Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation

I have a particular fascination with large open flat places way up high in the mountains. I'm looking at some new xc adventures to go explore such places, so I wondered if anyone here has been to any of the places described below. Since they mostly don't have names I'll just give the quadrangles that they are located in on HJ's interactive map. Each one is a relatively flat area contained within the given quadrangle(s):

The mildly flat ridge at the bottom of quadrangle 15 near Heart Bar Peak Road
The flat that sweeps down and to the right (southeast) through quadrangles 27, 26, 35, then back to the left (west) into quadrangle 34.
The flat that is west of Limber Pine camp, but appears to be about 400 feet below it.
Grinnell Flats and Hook Point in quadrangle 25
The flat along the ridge that is to the left (west) of Onyx Summit in quadrangles 1,2,3 and 4.

Anyone been there and done that?

z

zippetydude wrote:Grinnell Flats and Hook Point in quadrangle 25

FWIW, the numbered squares (usually square; sometimes not) on a topo map are referred to as "Sections". They are typically a mile square. These squares represent survey lines although the representation on a topo map is not accurate to survey standards and serve only as a general guideline.

Case in point, the DWA caretaker's cabin in Snow Creek appears on the map to be on public land. Based on the information that I've received, it appears that the map is off by a dozen or more yards. Actual surveys on the ground indicate that the DWA cabin is on DWA land.

Grinnell Flats is interesting, and it's pretty extensive. You can get to it easily off the Lost Creek Trail. In fact, on my last time there, I went up the Lost Cr Tr and cut through Grinnell Flats to get to Hook Point. There's a small grassy area west of Hook Point with a spring, Mosquito Spring. I got water at Mosquito Spring and had lunch at Hook Point last I was there.

Hook Point is a nice spot to camp and was indeed one of the established camp sites before the ca. 1973 restrictions were emplaced. There's an old trail that leads to Hook Point from Grinnell Ridge Camp, but it is exceedingly hard to find. That same trail once extended down into Lost Creek and then up to "The Watchtower" which is a vantage point with a panoramic view of the Santa Ana River drainage. Parts of the trail are still intact down in the Lost Creek drainage. The trail to the Watchtower is gone or at least I couldn't find any trace of it.

zippetydude wrote:The flat that is west of Limber Pine camp, but appears to be about 400 feet below it.

I walked down there once some years ago. It was obvious that a lot of people were treating it as part of Limber Pine Camp, which I suppose it is. Some nice spots down in there.

HJ