Trail Review: Indian Truck Trail to Santiago Peak

Holy crap, this trail was tough. The 12 mile round trip hike is a strenuous full day hike that has both beautiful views and challenging grades. The scenery overlooking Corona is a gorgeous mountainous desert landscape, filled with rolling red hills and flat yellow planes, along with a chaparral forest twist. You also get swirling paths that seem like a beige paint against the vastly green mountain.

Directions from LA are fairly simple, you take the 91 East to the 15 South. On the 15 south, you take the Indian Truck Trail exit, turn left at the stoplight, turn right at the stop sign, turn in to some suburbs, and then you will arrive at the entrance

Here you can park your car, or you can drive up to any of the turnoffs along the path to park your car. The nice thing about this is that you can choose exactly how much of the trail you want to take on by foot. If you're a rugged hiker type, you can park your car at the entrance. If you're morbidly obese and want to get outdoors, you can drive to near the top and park your car there. Also, there is a Korean Christian meditation retreat center on the way up if that's your thing.

Now, I love doing hikes with friends, so I brought my friend Sam. He hadn't hiked in a while as well, so this was a challenge for the both of us. We actually found this place by mistake; initially we had intended to go on the Holy Jim Trail (which socalhiker.net has a very good article on), but Google Maps directed us to the truck trail by accident. Whoops.

The path is pretty mild for the first two miles, which makes for a very pleasant warm up for the rest of the hike. It is very very yellow, and for those who have a fear of such colors, should avoid this area

The middle of the path was agreed as the most enjoyable part. You ascend into chaparral forests, providing a nice canopy of trees for shade, and also has a dazzling array of shades of green. Those who have a fear of green should avoid this part

Before hitting the last portion of the trail, make sure to stop for a break where there are two white gates and a geological survey milestone. It is the first place where you can view both sides of the mountain. This spot may also serve a good end for hikers who want a mild hike, as it gets much more difficult beyond that point.

The last stretch of the trail, the Upper Holy Jim Trail, is the most physically demanding. I couldn't quite calculate how many feet of elevation you gain per mile, but my legs (and my soon torn ligament) were sore by the end of it.

The top is very rewarding. It gives you views of both Orange County and Corona, although not at the same time. There is a fence surrounding several communcation towers that prevent you from coming to the tippy top.

As the name states, if you decide not to get to the peak by foot, you can decide to get to the top using whatever vehicle you have. I saw SUVs, Imprezas, and dirt bikes wiz by as I was walking up. It is very well kept, and the road does not wash out during rains (not a concern considering that we're in a massive drought) and is wide and spacious. If you do decide to take your car be mindful of the hikers as it is their path as well as yours.