Little Cahuilla Mountain

Little Cahuilla Mountain is the lesser, but still worthy, companion of nearby Cahuilla Mountain near the town of Anza and the Cahuilla Indian reservation. It overlooks surrounding scrub land, with views of the Desert Divide where it tapers off into the Anza Borrego Desert, and HPS peaks Santa Rosa and the very prominent Toro Peak visible in the distance. It is usually hiked together with Cahuilla Mountain, with a short drive between them.

Cahuilla and Little Cahuilla Mountains are best known, however, for its connection to Helen Hunt Jackson’s famous 1884 novel Ramona. The area around the trailhead was the home of Ramona Lubo, believed to be the inspiration for the main character in the novel. The novel, which became wildly popular in the 1930s, is a tragic love story set in the rancho period which served to highlight the terrible plight of indigenous peoples, though in a somewhat romanticized way. The play adapted from the novel is performed every year in the Ramona Pageant in Hemet, and is a Southern California tradition.

Route 1 follows a brushy use trail that follows ridges to reach the peak from the northeast.