Hiking

First Hike at Harford Springs Reserve in Riverside

Harford Springs Reserve

We tried a new (to us) hiking spot yesterday near Lake Mathews in Riverside… Harford Springs Reserve. Here are a few pictures:

Harford Springs Reserve

We parked at a very small dirt parking lot at 21470 Gavilan Rd. in Perris CA, which is the address listed on the County’s website. Please note that there were no maps, so make sure you come prepared with a GPS device or a paper map. None of us had any cell service during our hike to see where we were, so we just winged it.

Harford Springs Reserve
Harford Springs Reserve

There are some trail markers, but the brush is too tall to get a good view of the trails up ahead.

Harford Springs Reserve
Harford Springs Reserve
Harford Springs Reserve
Harford Springs Reserve

If my google skills didn’t fail me, I think this orange stuff is called xanthoria parietina or common orange lichen. According to Wikipedia, a lichen “is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.”

If you know for sure what this is, please let me know in the comments.

Harford Springs Reserve

Because we didn’t have a map, we went old school and climbed to the highest spot so we could see the trails.

Harford Springs Reserve
Harford Springs Reserve
Harford Springs Reserve
Harford Springs Reserve
Harford Springs Reserve
Harford Springs Reserve

We went off trail for much of our hike and ended up finding this tiny cave.

Harford Springs Reserve
Harford Springs Reserve

It was a nice day for a hike.

Harford Springs Reserve

From the County’s website:

Harford Springs Reserve

Features:
Located at 21470 Gavilan Rd, Perris CA
Park hours 8AM- Sunset
2000 foot elevation
325 acres
Unique trails for all levels of hikers
Equestrian trails
Beautiful foliage and wildflowers

Anything to say about this post? Or UFOs? Or anything?