Miles: 4.2 miles RT
Elevation Gain/Highest: 460ft/5900ft
Map: Caltopo or NatGeo 1012
Favorite Eats After Hike: I stopped for dinner at the Julian Beer Company.
Find out current conditions and as always, practice Leave No Trace. Pretty please.
Hike details:
Located in the Laguna Mountains, Garnet Peak via Penny Pines Interpretive Site is an easy day hike and sample of the Pacific Crest Trail in Southern California. This short trek offers expansive views that include Mt San Gorgonio and the San Jacinto (Avii Hanupach from the Mojave) Mountains!
From the trailhead (5440ft), it is .1 miles to the PCT and a turn left or north on its easy rolling grade. In about .6 miles there is nice overlook of the valley. At 1.5 miles from the trailhead you reach the junction for Garnet Peak (5480ft). From here, it is .6 miles to the summit. From here you can see across into the Sawtooth Mountains Wilderness Area and ass far as the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
My trip report:
12/14/2019
After visiting the Southern Terminus of the Pacific Crest Trail, I drove north in search of a short day hike to do on the PCT in the Laguna Mountains. There was a kiosk at a rest area and information center 23.5 miles in on the Sunrise Highway with a map and the Penny Pines Interpretive Site and Trailhead looked like an easy spot to connect. I used the bathrooms and topped off my water bottles and then continued north. I had already downloaded a general map of the area on Caltopo.
There were only a few other cars at the trailhead and I parked across from the interpretive site. The trail began behind monument itself through a wire fence marked Garnet Peak that had the PCT logo. There was a faint boot path at first so I knew it was a trail but pretty much the first .1 mile was sage brush whacking to meet the PCT. I am guessing not a lot of people take this side trail and go for the main Garnet Peak Trailhead a little further south.
Obviously once on the PCT, things were well maintained and open. It was wonderful to finally get to see in person a place I had only seen on PCT movies or in journals. I even got to experience some of those famous winds that buffer thru hikers.
I did pass by the junction for Garnet Peak first, choosing to continue a little bit further up the PCT. The trail switchbacked down a bit to meet the Garnet Peak Trail and then back up. After about a mile or so, where it looked like the trail would run close to the Sunrise Highway again, I turned around and walked back to the Garnet Peak side trail and up to the summit. There were a few others in the area but I had the top to myself for awhile to bask in the sun and enjoy the views before returning back the way I came.
It wasn’t until I returned back to the trailhead when I noticed a clam shell wedged into the wire at the gate. If you have walked un camino, you know it must have meant something special to someone…
Directions: To reach Garnet Peak via Penny Pines Interpretive Site, drive I-8 east from San Diego to Sunrise Highway, turn left or north. The Penny Pines Trailhead is at the 27.8 MP with small pullouts on either side of the road. The road continues to the small town of Julian on SR 79 and loops back to San Diego on 78 and 67. No pass is needed and there are no services.
Click here for more information about the Pacific Crest Trail.
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