USE AT YOUR OWN RISK
Location: Riverside County, about 6 miles east-southeast of Idyllwild, 114 miles from Los Angeles
Maps
Auto Club | Riverside County, Los Angeles and Vicinity |
Forest Service | San Bernardino National Forest, San Jacinto Wilderness |
USGS Topos | Idyllwild 7½, Palm View Peak 7½ |
Official HPS Maps |
TPO file - Save to your computer then open with National Geographic TOPO! |
| Viewable JPG file - Approximately 840K |
| GPX file or Google Earth KML file to
download to GPS units and other map software (How to use GPX and KML files) |
| Routes as shown on
CalTopo using the above files (How to use CalTopo) |
Nearby Peaks: Spitler Peak
ROUTE 1
(USFS Adventure Pass may be required)
- Distance: 12 miles round trip on trail and a short, brushy cross-country segment
- Gain: 2700'
- Time: 6-7 hours round trip
- Rating: Class 1, moderate
- Navigation: Easy
Original: Ham Barhydt, May 1977
Note: Apache Peak together with Spitler Peak
by Route 1, Spitler Peak
Trail, is 13 miles round trip and 3200' gain.
DRIVING ROUTE 1
- Take I-10 or SR 60 east to SR 79 in Beaumont. Exit right (south) on SR
79.
- Drive 6.5 miles south, where SR 79 heads left to Gilman Hot Springs.
Do not exit here. Continue straight for 1.5 miles on Sanborn Avenue to
Ramona Expressway. Turn left (east).
- Drive 8.5 miles east and then southeast on the Ramona Expressway,
which acquires the name Mountain Avenue, until it ends at SR 74. Turn left
(east).
- Drive 15 miles east on SR 74 to Mountain Center (junction with
Idyllwild Highway - SR 243).
- Continue east on SR 74 for 3.5 miles to Apple Canyon Road (paved) on
the left. Turn left.
- Pass the entrance to the Hurkey Creek Campground on the left and
continue 2.6 miles to a large parking area on the right. Park here. This
is the parking area for the Spitler Peak Trail.
HIKING ROUTE 1
- The Spitler Peak Trail, 3E22, begins at a square post at the north end
of the parking area (4940').
- Hike 5 miles up the trail to where it meets
the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) at Apache-Spitler Saddle (6980').
- Turn left
(north) and follow the PCT 0.6 mile to a trail junction (7340') with a
side trail to Apache Spring heading right.
- Leave the PCT on the left side
at this junction, following a small gully northwest by the most convenient
paths until reaching a high saddle (7460') between the two summits of
Apache Peak.
- The register is located on the western, higher summit. Turn
left at the high saddle and scramble through easy brush and rocks to the
summit.
NOTE
Turning right at Apache-Spitler Saddle goes to Spitler
Peak, which would add 1 mile and 500' of gain to the round trip.