Bonanza Peak

I almost wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to the trailhead. I drove my Corolla and there were a few times I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it all the way. The last two or so miles are rough gravel and there are some spots where the rocks are big and the ditches are bigger. I could hear the bottom of the car scrape a few times. But I made it. I’m fairly used to these kinds of road conditions so I felt okay handling it but if you don’t think you would be I would just recommend trying to find someone with an SUV or even just a crossover would be fine. But a small sedan or coupe is going to have a tougher go at it.

After this though the hike was great! There were a lot of very fragrant pine trees all along the trail and at the top. It was nice feeling like I was out of the desert for a little while. Everything I read said this trail was about 8 miles but by the time I made it to the top my watch said 5 miles. I did get off the trail a few times looking for the peak because I’d read the trail splits and I thought it’d be at 4 miles. So my trip may have been made a little longer by that. So I would count for about 10 miles but the middle four aren’t so bad because it’s relatively flat once you pass the tree line. The view was beautiful and I’d say this is a unique hike that probably doesn’t get traveled as much as the other popular ones. I only saw a handful of people while I was out there and most of them were on my way back down.