With the spirit of avoiding state park fees, I avoided driving into Lake Perris State Recreation Area and instead began to the north and outside of the park. As guidance, I used one of the previous posts that mentioned a use trail that begins near Theodore and Alessandro in Moreno Valley. I found several use trails in the area and found one that went up toward the high peaks. The wide trails quickly deteriorated to cross country routes up the slope. Once I realized I was going cross country, I just kept going toward the high point. I finally topped out on the summit of Peak 2570, with great views of Mount Russell and Lake Perris. Since Mount Russell was my true target, I descended the western slope of Peak 2570 and eventually found a use trail that went the rest of the way up to the summit of Mt Russell. On top is a white cross and a flag pole. Unfortunately, the flag on the pole was merely a few pieces of string, so it needs a little attention and a new flag. I wanted to sign the register, but when I opened the capsule, the writing pad inside was soaking wet.

On the way down, I concentrated on finding the use trail that was previously mentioned. From my higher vantage point, I could clearly see the trail leading down the northern slope. I followed it all the way down. Along the way, I could see that this was the actual trail I started on earlier in the day, but at some point I made the wrong decision and took a wrong turn. I wound up turning it into a loop hike. For future visitors, the way to go is by climbing up the slope in between the two peaks on the use trail. The use trail goes all the way from the flats below to the top of Mt Russell.