hike riverside

First Hike at Harford Springs Reserve in Riverside

March 1, 2020 by Ole Leave a Comment

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

It was a nice day for a hike.

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

Our First Visit to Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park – Riverside

November 13, 2018 by Ole 1 Comment

We love to hike, but sometimes we’re more interested in exploring wide-open spaces than climbing to the top of a hill. Last Sunday, my wife and I planned to spend the day roaming the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve in Murrieta, but decided to stay local and visit the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park in Riverside instead.

While Sycamore Canyon is tucked in between homes and businesses, it is much larger than we expected. From myscamorecanyon.com:

The Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park is a large 1,500 acre public open space park that is one of eight protected, core reserves. Designated by the Riverside County Habitat Conservation Agency (RCHCA) for the Federally-listed endangered species Dipodomys stephensi, the Stephens’ kangaroo rat (SKR), the park serves as both a habitat and a recreational hub.

We went for a 3.4-mile hike and only explored a small part of the park.

Since this was our first trip, I checked the internet to find out where to go. I found this map on mysycamorecanyon.com:

We started at the main trail head near The Ameal Moore Nature Center on Central Ave. According to the website, this is the only entrance with a dedicated parking lot. The nature center didn’t have any maps to hand out, so the attendant suggested we use Google Maps to navigate. We didn’t use any maps, but used one of the higher peaks as our landmark since the trails aren’t marked. There are also no bathrooms or drinking fountains out on the trails.

The peak near the middle of the picture is the one we used as our landmark while hiking.

This is the view from a rock formation near the Sycamore Highlands Park. We look forward to going back on a clear day.

My wife enjoying the view.

Even though we didn’t go further into the park, we still found ourselves surrounded by nature.

We even made some new friends.

We hope to get on the other side of this ravine on a future trip.

This is the view from the peak we used as our landmark.

This is me standing at the top.

Nice day. We will be back.

Looking for more hiking spots in and around Riverside? Check out our list of Places to Hike in Riverside and Beyond. #hikeriverside

Sycamore Canyon Wilderness Park
400 Central Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507
mysycamorecanyon.com

Our hikes to the Temescal / Cajalco Tin Mines: Riverside / Corona

May 5, 2018 by Ole 5 Comments

Back in July 2017, my wife and I went for a short hike in the hills above La Sierra near Lake Mathews. When we got to the top of the first hill, we decided to abandon our planned hike and go in a different direction. A few miles later, we decided to see if we could make it to Corona Crossings. Six or seven miles later, we met our kids at Chick-fil-A for a well-deserved lunch.

Completely by accident, we ended up hiking through the site of the old Temescal / Cajalco tin mines.

I’ve been back out there a bunch of times since our first visit. Here are some pictures:

On our first hike, we found these burned-up cars in a clearing a few miles in from where we started on La Sierra. The cars are gone now, but this is a popular spot for illegal target shooting. I’ve walked through here three times when people were out shooting. Be careful if you venture through here.

I like stopping here for a moment to take in the view. There have been two recent fires in this area. The first picture is from July 2017 and the second is from April 2018.

On to the old tin mining site…

This is a picture from “about 1890” of the tin mining site from a Press Enterprise article:

I hiked back out there today to see if I could get a current picture from the same perspective:

According to a post on the History of Corona Facebook page (follow the link for a summary of the history of the tin mines), the tin mines closed in 1892. There are also a few old pictures attached to the post, including this old map of the site:

Here are some pictures of the remaining structures…

Reservoir?

Ore bin?

Smelter? By the way, there is now a big red bullseye (actually, a painting of a ladybug) on the large concrete structure in the middle of the picture. In addition to the clearing I mentioned above, people also use the tin mining site for illegal target practice. I’ve seen or heard people shooting out here a few times, so be careful.

There used to be a large structure at the top of this retaining wall.

You can see this retaining wall toward the bottom right of this picture posted on the History of Corona Facebook page:

If you walk up the steps, watch out for the barbed wire on the ground.

Looking down the steps.

Remnants of another structure.

The old Temescal / Cajalco tin mines in Corona, CA.

There are three fenced-off mine openings in the immediate area. Here are a few of them:

This old structure…

… appears to be one of the buildings near the right of this picture from Corona Public Library’s website:

I’m always on the lookout for wildlife when I go on my hikes, and was surprised to see this guy out at the tin mines back in November of last year.

Update: April 2020 – My wife and I also saw this guy or girl near one of the mines. We think it is a red diamond rattlesnake.

This hill is to the west of the tin mining site. Although I don’t know the actual name of the hill, I call it “Tin Hill”. The flag is a new addition that we noticed on a recent visit.

I hiked to the top of this hill back in November 2017. The side I climbed is covered in loose rock and I almost fell a few times. There is actually a path on the other side of the hill. Oops.

The view of the old tin mining site from the top of “Tin Hill”:

By the way, bring plenty of water. I let myself get in trouble once on a very hot day out here. Thankfully, a freak thunderstorm saved me.

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While looking at pictures from past visits to the old Temescal tin mines to share on my website, I was reminded of one of my scariest hikes. On 8/1/17, I solo hiked out to the tin mines on a crazy hot day… up to 107 degrees per my Garmin. I used up all of my water, had no shade, and eventually completely ran out of energy. As I sat on a hill dehydrated and completely out of gas, I was genuinely nervous. Thankfully, a thunderstorm came along and saved the day. The cool weather and rain gave me a much needed second wind. This hike changed my preparation. Now, I always carry more than enough water, energy gel or granola bars, an umbrella for shade and a cell phone charger in case I get stuck and need my phone for an emergency. #hikeriverside #riversideca #lakemathews #hikeinlandempire #hiking

A post shared by Kris (@krisinriverside) on Apr 29, 2018 at 8:21pm PDT

Looking for more hiking spots in and around Riverside? Check out our list of Places to Hike in Riverside and Beyond. #hikeriverside

Pumpkin Rock in Norco: Big & Orange, but Easy to Miss if You Don’t Know Where to Look

October 10, 2016 by Ole Leave a Comment

While waiting for my sons to start their next game on Saturday, I took a short drive around Norco, California to kill some time. I ended up taking a quick hike up to Pumpkin Rock.

According to Norco Parks and Rec meeting minutes, the rock has been painted as “a pumpkin for over 20 years with some slight variations”.

There was also some discussion in 2015 about the possibility of allowing the rock to be painted with different themes a few times each year. After further discussion by the Pumpkin Rock Sub-Committee, it seems that the rock will remain as a pumpkin:

Environmental documents state that the only thing allowed in the area of easement other than hiking is horses. When speaking with the Planning Director, it was stated that even painting a pumpkin is wrong to begin with; is should be natural. But because it has been painted for so long, we have accepted it. He strongly recommends we do not do anything to change that.

I didn’t set out to find Pumpkin Rock, so I was dressed for an afternoon of watching water polo. For the record, I don’t advise going on hikes (even small ones) in flip flops.

The route I took has two steep hills that have patches of very loose dirt. Although I made it up alright, I was slipping and sliding on the way down.

I think the Pumpkin was laughing at my poor choice in footwear.

I found the rock by driving around until I found a trail on Crestview Drive. I later realized that someone had tagged Pumpkin Rock on Google Maps.

Looking for more hiking spots in and around the Inland Empire? Check out our list of Places to Hike in Riverside and Beyond.

Our First Hike up to the UCR Big “C”

December 1, 2012 by Ole 3 Comments

Earlier this year we hiked up to the giant “M” that overlooks Moreno Valley on Box Springs Mountain. Last weekend we hiked up to the big UCR “C” that overlooks UCR and Riverside (also on Box Springs Mountain).

The trail is defined on Google maps, so just search for “The Big “C” Trail, 92507″ on maps.google.com if you are interested in finding the trail. If you decide to hike to the “C”, please be careful since you have to walk over an active railroad line.

Update 10/14/2015… Please see this warning from the city and university posted to Facebook on 10/13/2015 that fast-moving Metrolink trains will begin running on these tracks:

Also, make sure you bring enough water.

I think our hike up to the “M” was longer, but I remember it being a gradual climb with a few steep parts. The “C” hike seemed to be steeper and more challenging, or maybe I’m just in worse shape now than I was when we hiked up to the “M”. My kids had no problem making it up to the “C”, so that should probably tell me something. Actually, I saw a few younger and fitter people hiking up the trail on our way down who were doing their own share of huffing and puffing, so I don’t feel too bad.

The “C”, along with many of the rocks on the way up, is covered with graffiti. There was some trash, but not as much as I expected considering this is probably a place that some college students visit for extracurricular activities (if I had gone to college at UCR, I would have spent time up there). Of course, no trash would be better.

Here is an old picture of the “C” without the graffiti from UCR’s website:

The view is definitely worth the climb.

My size thirteens on the “C”…

A little history about the “C” from UCR’s website (retrieved 11/30/12):

August, 1955
The big “C” on Box Springs Mountain is made with cement and equipment donated by the E.L. Yeager Construction Co. Surveying work is done by students. At 132 feet long, it is the largest concrete block letter on record.

Looking for more hiking spots in and around the Inland Empire? Check out our list of Places to Hike in Riverside and Beyond. #hikeriverside