Hey Cirque Running community! We hope you’ve been taking advantage of this pristine running weather in California lately! Here’s a look at one of the local favorite’s, the Cuyamaca Mountains in San Diego, enjoy!
One of the more scenic trail runs I’ve done in a while, Stonewall Peak, located in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, in San Diego county, is an absolute must for those seeking beautiful sights, captivating single track, and an escape from the lower elevation trails of San Diego.
Coming in at 5.5 miles and 1,200’ feet of elevation gain, Stonewall Peak is a great option for anyone looking to get a quick run at some elevation (Stonewall tops out at 5,730’), and looking for a change of scenery from your every day trails closer to the city. While it might be a stretch, the loop we added towards the end of the video reminds me of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite to some extent. The single track running once you come off the mountain and loop back to the campground is absolutely beautiful and worth the drive alone. There are endless options up in Cuyamaca, so break out the map and start plotting some longer runs, we’ll be sure to do the same and post soon!
There are a couple ways to ascend Stonewall Peak. The most common is parking in the Paso Picacho campground parking lot, across the street from Stonewall Peak, and beginning your run from that trailhead. Note, there is a $10 parking fee for this. I always like to support parks where I can. There are other parking options you can explore that would put you starting further to the north and ascending the northern flanks of Stonewall Peak as well. The most commonly traveled trail to the summit is from the Paso Picacho campground and is typically treated as an out and back. For this video, once we came off the summit, we continued on and made a loop of the outing, running it counterclockwise. As I say in the video, if I did this again, I would do it clockwise as the running would probably be a bit more fluid coming off the summit. Either way, you can’t go wrong with this run.
Stonewall Peak’s historic location (Stonewall Mine) was once a hot spot for gold mining for a few years during the gold rush, beginning in 1869 and ending in 1891. The town of Cuyamaca was established during this time and gold miners extracted roughly 7,000 pounds of gold! Pretty cool little back story to this area.
On your way out, make sure to drop into the town of Julian if you have the time and support the local businesses. There are plenty of great places to eat, grab a coffee, or to shop at. Another spot well worth the drop in is Dudley’s Bakery, just to the west of Julian in the small town of Santa Isabel. The fall is a great time of year to visit Julian and Santa Ysabel, whether you’re looking for a place to pick apples, pumpkin patch with the kids, or check out the leaves changing color, you’ll be happy you made the trek up.
Make sure to check out our Trail Running GPX page so you can download the route and upload it to your watch or phone. This GPX page will be a continuous work in progress so make sure to take advantage of the GPX files we already have posted and be sure to check back weekly as we continue to update the page.
Also, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel @CirqueRunning to keep up to date with all of our latest trail running edits. Enjoy this video of Stonewall Peak in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, located in San Diego!
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Your online digital guide to trail running in the Sierra and Southern California. Cirque Running’s mission is to inspire our trail running community through digital dirt surfing, elevated retreats and professional coaching, with certified UESCA ultrarunning coaches. We’re Trail Runners, Mountain Guides, Educators, Coaches and Stewards of the Sierra and California, and we want to share these remarkable places with all those seeking natural abundance in the Range of Light and beyond.
