Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

Trails

Have a Good Time – Have a Safe Time

Hiking Safety

Mountain lions are occasionally encountered in both parks. The following suggestions are based upon studies of mountain lion behavior.

- Stay calm if you come upon a lion. Talk firmly to it. Move slowly, never run away or turn your back on it. Do all you can to appear larger. Raise your arms, open your jacket if you are wearing one. Do not crouch or bend over. Do not approach a mountain lion, especially one that is feeding or with kittens. Most lions will avoid a confrontation; give them a way to escape. Contact the park Ranger if you see a mountain lion in the park.
- Always carry water with you when you go out for a hike.
- Always carry a park map with you when you go for a hike.
- Tell someone where you are going and when you plan on returning.

Mountain Biking Safety

All the fire roads are multi-use trails: users should be aware that they may encounter others and all users, particularly bicyclists, must anticipate this and yield to both hikers and horse back riders. Mountain Bikes are only allowed on trails in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park When riding in the park:

- Observe 15 mph speed limit
- Yield to all horses and hikers
- Downhill riders should yield to uphill riders
- When passing, signal your intentions before overtaking others
- Make sure you are on a legal trail. Pay close attention to the signs and maps.

Trail Updates

DISCLAIMER:

This Trails Report is compiled and written by Park volunteers. Although every effort is made to ensure its accuracy, no guarantee can be made. For the latest trail conditions, it is always prudent to check with park staff.

Cold Stream Trail

August 25, 2010 – Our Saturday trail crews worked on two other projects this past Saturday. One crew worked to clear overgrown Ceanothus on Cold Stream trail north of the Stonewall Peak trail. While this trail could still use some cleaning up, it is now in pretty good shape all the way up to CRHT at the Mine Road. The large “leaner” tree that is up over Cold Stream trail south of the CRHT is still presenting a minor problem.

Dyar Springs

August 25, 2010 – Equestrians will be glad to hear the Park’s Maintenance Department repaired the Dyar Springs horse drinker over the weekend. Some piping had worked loose and with replacement gaskets, all pipe connections were tightened. The feed line was adjusted to provide a slow steady stream to the drinker reservoir.

Harvey Moore Trail

August 25, 2010 – On Saturday, our TMU / MAU partners, Ron & Erin cleared the tree that has been blocking the Harvey Moore trail near the Dyar Springs trail. They also rode some of the trails in this area and everything seems to be clear for the moment.

Los Vaqueros Parking Lot

August 11, 2010 – We did some minor tree trimming at the Los Vaqueros parking lot. We’ve received some complaints about low hanging tree limbs that are preventing large campers and trailers from parking in a few spaces on the south side of the lot. We cleared out some dead limbs and otherwise did some very minor trimming to clean things up a bit. But we can’t go in and clear large limbs off of healthy trees. Only 2 parking spaces (possibly 3) are really affected by these trees and these spaces will easily accommodate smaller RVs and trucks. Folks with large trailers or RVs (especially ones with AC units on the roof) should park on the other side of the lot or otherwise stay clear of these spaces. The park asks that campers not take it upon themselves to cut live tree limbs.

Merrigan Fire Road

August 25, 2010 – A fallen oak limb was cleared off the north end of Merrigan Fire Road. We drove the entire length of this road today from the Hwy 79 gate to the Descanso parking lot and cleared encroaching brush and tree limbs from several areas. This fire road has some erosion damage to watch out for, but it is in overall good shape.

Middle Peak Fire Road

August 25, 2010 – Several fallen trees were cleared that were blocking the Middle Peak Fire Road. The fire road is now clear from the Milk Ranch Road junction up to Black Oak Trail – east fork.

Stonewall Peak Trail

August 25, 2010 – The other Saturday crew worked on clearing some overgrown Ceanothus. This trail is in overall good condition and is still recommended for a morning or afternoon hike from Paso Picacho. A Trail Condition Report was submitted for a downed tree blocking the “Back of Stonewall Peak trail”. This tree was cleared and this trail should now be clear for it’s entire length.

Sugar Pine Trail

August 25, 2010 – Last Wednesday, we were able to clear about 200 more feet of Sugar Pine trail. We are presently working on this trail from the junction with Middle Peak Fire Road and working down toward the Marty Minshall trail. We previously cleared approximately 1 mile of this trail coming up from the Marty Minshall and are slowly making progress downhill to where we stopped.

Upper Descanso Trail

August 11, 2010 – Cleared 5 downed trees and did some brushing on the lower section. We worked up to the point where the switchbacks start and the trail is in fairly good shape to that point. We haven’t received any further Trail Reports so we assume that the trail is in OK shape past this point. Poison Oak alert here. There are some patches of poison oak – a couple of them fairly large. They are off the trail and if you stay on the trail you should be OK. But keep an eye out for this if you are hiking.

West Mesa & Japacha Fire Roads

August 25, 2010 – The District heavy equipment crew continues its work on the fire roads. West Mesa fire road has been completed and they are now working on Japacha fire road. You can check out some of the work as you pass the Japacha fire road gate on Hwy 79. When work is completed on Japacha fire road, Fern Flat fire road will be worked on. The plan is to push back as much as possible the overgrown brush that is encroaching on Fern Flat. All these roads remain open for all permitted uses. If you are using the roads during the week, watch for the construction zones and heavy equipment.