Cleghorn Mountain

Hiked: 6/10/2020
Distance: 5.7 miles round trip on dirt road
Summit Elevation: 5333'
Prominence: 813'
Elevation Gain: 1233'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.0
Round trip time: 2 hours
Recommended water: 32 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Cleghorn Ridge Road
Difficulty: Easy

Mike Martin and I decided to knock off a string of HPS peaks near Silverwood Lake. Most of the day would be spent driving mountain roads. We met in San Bernardino to gas up before heading into the mountains. First up was Cleghorn Mountain (HPS #249) and we would work our way south from there. The most direct way to Cleghorn was by driving up the OHV Cleghorn Ridge Road. You can start from I-15 or highway 138. We started from highway 138.

Cleghorn was supposed to be a drive up, but several miles in, we ran into deep channels in the road that were beyond our stock 4x4 vehicles and driving abilities. We actually had a little trouble getting turned around inside some ruts. Once we had righted our vehicles, we decided to hike the rest of the way. So much for the first easy drive up. Hiking the road was easy, but it was a little farther than it appeared on GPS because of road switchbacks. All along the way, we were annoyed by biting flies. The Cleghorn summit was nothing special, but did have a good view of the San Gabriels and nearby Cajon Mountain, which was our next goal. I don't know how difficult Cleghorn Ridge Road is from I-15, but I got more satisfaction out of bagging Cleghorn since it put up some resistance.

Start of Cleghorn Ridge Road OHV

Silverwood Lake

Game over for the driving

Heading up the firebreak to Cleghorn

Great view of the San Gabriels

Looking over at Cajon Mountain