| Distance: 20 miles, loop Hiking Time: 12-14 hours (over night possible) Elevation Gain/Loss: 4100′/4100′ Difficulty: Strenuous |
Directions: From interstate 15 at Temecula, drive 10 miles east on Highway 79 to Dripping Springs Campground (on the right south side of the road). Inside .4 miles is the trail head.
The first third of the hike is all elevation gain as you walk up the crest of Agua Tibia Mountain. Turn left and follow the Magee-Palomar Trail. You reach the high point on the trail and then start steady descent to a ow point on the Agua Tibia crest – Crosley Saddle, 10 miles into the hike.
From Crosley Saddle, follow the Crosley Trail (aka Wild Horse Trail) northeast and steady downhill through a live oak forest. You cross a shady raving (sometimes containing running water, but not always) at 12.4 miles, and soon come to a road. Cross the road and continue north on the new Wild Horse trail. After crossing another seasonally wet ravine you travel roughly 7 miles until meeting up with the Dripping Springs Trail where you can depart back to the car.
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Jan 2012 – The palomar magee trail is extremelyovergrow. At one point we had to take off our packs and crawl under the brush. And we wouldn’t have made it if not for the flagging. Still had to backtrackto re-find the trail more than a few times. No water,
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