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

Hike, run, or bike to the summit of Sierra Peak high above Corona in the Santa Ana Mountains.

Wait for a late fall or winter storm to clear the air, then try this viewful trek to Sierra Peak, a rounded promontory anchoring the north end of the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange and Riverside Counties. The 14.5 miles of round-trip travel to the peak is long and tedious for hikers, challenging for runners, and somewhat less challenging for mountain bikers. The out-and-back route follows well-graded fire roads throughout and the climbing is quite gradual, though you end up gaining and losing a total of 3200 feet of elevation.

Around the winter solstice, an afternoon/evening hike to and from Sierra Peak can be very rewarding. Plan to reach the peak in time to watch the sun drop into the Pacific (before 5 p.m. from early November to early January). Then stroll back down under the stars, arriving at your car before 8 p.m. Nights lit by a full or nearly full moon are best; otherwise, the glare of the city lights below makes it hard to see the ground underfoot. Don't forget extra warm clothes and a flashlight.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Geologically, this is an interesting area. About two miles up from the trailhead, you'll cross the Elsinore Fault zone, with crumbly 150-million-year-old metavolcanic rock to the southwest and colorfully banded marine sedimentary rocks half that age to the northeast. Near Sierra Peak are some nice exposures of sandstone with embedded cobbles.

To reach the trailhead, take the Lincoln Avenue exit from the Riverside Freeway (Highway 91) in Corona and drive three miles south to Chase Drive. Turn right on Chase, then turn left where Skyline Drive branches south. Pull up and park near a massive gate (probably closed) designed to keep vehicles out.

Bypass the gate, and continue up the road on your own power. After the first mile, the road swings back away and up from the mouth of Tin Mine Canyon, once a target-shooting area but now mercifully quiet. Soon, views open up of nearby Corona and more distant Riverside and San Bernardino, backed up by the towering summits of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains. In the carpetlike orange groves below, new subdivisions seem to push and leapfrog along.

Oak Flat, 4.8 miles from the gate, is marked by grassland dotted with a few oaks and a radio communications complex. At the road junction turn right (Black Star Canyon Road goes left, south) and continue along the main divide of the Santa Anas toward Sierra Peak, the antenna-bristling summit to the north. On top there's a great view of the Chino Hills and Pomona Valley to the north, the broad trough of Santa Ana Canyon to the west, and endless miles of L.A. Basin suburbia stretching toward the Pacific Ocean.

For more information, call the Cleveland National Forest, Trabuco Ranger District office in Corona: 909-736-1811.

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

Croome Brothers Trio, Jack Tempchin, Ricky, Swami & the Bed Of Nails, Kahlil Nash

Acoustic and electric in Del Mar, La Jolla, Little Italy, and City Heights
Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches

Wait for a late fall or winter storm to clear the air, then try this viewful trek to Sierra Peak, a rounded promontory anchoring the north end of the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange and Riverside Counties. The 14.5 miles of round-trip travel to the peak is long and tedious for hikers, challenging for runners, and somewhat less challenging for mountain bikers. The out-and-back route follows well-graded fire roads throughout and the climbing is quite gradual, though you end up gaining and losing a total of 3200 feet of elevation.

Around the winter solstice, an afternoon/evening hike to and from Sierra Peak can be very rewarding. Plan to reach the peak in time to watch the sun drop into the Pacific (before 5 p.m. from early November to early January). Then stroll back down under the stars, arriving at your car before 8 p.m. Nights lit by a full or nearly full moon are best; otherwise, the glare of the city lights below makes it hard to see the ground underfoot. Don't forget extra warm clothes and a flashlight.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Geologically, this is an interesting area. About two miles up from the trailhead, you'll cross the Elsinore Fault zone, with crumbly 150-million-year-old metavolcanic rock to the southwest and colorfully banded marine sedimentary rocks half that age to the northeast. Near Sierra Peak are some nice exposures of sandstone with embedded cobbles.

To reach the trailhead, take the Lincoln Avenue exit from the Riverside Freeway (Highway 91) in Corona and drive three miles south to Chase Drive. Turn right on Chase, then turn left where Skyline Drive branches south. Pull up and park near a massive gate (probably closed) designed to keep vehicles out.

Bypass the gate, and continue up the road on your own power. After the first mile, the road swings back away and up from the mouth of Tin Mine Canyon, once a target-shooting area but now mercifully quiet. Soon, views open up of nearby Corona and more distant Riverside and San Bernardino, backed up by the towering summits of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains. In the carpetlike orange groves below, new subdivisions seem to push and leapfrog along.

Oak Flat, 4.8 miles from the gate, is marked by grassland dotted with a few oaks and a radio communications complex. At the road junction turn right (Black Star Canyon Road goes left, south) and continue along the main divide of the Santa Anas toward Sierra Peak, the antenna-bristling summit to the north. On top there's a great view of the Chino Hills and Pomona Valley to the north, the broad trough of Santa Ana Canyon to the west, and endless miles of L.A. Basin suburbia stretching toward the Pacific Ocean.

For more information, call the Cleveland National Forest, Trabuco Ranger District office in Corona: 909-736-1811.

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

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Next Article

March is typically windy, Sage scents in the foothills

Butterflies may cross the county
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.