Hike Log

Santiago Peak

Trailhead:

Maple Springs and Harding Truck Trail

Miles:

Type of Hike:

Day hike

Trail Conditions:

Trail in good condition

ROAD:

Road recommended for high clearance only

Bugs:

No bugs

Snow:

Snow free

Link:

This was the least appealing of all of the peaks to me due to the reports of it being an off-road playground the entire way up. The hike is not that interesting compared to the other 10 options available and with the Holy Jim trail being closed down you are putting your life at danger with all of the off-road vehicles zooming by and breathing in all of the dust. More of a shout out to my vehicle which took me safely to the 10+ peaks prior during 2021. I decided to tick this final peak off the list of 11 peaks listed on the socal 6 pack of peaks challenge in my trusty little truck to the Santiago overlook parking lot and hiked the ~200 yards up the hill to the geographic marker. For those looking to take the easiest way up, a high clearance vehicle is recommended. My truck only has 2wd and it did fine with street tires. Some people had crazy rock-crawling rigs built to tackle Moab, but a Subaru/Rav4 type vehicle should be able to make it with careful driving and 4×4 is not necessary. A stock Jeep Wrangler or Tacoma/4Runner would eat this trail up for lunch and anything more than that is complete overkill. I would not enjoy hiking any of this trail with 4x4s due to the amount of dust. Most off-roaders were respectful and they all wave, but a few younger guys are zooming through the trails like a rally race. Glad I was able to make it to the summit in my old beater truck and hope to tackle this for real some day when the Holy Jim Trail opens back up.

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