Stats:
10.32 miles
Elevation Gain- 1732 feet
Difficulty- moderate
Terrain- trail, use trail
RT Time- 2:20
Permits/Fees- $3 parking fee
I had been interested for a while about the Crystal Cove State Park, a small pocket of open space in the San Joaquin Hills, a small range in coastal Orange County. Bommer Ridge is the main crest of the hills, and trails run all across its crest. The highest undeveloped part of the ridge is Peak 1063, which has been partially dissected by Highway 73. I figured that I could hit a few peakbagger- only peaks on my way to climb Peak 1063, and also hike through Laurel Canyon, which had been recommended in the Afoot and Afield Orange County book.
It was 2:41 by the time I pulled into the parking lot, paid the $3 parking fee, and started off on the Willow Canyon trail. I would take the Laurel Canyon Trail on the way back. The Willow Canyon Trail segment was the steepest part of the whole hike, gaining 600 feet in about a mile. There were good views over to Laurel Canyon.
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| Laurel Canyon |
The junction with the Bommer Ridge Trail was reached after one mile. From here, the trail would be much flatter as it made its way over some small bumps on the ridge. In .4 miles, we reached the junction with the Fenceline Trail that ran over the first peak, Moro Benchmark.
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| Moro Ridge BM to the left |
The trail passed directly over Moro Benchmark, where there were good 360 degree views and a benchmark. I made a weak search for reference marks, locating only one, RM #2. There was no register.
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| Station |
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| RM #2 |
I continued down the Fenceline Trail over some ups and downs to a junction with a road going out of the park. I took this road to climb Peak 1063, ignoring the trail closed sign on the use trail to the top. It was rather overgrown and I couldn't say that I enjoyed it a great deal. There were similar views to Moro BM, so I didn’t take a break; I simply spun around at the summit and walked back.
I had planned to visit the Crystal Cove State Park high point, but I found that the trail to the summit was blocked off by a trail closed sign and a barbed wire fence. Not feeling like bushwhacking up to a random slope point, I let this one be and continued over to Peak 1063, which had a good trail to the top. Although a trail closed sign marked the beginning of the trail, it seemed like the trail had gotten some use recently by mountain bikers and hikers.
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| Crystal Cove backcountry |
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| Smoke from the Thomas Fire in Ventura |
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| Santa Ana Mountains |
Although I had planned on possibly climbing Signal Peak, I bailed at the Coastal Peak Park as I didn’t want to walk half a mile through boring suburbs to hit a boring peak.
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