Location: Riverside County, about 8 miles southeast of Idyllwild, 120 miles from Los Angeles

Maps

Nearby Peaks: Cone Peak, Pyramid Peak, Pine Mountain #2, Lion Peak

Distance: 8 miles round trip on trail and cross-country

Gain: 2000'

Time: 4-5 hours round trip

Rating: Class 1, moderate

Navigation: Moderate

Original: Ham Barhydt, May 1977

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 (5430').
• 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 you 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'.
• Leave the trail and go northeast through trees and brush to the summit.