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

Mother offers grape-soda lupine and wine cup clarkia

Spectacular views of distant ridges and grasslands from this rolling plateau

Grape-soda lupine along the trail — it smells like grape soda!
Grape-soda lupine along the trail — it smells like grape soda!

Prior the 2003 Cedar Fire, the Cuyamaca Mountains in general, and this area in particular, had a beautiful forest of mature shady oaks and tall pines, with occasional openings of grassy meadows. The area is not what it was before the fire, but there is still much to see and experience in this large wilderness area. A visit provides an opportunity to see the forests’ remarkable level of recovery from the fire, though it is still a work in progress. Also, there are views of distant ridges and grasslands from this rolling plateau, perched on the flanks of Cuyamaca and Japacha peaks. In the spring you will find a spectacular array of wildflowers, including grape-soda lupine (yes, it does smell like grape soda), wine cup clarkia, splendid mariposa, yarrow, and scarlet larkspur.

Cross the highway from the parking area and find a locked gate crossing a dirt road leading up the hill from SR-79. This is the West Mesa Fire Road (Google Maps shows it as the Japacha Fire Road). There is a sign on the right for the West Side Trail, but it is not part of this hike. Go around the gate and continue up the fire road for 0.6 mile to its junction with the Fern Flat Fire Road. At this point you have completed the stem of the loop. Go either left or right to complete the loop, but this description recommends a right turn up the Fern Flat Fire Road where you will return to this point on the last leg of the hike.

View of Japacha Peak from the West Mesa Trail

Although evidence of the fire remains in the ghostly dead trees, they stand above the bright green of montane chaparral shrubs and grasses that now cover the hillsides. Periodically the trail passes through dense stands of tall whitethorn ceanothus or California lilac that appeared and have grown vigorously after and in response to the fire. Almost all of the pines were killed by the 2003 fire and are now either blackened or silver spears rising into the sky or fallen logs. Many interior live oaks were killed, but those that survived, though badly scarred, are now recovering. Seedling black oaks have appeared while fire casualties, with dead branches, have new growth sprouting from roots that survived the fire. Assisting this natural reforestation, the park managers have planted numerous pine seedlings, some of which are now several feet high.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Go northwest on the Fern Flat Fire Road for 0.8 mile, then find the single-track West Mesa Trail, branching off to the left, and take it. At this point you enter the designated wilderness area where mountain bikes are not permitted. The West Mesa Trail goes through grassy meadows, dense patches of chaparral, and recovering black and live oak forest. At 1.4 miles, pass the Burnt Pine Trail to Cuyamaca Peak on the right and continue straight ahead on the West Mesa Trail for another 1.5 miles. Pass the Arroyo Seco Trail junction and continue east along Airplane Ridge to the Monument Trail coming up from Green Valley. The West Mesa Trail takes a sharp left turn at this point, descending down to Japacha Creek.

You might consider a short but steep detour to the Airplane Monument off to the right that is a memorial for two aviators who were killed when their plane crashed here in 1922.

West Mesa Trail Map, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

Come back to the West Mesa Trail and descend another 0.2 mile into the dense riparian growth along Japacha Creek, with thickets of native azaleas, wild rose, and ferns under tall willows and sycamores. The trail goes northeast after it leaves the creek, following the contours of the canyon, but is 40 to 80 feet above it. In about half a mile, the trail will pass Japacha Spring on the right. This is another opportunity for a short detour, though the spring is now only a wet spot. Just ahead is the junction of the West Mesa Trail with the Japacha Fire Road, also on the right. Your path is straight ahead in a northeasterly direction on the trail now signed “West Mesa Fire Road.” In another mile will be the junction of the West Mesa Fire Road with the Fern Flat Fire Road, on your left. Continue down the West Mesa Fire Road to reach SR-79 and your parked vehicle.

WEST MESA LOOP HIKE — Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

Distance from downtown San Diego: 49 miles. Allow 55 minutes driving time (Cuyamaca Mountains). Directions: Take I-8 east and exit at SR-79/Japatul Valley Rd. Drive north about 10 miles on SR-79 to the signed “West Mesa Parking” on the right that serves other trails in addition to this one. If driving south from Julian it is 13.8 miles to the trailhead.

Hiking length: 6.9 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate. Elevation gain/loss of about 1000 feet. No facilities or drinking water. The fire roads that are part of this loop are open to mountain bikers, but much of this hike is on trails restricted to hikers and equestrians. Dogs are not permitted on any trails or unpaved fire roads. Best time for this hike is from October through June.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Tuna within 3-day range Back in the Counts

Mind the rockfish regulations
Next Article

Issa aide collaborates with Ukrainians

Carlsbad's Tracy Slepcevic, Warrior Mom, and her ties to RFK, Jr.
Grape-soda lupine along the trail — it smells like grape soda!
Grape-soda lupine along the trail — it smells like grape soda!

Prior the 2003 Cedar Fire, the Cuyamaca Mountains in general, and this area in particular, had a beautiful forest of mature shady oaks and tall pines, with occasional openings of grassy meadows. The area is not what it was before the fire, but there is still much to see and experience in this large wilderness area. A visit provides an opportunity to see the forests’ remarkable level of recovery from the fire, though it is still a work in progress. Also, there are views of distant ridges and grasslands from this rolling plateau, perched on the flanks of Cuyamaca and Japacha peaks. In the spring you will find a spectacular array of wildflowers, including grape-soda lupine (yes, it does smell like grape soda), wine cup clarkia, splendid mariposa, yarrow, and scarlet larkspur.

Cross the highway from the parking area and find a locked gate crossing a dirt road leading up the hill from SR-79. This is the West Mesa Fire Road (Google Maps shows it as the Japacha Fire Road). There is a sign on the right for the West Side Trail, but it is not part of this hike. Go around the gate and continue up the fire road for 0.6 mile to its junction with the Fern Flat Fire Road. At this point you have completed the stem of the loop. Go either left or right to complete the loop, but this description recommends a right turn up the Fern Flat Fire Road where you will return to this point on the last leg of the hike.

View of Japacha Peak from the West Mesa Trail

Although evidence of the fire remains in the ghostly dead trees, they stand above the bright green of montane chaparral shrubs and grasses that now cover the hillsides. Periodically the trail passes through dense stands of tall whitethorn ceanothus or California lilac that appeared and have grown vigorously after and in response to the fire. Almost all of the pines were killed by the 2003 fire and are now either blackened or silver spears rising into the sky or fallen logs. Many interior live oaks were killed, but those that survived, though badly scarred, are now recovering. Seedling black oaks have appeared while fire casualties, with dead branches, have new growth sprouting from roots that survived the fire. Assisting this natural reforestation, the park managers have planted numerous pine seedlings, some of which are now several feet high.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Go northwest on the Fern Flat Fire Road for 0.8 mile, then find the single-track West Mesa Trail, branching off to the left, and take it. At this point you enter the designated wilderness area where mountain bikes are not permitted. The West Mesa Trail goes through grassy meadows, dense patches of chaparral, and recovering black and live oak forest. At 1.4 miles, pass the Burnt Pine Trail to Cuyamaca Peak on the right and continue straight ahead on the West Mesa Trail for another 1.5 miles. Pass the Arroyo Seco Trail junction and continue east along Airplane Ridge to the Monument Trail coming up from Green Valley. The West Mesa Trail takes a sharp left turn at this point, descending down to Japacha Creek.

You might consider a short but steep detour to the Airplane Monument off to the right that is a memorial for two aviators who were killed when their plane crashed here in 1922.

West Mesa Trail Map, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

Come back to the West Mesa Trail and descend another 0.2 mile into the dense riparian growth along Japacha Creek, with thickets of native azaleas, wild rose, and ferns under tall willows and sycamores. The trail goes northeast after it leaves the creek, following the contours of the canyon, but is 40 to 80 feet above it. In about half a mile, the trail will pass Japacha Spring on the right. This is another opportunity for a short detour, though the spring is now only a wet spot. Just ahead is the junction of the West Mesa Trail with the Japacha Fire Road, also on the right. Your path is straight ahead in a northeasterly direction on the trail now signed “West Mesa Fire Road.” In another mile will be the junction of the West Mesa Fire Road with the Fern Flat Fire Road, on your left. Continue down the West Mesa Fire Road to reach SR-79 and your parked vehicle.

WEST MESA LOOP HIKE — Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

Distance from downtown San Diego: 49 miles. Allow 55 minutes driving time (Cuyamaca Mountains). Directions: Take I-8 east and exit at SR-79/Japatul Valley Rd. Drive north about 10 miles on SR-79 to the signed “West Mesa Parking” on the right that serves other trails in addition to this one. If driving south from Julian it is 13.8 miles to the trailhead.

Hiking length: 6.9 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate. Elevation gain/loss of about 1000 feet. No facilities or drinking water. The fire roads that are part of this loop are open to mountain bikers, but much of this hike is on trails restricted to hikers and equestrians. Dogs are not permitted on any trails or unpaved fire roads. Best time for this hike is from October through June.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Time’s up for Doubletime Recording Studio

Owner Jeff Forrest is trading El Cajon for Portugal
Next Article

For nutty pies at Pizza by Aromi in La Mesa

Sicilian cousins add to the Italian goodness they dish out around Lake Murray
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.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader