample shade earlier in the day, but there were many sunny spots by noon. Still, there was plenty of shade to cool off.
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First half of the trail is easy walking surface
Second half the walking surface is difficult being made of fractured granite rocks
This a great 10 mile out and back hike
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Cool little hike, only came out to 3.6 miles for me. (Was supposed to be 4.6)
Pros: Good views of the mountains and high desert, good amount of wildlife (saw my first rattlesnake of the summer), fun boulder scrambling near the top. Interesting scenery, more like Joshua Tree or the high desert than the mountains.
Cons: Very exposed, little shade, hot. I started at 8 and probably should have started a little earlier. Trail isn’t well marked, glad I was following the GPS track. Have to do some light boulder scrambling in a few spots and most of the way to the final peak.
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One of my favorite hikes of all time. Relatively easy grade for most of the hike with a steep section at the last half mile or so.
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nice drive with the Grand kids we saw baby humming birds feeding at some wild flowers (tried for picture but wasn't fast enough)
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Nice Jeep ride. Quite dusty in June but great views. Could do this with 2wd vehicle if you have decent clearance.
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Great 4x4 trail to Big Bear. Lockers not required in summer. Great views
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Great trail. Really long. Be prepared for a workout. Lots of people, dogs, and bikes. The view at the top is amazing. Go all the way and don’t stop short.
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Great easy 4x4 trail with lots of fun off shoots. Definitely a trail for the family. Nice and long with good views.
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4/27/19. Wonderful hike up to Sugarloaf. Nice overcast in the morning and got hotter as the marine layer burned off. We were treated to great views of all the local mountains. There are two Sugarloafs, you first see two rock cairns denoting the trail to Old Sugarloaf which looks pretty demanding. If you continue about 1 more mile, you get to New Sugarload which is a much easier hike up. I've done the latter and am looking forward to the former another day. Watch out for bikes which use this for a downhill bomb from Blue Jay. Round trip is about 12.6 miles.
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This is my favorite way to do Santiago and Modjeska in the same day. I hate the road into Holy Jim, and this route is smooth pavement until Maple Springs Road turns to dirt where you park. From there I climb a trail that I've heard called the "Sierra Club Route to Modjeska Peak" which climbs the ridge crossing Maple Springs Road repeatedly until you reach the main divide road. Heading up the Main Divide Road to the right for 100 yards, you'll see a trail on the left which provides wonderful shade going up to Modjeska Peak. The trail continues and drops back down to the main divide road where you climb up to Santiago. Return via the same route. Great in spring when the wildflowers are out. My main problem is that the first part is a bit overgrown and could use some maintenance as it's a huge deep rut in some places.
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An awesome hike with lots to see and fun changes in surroundings. Did it in October, which had some surprising fall color. You’ll need a vehicle with good ground clearance for the last 2 miles of off road to the trail head. Use Google Maps to navigate to the TH which is north of the summit (look for Cahuilla Mountain Trail). Definitely one of the best hikes in the area.
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