Aug 07 2008
Hiking at Palomar Mountain State Park
Palomar Mountain
Palomar Mountain is no doubt another quiet and scenic nature escape within the San Diego County. Close enough to both the ocean and the city, yet it feels a different world with its picture-perfect mountain scenery. Most of Palomar Mountain is a private land but there are several hiking trails managed by Palomar Mountain State Park and Cleveland National Forest.
The Hike: 1. Chimney Flats Trail- 2. Thunder Spring Trail – 3. Doane Valley Nature Trail – 4. Cedar Doane Trail- 5. Scott’s Cabin Trail and 6. Silver Crest Trail as ONE loop Trail.
Total combined hiking distance of the loop described above is approximately 6 miles with an elevation loss/gain of 1050 ft.
Parking for this hike is either at Silvercrest Picnic Area, which is beyond the State’s Park Entrance. There is a day use fee of $5.00 for cars to enter the park. Entering the park however by foot is free. There is a small free parking space less than a mile before the park’s entrance. You can find this free parking space on the wide shoulder on the right side of the road facing the entrance sign. To the right of this free parking space is a fire road that will lead to two trailheads, the Scott’s Cabin and Chimney Flats. You can take either of this two trails since they just form a loop. Or you can follow what we did.
Meadow of Ferns, along Chimney Flats Trail
From the fire road, we took the trail on our right first towards the Chimney Flats, you will pass a giant rock, or a boulder amidst the forest of pine. Then, we took the Thunder Springs Trail (we were not sure then that Upper Doane Trail will also lead us to the Doane Pond), to Doane Pond, to Doane Nature trail (you find the trail at the parking lot of the pond), back to Doane Pond. This first part of the hike is easy since it is mostly downhill, except a little uphill in Doane Nature trail. But just remember, that what goes down, also must climb up.
Doane Pond
Doane Pond is a neat little Pond, the oaks and pines around it provide a very cool atmosphere. We saw several people fishing on the pond. The pond is actually home to trout fishing in the park. There are several picnic tables near the pond, so this is a nice place to have some rest. There are no foods sold in Doane Pond or anywhere inside the Palomar Mountain State Park, so you must bring some foods (light for hiking) to help you recharge in your hike.
Going back up, we took the Cedar-Doane Trail to Scott’s Cabin. From Scott’s Cabin, we took the Silver Crest trail to the Silver Crest picnic area, another nice place to rest before ending the hike by continuing on the Silver Crest Trail which meanders a bit along the edge of a steep cliff towards Chimney Flats. But this time, we did not continue on Chimney Flats (first trail of our hike), instead we went back to the fire road which led us back to where we parked just outside of the Park’s entrance.
For more information, visit the Palomar Mountain State Park page: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=637
For some other hiking trail information on the web: http://www.palomarsummit.com/hiking/index.html
I hope you enjoy your visit to Palomar Mountain. That crisp smell of mountain air, not too far from the ocean, is surely a welcome break for San Diego living. And of course, we should not forget that in hiking, we have found a great tool to relieve stress and a very inexpensive and healthy way to enjoy life. 
Best Time to Hike: All year. But spring and fall is more colorful. Some days of winter, you may find yourself needing a snow shoe to trek in the park :).
Winter at Palomar Mountain
Difficulty: Moderate (if without snow).
