Whitewater Preserve -- Canyon View Loop Trail

Hiked March 15, 2026. My thirteenth hike of the year. My twelfth hike was the previous day, which I'll blog, next.

The first two photos are from just south of the preserve boundary, along Whitewater Road.

Whitewater Preserve is owned and managed by the Wildlands Conservancy. It's also within the boundaries of the Sand to Snow National Monument. The monument has basically no development, however, so the only obvious access points are from private preserves such as this one (and also Mission Creek and Pioneertown Mountain Preserves, also managed by the Wildlands Conservancy, and the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, which is not.

I hiked the Canyon View Loop trail, which is listed as about 3.5 miles. I also wandered around the visitor center somewhat, as they were recognizing the Tenth Anniversary of the creation of Sand to Snow National Monument, so I walked somewhat more than 3.5 miles for the day.

My Alltrails recording shows about 5.3 miles and 700 feet of altitude change, but that includes about 3/4 of a mile of accidental recording, as I got in my car and started driving back towards the freeway.

This is a nice hike, provided the temperatures are not too high. The changing altitude and sun exposure angles along the trail meant there was a nice variety of wildflowers on this hike.

The lower altitudes had some very dense areas of brittlebush. The photo here was of some desert poppy. Lots of the other flowers I saw, I could not identify, but may, later. Well, except for the Indian paintbrush, which was only on the lower, south-facing slope, as I neared the flood plain, just prior to starting the floodplain part of my leg.

This was my first hike in Whitewater in about ten years (!). Sometimes, you just never manage to get back to a place, even if you enjoy it. Other times, there are acts of nature that close an area off.

This was a combination of the two. First, the former. Then, there were fires and floods. The area was closed for what seemed like several years. But they're open, again, so I was glad for the opportunity to return.

I hiked this trail because I was thinking I hadn't hiked it, before. Previous trips were to Red Dome, and further, to the overlook to the end of the watershed, where you look into the Mission Creek Preserve. I also hiked up Rainbow Rock Canyon, and in from the Cottonwood Trailhead access to the PCT.

I didn't recall hiking this particular hike, before, but on reviewing some of my earlier posts, and walking the path, I think I probably did pass this way, before. Definitely hiked the northern part, on the PCT, up a ways towards the Cottonwood trailhead, though I don't see it in my blog.

The physical appearance of the area has changed somewhat at the "micro" level. Mind you, the big picture is the same: Whitewater is a large flood plain, with sand, silt, and boulders washed down by occasional torrential floods coming off of Mount San Gorgonio. The main area of the Preserve is thus a broad, flat area, leveled with sand, gravel, and boulders, with water courses shifting regularly as it cuts through the debris.

There is evidence of recent major moving of piles of gravel, sand, and boulders by bulldozers or other heavy duty machinery, to build stable channels to funnel the runoff in preferred directions. Some barriers are built quite high, indicative of the need to control the periods of high water due to rain or snow runoff. No doubt, they do this to keep the water crossing the road at a known and reinforced location, and not at other areas, more vulnerable to flood damage.

In some areas, the vegetation has grown in quite different from my earlier visits. This is particularly true around the two palm trees at the northern end of the developed portion of Whitewater. That's the "micro" thing I noted. Those palm trees have long been a prominent landmark on the way to the PCT.

However, despite the changes, it's still a nice place to enjoy a spring wander in the Mojave Desert.

Informationally, dogs and drones are not permitted in the Preserve. Bikes, hunting, fishing, fires, or off-highway vehicles are also prohibited.

Chino Hills State Park - Upper Bane Ridge, Sidewinder, Aliso Canyon, Raptor Ridge, Bovidian Delight, and South Ridge Trails

Hiked March 1, 2026. Eleventh hike of the year, taken the day before my previous post, which was my twelfth of the year. My second visit to Chino Hills State Park in as many weeks. The trip last week was blogged, here. Previous hikes were linked inside that post.

The Chino Hills are still pleasantly green. The most common flowers are black mustard and wild radish, but there was a wider variety of flowers on this hike than what I saw last week, or at least greater densities of those other flowers. On the other hand, the snow cover around Mount San Antonio / Mount Baldy has *really* retreated!

The last time I came this way, the entrance from Sapphire Road was just curb parking, outside of a gate, that blocked a dirt road, that you walked up. Now, Bane Road is paved (albeit very narrow, in places). This isn't helped by the fact that groups of pedestrians often walk 4 or 5 abreast, more than filling entire lanes.

About 1/2 mile after turning on Bane Canyon Road, you reach the entry kiosk. Normal entrance costs $10, or $9 for seniors over age 62. Dogs are permitted on the paved road and parking areas, but not on the trails. The same with e-bikes. Mountain bikes and equestrians are permitted on trails. Flying of drones is not permitted.

The pavement continues for about another mile, ending in the camping area, where day parking is not generally permitted. A 1/4 mile or so before that is the equestrian / group camping area, where there is substantial parking. Between the equestrian area and the entry kiosk were about three overlook or picnic areas, each with room for only two or three vehicles.

I parked in the equestrian area. There are flush toilets and an outside water spigot there. The Upper Bane Ridge trail starts from above the restrooms, at the north end of the parking area.

It's a pretty long set of climbs to get to the ridge top. The trail is narrow in spots, at least when the grasses are tall and hug the trail, as they do, in late winter and early spring. The main flower on the lower areas were invasive black mustard and various wild radish.

The trail generally trends north or north-northwest. Some nice views of Mount San Antonio / Mount Baldy, beyond mustard blooms.

This was a Sunday, and the trail was moderately busy. Seems like most people walking up the pavement must have hiked elsewhere, however, and there were less than a dozen cars in the parking area, here.

This trail eventually takes you to some high tension powerline structures. There's a "trail" that shoots off to the left around here, but it is signed for SCE use, only. Another trail (Pomona Trail) goes down the right, just before the powerlines, towards the paved Bane Canyon Road (a trail parallels much of the road down there).

The upper Bane Canyon Road ends at the next fork. Going straight is the East Fence Line trail, which also loops down towards paved Bane Canyon Road. Left is the Sidewinder trail, which I took.

The Sidewinder trial was narrow on the way down, with lots of thistle. Even through my long pants, I could feel the point leaves, poking through.

I wanted to get to San Juan Hill, the highest point in the park, so I took the most direct route, as I looked at a two-dimenstional map. This may have led to some unnecesssary climbing and losing of altitude along the way. When I came to the Aliso Canyon Trail, I turned right, there, crossing a small, seasonal seep.

The next right was the Raptor Ridge trail, just over a mile after starting the Aliso Canyon trail. Followed Raptor Ridge for another mile, to where it ends, at "Five Points."

In addition to Raptor Ridge, the Telegraph Canyon Trail passes through Five Points, as does another trail, from the north. Heading straight through Five Points from Raptor Ridge, however, the trail becomes Bovinian Delight. This reminds me of a previous trip to Chino Hills State Park, when I ran into a cow. I don't think cow graze here, anymore.

About 1.25 mile from there to the South Ridge Trail. A left turn there leads you up to San Juan Hill, albeit with a slight diversion off the South Ridge Trail, for a more direct approach to the summit. Communications antenna and a concrete marker are at the top.

Spent about ten minutes snapping photos up there, then continued on down the South Ridge Trail for about three miles. Slight jig down near the campground to get from the South Ridge trail over to a spur trail that would take me back to the group camping parking area without needing to spend much time walking on the actual road.

10.44 miles for the day, and 1834 feet of vertical gain. Pretty long hike. Some nice flowers. Lots of green grass. It was a good day for hiking.

Wildflowers along I-10, North Palm Springs, Whitewater, and JOTR National Park

March 2, 2026. This is the more timely of my weekend activites, so I'll post it, now.

Mostly driving, with, at most, a few hundred yards of walking around the area west of Haugen-Lehmann Way (north of I-10), then a few hundred yards around the windmills of North Palm Springs (south of I-10, west of Indian Canyon Drive), then probably a few miles total of walking around in several areas of the southernmost four miles or so of Cottonwood Springs Road, both within Joshua Tree National Park, and in the BLM-administered areas south of the park.

I noticed brittlebush starting to bloom two weeks ago, and thought I'd see how the bloom has progressed. I'm not sure, but we may be at peak, which is good, but not great in terms of flower density. The top two brittlebush blooms were near Haugen-Lehmann Way, which I previously visited just under three years ago, during a superbloom.

Substantially less density on this trip, but it's over a month earlier on the calendar than the "superbloom" shots. Still, the rainfall and warmth was earlier this year than that year, so I would have figured the bloom would be accelerated, and I'm not expecting it will be as good, this year. Still, I may be in the area again in two weeks, so I may be making one more in-bloom trip up here. That'll tell me if we are past peak, or not.

My second stop was under the windmills of North Palm Springs.

I could see good coverage of desert dandelion from the freeway, and intended to get off at Indian Canyon Road, anyway. There's a Pilot truckstop there, which usually means decent gasoline prices, clean restrooms with running water, and easy availability of drinks and snacks. (I have noticed that the Costco in Palm Desert usually has significantly cheaper gas, but less convenient restrooms!). Stopped at a few spots along the road that parallels I-10, heading west from Indian Canyon Road.

My third series of stops was along Cottonwood Springs Road, from north of I-10 on up to the visitor center at Cottonwood Oasis Drive. I first stopped at the Bajada nature trail, but was somewhat disappointed by what I saw there (flower-wise). So I continued on to the visitor center.

The available personnel there seemed to have a surprising lack of interest in engaging me, so I just went with my suspicion that the best flowers were going to be heading back south, so that's what I did. Stopped at a dirt road, just south of the visitor center (Pinkham Canyon Road, I assume), then again at several pullouts along the way back, and past, the Bajada nature trail, including areas south of the park boundary. I did the most walking down at that last stop, although desert mallow shot was in the wash near Pinkham Canyon.

I'm pretty sure the rest of the shots I posted here were on the southernmost section I walked. Brittlebush was still the dominent flower, but there were nice patches of desert poppy and various lupine species, and additional desert dandelion. The phacelia shot may also have been from the wash, though.

These are Fremont pincushion, then phacelia, below. Not sure about the low white flowers, above. They look like a small daisy.

So plenty of specimen shots, and pretty good coverage of brittlebush, but not super-dense.

There were lots of high, thin clouds, so it was very comfortable, and definitely cooler than back in the L.A. Basin. As usual, just wandering in the open space was relaxing and enjoyable.

When off-trail, I tried to stick to the wash areas as much as possible, to limit my impact on the wildflowers. Some of the flowers are tiny and thin, so you really need to be careful not to step on anything. But the sandy wash bottoms are less dense. Otherwise, stepping on rocks would also be a good idea. And, if I'm near a developed trail, I'm much less likely to do any wandering, at all, because there's already going to be so much off-trail impacts that I don't want to add to that.

So, bottom line, not a "super" bloom in this area, but lots of blooming plants, and still cool enough to wander, comfortably.

Did not use Alltrails to measure my walks, since I knew most would be short, without significant altitude gain. But I'm pretty sure I got over three miles walking, total (possibly closer to five miles), so I'd count it as a hike, even if only in the aggregate. That makes it my twelfth hike of the year. I still need to blog my eleventh hike, which I took on March 1, 2026.

Telegraph and Gilman Trails, Chino Hills State Park, CA

This would appear to be my fifth trip to Chino Hills State Park, but first in over a dozen years. My last trip was from the 4721 Sapphire Road / Bane Canyon Road entrance, at the north end of the park. Note, at the time, this was just parking on a street curb, and walking up a dirt road. As I look at a map, now, I see that Bane Canyon Road is paved, and continues to an actual entrance gate, parking and overviews, and restroom facilities. Wow, what a change!

Another early trip started from the Rim Crest Entrance, at the southern end of the park. And I started a hike from the Discovery Center end, once before, way back in 2012 (before the Discovery Center opened). Additionally, I had an additional, shorter hike from the Sapphire Road entrance, which it appears I did not blog.

Today's destination was Gilman Peak, which is where I took the shots of the snow-covered San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains. To get there, started at the Discovery Center entrance, off of Carbon Canyon Road, just east of Carbon Canyon Regional Park. I took the Telegraph trail about 3.8 miles, then the Gilman trail north, about 1.2 miles, to the peak.

The photos are not in order of them being taken, so don't use them to follow along!

The Discovery Center is the formal visitor center for Chino Hills State Park, where there is paid parking. Parking is by the hour, or about ten dollars for all day. You could also park not too far away, in Carbon Canyon Regional Park, and walk an additional 100 yards to a 1/2 mile or so (depending on which lot in Carbon Canyon Park you use), but save five dollars or so.

On my return trip, by the way, as I neared the origin of my hike, a couple of younger hikers heading out asked me how far the trail was. I answered, honestly, that you could walk pretty much "forever," but at least ten miles on this trail, with various connections. Then they asked how far it was to a mountain top, and I said about five miles. This was about 20 minutes before the park closed, and I told them there's no way they could get there before dark. They continued walking.

At any rate, for my hike, the section on Telegraph trail is a slight incline, along a broad, dirt road. There are substantial hills on either side, which means you're shielded from sight or sound of city life. Because of the recent rains, the hills were green, punctuated by mustard blooms. There were also a few muddy spots, with pooled water, but none that completely blocked the road.

By contrast, I've walked here when the rolling hills were just brown and dead-looking, and not very pretty, at all. So this was nicer, and why I wanted to hike here now, in the first place.

The Gilman trail heads off to the left, dips ten feet or so into the canyon bottom, then climbs pretty steeply up towards Gilman Peak. Currently, its tightly bound by various plants, mostly mustard in the lower area, with lots of thistle leaves to scratch you legs. Kind of wish I had worn long pants.

No poison oak on the trail to Gilman, fortunately. I'm pretty sure it gets too dry on the hill in the summer for the poison oak to survive. Did see quite a bit along Telegraph trail, but that trail is so wide that poison oak is not an issue.

The climb was annoyingly long, mainly because I knew I was cutting things a little tight. I didn't start until about 1:30, leaving me 3 1/2 hours to get my hike in and then get my car out of the lot, and I wasn't sure ahead of time the actual distance I needed to travel. I had a rough estimate, by looking at a map, of course. I also knew I was heading uphill, so figured my return time would be somewhat less than my outbound leg. So, basically, if I took much more than 1:45 heading out, I might have to hustle on the return leg.

According to my Alltrails recording, I actually took about 1:45 of "moving" time to get to the top of Gilman Peak. Not sure how long of a stop to take pictures before the clock stopped, but, still, I figured I'd need to walk briskly on the return leg, but I did not need to run. And although I had an idea that I could continue over the peak and return via a different trail, if it turned out that trail was closed or too overgrown, I might not have had time to backtrack and get out the way I came, so I just returned the way I came. Or I might have had to bushwack, or climb a fence. Didn't want to risk that, so I returned the way I came.

As previously mentioned, the most common flower on this hike was the wild mustard. There were also a few spots with morning glory. Numerous bush sunflowers near the start, as well as some wishbone bush and desert chia.

Lots of thistle plants were growing along the trail up to Gilman, but very few had blooms, yet. Scattered blue dicks, and some decent patches of lupine as I neared the top, too.

Temperatures were comfortable, probably mid-70s. At these temperatures, things should stay green here for a while. Not sure if the other wildflowers will fill in more as we progress toward summer.

After my hike, I was too tired to make the short detour into Carbon Canyon Regional Park. There's a stand of coast redwoods in the park, which I didn't photograph the one time I was in there, and that was a dozen years ago, so they'd be a bit taller, now (like a foot or two, but, still!). At any rate, maybe one of these days I'll manage a return.

Tenth hike of the year, so I'm still slightly ahead of schedule for my "once a week" goal. Of course, after daylight savings, and into late spring and summer, the days get longer, and I can sneak an occasional weekday hike in there. But, for now, it's mostly just on my days off that I can hike, and I can't always count on that.

I forgot my hiking boots on this one, but most of the way, my athletic shoes were fine. It does get slick in spots, though. After rains, in fact, the park will close, because, like the Puente Hills, when it's muddy, the surface can become super slick, and highly erodible.

Informationally, dogs are generally not allowed on the "backcountry" trails, but are permitted in the paved areas and overlooks. Mountain bikes and equestrians are allowed on many trails, but not all. Check their website to be sure.