Stanley Peak

Hiked: 3/2/2018
Distance: 5.8 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 1983'
Elevation Gain: 1126'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 0.90
Round trip time: 2 hours
Recommended water: 24 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free at Daley Ranch Parking Area
Difficulty: Easy

Stanley Peak is one of two major peaks in the Daley Ranch Preserve in Escondido, the other being Burnt Mountain. I remembered Stanley from my trip to Burnt Mountain a couple of years ago. I parked at the main parking lot on LaHonda Drive, already half full. There was a mix of hikers, runners, and mountain bikers.

I started on the Creek Crossing trail, the first trail on the right, took a sharp left on the East Ridge trail for a tenth of a mile before turning right on the Coyote Run trail. I stayed on Coyote run until it ended at the Sage trail, then turned left. From the satellite view, I saw a clear trail running up from behind the old water tank, so I turned on the OWT trail to check it out. The tank was rusted and clearly not in use any more. On the left side of the tank (as you approach it), a sign marked a maintained trail that connected to the Stanley Peak trail a little further up. I turned right at the Stanley Peak trail and followed it a short distance to the top. Stanley Peak overlooks Valley Center Road to the east and has great views back into Daley Ranch. An easy boulder was the high point. I found stubs on two boulders where benchmarks once lived but this a popular summit and they were probably taken long ago. I didn't find a register though I had seen pictures of an ammo box in other reports. I stayed on the Stanley Peak trail on the way down and completed the round trip in 2 hours. It was an easy but thoroughly enjoyable hike.

Stanley Peak from the Coyote Run trail

Looking east over Valley Center toward Palomar

The summit boulder

Looking south from the summit