Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

One-way hike from Black Canyon to Pamo Valley

Traverse pristine and isolated lands of the Cleveland National Forest near Ramona.

Arising on the west slope of the Volcan Mountains, Santa Ysabel Creek slides through Santa Ysabel Valley and soon enters the Lake Sutherland reservoir, northeast of Ramona. Once below the dam, water in the creek trickles (in fall) or tumbles (after winter rains) down a steep, rocky gorge and emerges upon the flatter terrain of Pamo Valley. The following one-way, mostly downhill 5-mile-long hike, on Cleveland National Forest lands, traverses this pristine and isolated region. You'll need to obtain and post a National Forest Adventure Pass on your car for the privilege of parking. Call 619-673-6180 or 760-788-0250 for information.

You may set up a car shuttle in advance this way: Leave one car at the finish (north of Ramona) along Pamo Road, 1.5 mile north of its crossing over Santa Ysabel Creek. Ride in the other vehicle to a point along Black Canyon Road just north of an old metal bridge at the intersection of Black Canyon Road and Sutherland Dam Road. (By enlisting a volunteer driver who will drop you off and later pick you up, you can avoid the car-shuttle procedure and save time and extra driving.)

Sponsored
Sponsored

At a point 200 yards north of the old metal bridge, you'll find a gated, descending road - the Santa Ysabel Truck Trail. Walk 0.3 mile down its deteriorating paved surface. This once was the entrance to the Black Canyon Campground, closed nearly two decades ago. At the bottom, the road fords Black Canyon and doubles back to contour along the north slope of the Santa Ysabel gorge, heading circuitously toward Pamo Valley. Step over or wade across the Black Canyon stream by way of the concrete ford (but not if the water is too deep and swift). Gradual ups and downs and many twists and turns on the truck trail ahead take you farther and farther away from Santa Ysabel Creek. Most of the time you're on sunless, south-facing slopes thickly grown with chamise and other drought-resistant forms of chaparral - fine if you're hiking this stretch in late fall through early spring but insufferably hot from late spring through early fall.

At 3.3 miles, a live-oak-shaded ravine spreads a dense pool of shade across the trail. Shortly thereafter, on a ridgeline at 3.5 miles, a road comes down-ridge from the right. It leads upward toward Black Mountain, a former fire-lookout site, nearly 6 miles away. Your course continues downhill to Pamo Road, a crooked 1.4 miles away, which is where the hike ends.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego's Uptown Planners challenged by renters from Vibrant Uptown

Two La Jolla planning groups fight for predominance
Next Article

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell

Arising on the west slope of the Volcan Mountains, Santa Ysabel Creek slides through Santa Ysabel Valley and soon enters the Lake Sutherland reservoir, northeast of Ramona. Once below the dam, water in the creek trickles (in fall) or tumbles (after winter rains) down a steep, rocky gorge and emerges upon the flatter terrain of Pamo Valley. The following one-way, mostly downhill 5-mile-long hike, on Cleveland National Forest lands, traverses this pristine and isolated region. You'll need to obtain and post a National Forest Adventure Pass on your car for the privilege of parking. Call 619-673-6180 or 760-788-0250 for information.

You may set up a car shuttle in advance this way: Leave one car at the finish (north of Ramona) along Pamo Road, 1.5 mile north of its crossing over Santa Ysabel Creek. Ride in the other vehicle to a point along Black Canyon Road just north of an old metal bridge at the intersection of Black Canyon Road and Sutherland Dam Road. (By enlisting a volunteer driver who will drop you off and later pick you up, you can avoid the car-shuttle procedure and save time and extra driving.)

Sponsored
Sponsored

At a point 200 yards north of the old metal bridge, you'll find a gated, descending road - the Santa Ysabel Truck Trail. Walk 0.3 mile down its deteriorating paved surface. This once was the entrance to the Black Canyon Campground, closed nearly two decades ago. At the bottom, the road fords Black Canyon and doubles back to contour along the north slope of the Santa Ysabel gorge, heading circuitously toward Pamo Valley. Step over or wade across the Black Canyon stream by way of the concrete ford (but not if the water is too deep and swift). Gradual ups and downs and many twists and turns on the truck trail ahead take you farther and farther away from Santa Ysabel Creek. Most of the time you're on sunless, south-facing slopes thickly grown with chamise and other drought-resistant forms of chaparral - fine if you're hiking this stretch in late fall through early spring but insufferably hot from late spring through early fall.

At 3.3 miles, a live-oak-shaded ravine spreads a dense pool of shade across the trail. Shortly thereafter, on a ridgeline at 3.5 miles, a road comes down-ridge from the right. It leads upward toward Black Mountain, a former fire-lookout site, nearly 6 miles away. Your course continues downhill to Pamo Road, a crooked 1.4 miles away, which is where the hike ends.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

How to Get Legal Assistance When Your Car Accident Insurance Claim is Denied?

Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.