Monserate Mountain – Fallbrook Land Conservancy 11/07/2014

Hike-ability: Moderately Strenuous

Water & Food: 2 liters, a snack bar, and an orange

Distance, Time: 3.6 miles, 2.5 hours including a stop at the top!

Temperature: low 70’s, this Hike can get hot in summer fall and winter best time to hike

A hike that packs a lot of punch in a moderately short distance is the Monserate Mountain Trail just on the border of Fallbrook and Bonsall. This hike is not a Sunday afternoon stroll as pretty much right from the beginning the trail starts a hearty ascent and doesn’t level out much the entire way up. This trail is deceiving as even though you are located close to Freeway 15 on the northern edge of San Diego County, you quickly disappear into the scenery and quiet that Monserate Mountain provides. The first .8 miles of this trail is made up of twists and turns of rocky uneven footing. From there you will come across a trail marker that guides you on your way and the remaining 1.1. miles to the summit.

 

 

 

 

 As you ascend you see the trail up in front of you climb but then level off as you hike along a ridge with great views of the Palomar Mountains to your right and the Cleveland National Forest to your north/ northwest. As you bend around and ascend the trail you will come to a point of a clearing to your left and off in the distance the trail to the summit is visible. 

 

 

 

The summit provides a great view of the hillsides of Fallbrook and the distant Palomar Mountains to the East and the Cleveland National Forest to the North. The summit itself is marked by a memorial of mounded rocks, highlighted by the American and the Marine Corp Flag along with other tokens of remembrance.   Spend some time in the peace and quiet of the summit before you head back down and your descent to trailhead start. An obvious hiking credo of, that which is steep going up is steep going down. Pace yourself, and be aware of the rocky uneven path, personally always the harder part of any hike I do. Although not the most rigorous trail distance wise, a little over 4 miles round trip, the steepness of this trail provides challenge to call Monserate Mountain a moderately strenuous, scenic, hike.

 

 

Trailhead : Pankey Road, Fallbrook, CA 92028

Directions: From San Diego, take Interstate 15 north of San Diego to exit 46 for Route 76. Turn left at the end of the ramp onto Route 76 and make the next right onto Old Highway 395. Drive 2.6 miles north and turn right on Stewart Canyon Road. Pass under the freeway to reach Pankey Road. Turn right and park in the dirt lot on the right. The trail-head is on the east side of Pankey Road. From the Coast take Route 76 east to Old Highway 395, turn left, Drive 2.6 miles north and turn right on Stewart Canyon Road. Pass under the freeway to reach Pankey Road. Turn right and park in the dirt lot on the right. The trail-head is on the east side of Pankey Road.

Respect your hiking limits, respect your partner’s hiking limits, , bring more water than you need and electrolytes for energy…

Hike On!