San Gorgonio Mountain

Highest peak in southern California and the 7th most prominent in the contiguous US (8,294 ft prominence).
Only mountain in Southern California with a summit a significant distance above the tree line
Longest recorded line of sight in the contiguous United States; it is plainly visible from the summit of Mount Whitney, 190 miles away
Several trails lead to the broad summit of San Gorgonio Mountain. Most routes require well over 4,000 ft of elevation gain.
San Gorgonio is the highest point in San Bernardino County.

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Routes

Vivian Creek Trail

109 summits • 15.9 mi • 4,596 ft gain • 9 hr 31 min • Class 1

Vivian Creek-Dobbs-Jepson-SB trail to peak

5 summits • 19.9 mi • 5,320 ft gain • 10 hr 26 min

Latest summits

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"I am sometimes asked what my most difficult hike has been. Right now I can say it was this one! over 18 miles, with over 1 MILE in vertical gain. But it was a great day for a long hike. Started out an hour late because of a marathon in the area had the highway blocked! And starting about 6 miles into the hike, it was take 25+ steps, then stop and huff n puff! All the way to the top. And as you might expect, spectacular views from 11,500'. On the way out, made a couple of quick layovers to San Gorgonio West Peak, and then later to Peak 10131. Not long after that, the sun set, so the final 2+ hours of my hike was by flashlight. " — marc • Nov 9, 2019

"I started at the Vivian Creek Trailhead at 7:45 am and made it to the peak after 4 hours and 45 minutes. Back down by 4:25 pm. The weather was perfect. This trail and trailhead are well maintained. This was my final peak of the SoCal 6-Pack Peak Challenge. Garmin stats: 19.5 miles; 5,289 feet of elevation gain; 7:31 moving time; 8:34 total time. " — firesoren90 • Oct 6, 2019

"Private outing day-hike with two trusted climbing partners. 12 hours of trail talk, complaining about switchbacks, and a little bit of snow travel at the summit ensued. Note: despite what most trip guides say, the Vivian Creek trail is actually 19.2 miles round trip, not 17; a few switchbacks were conveniently cut/left off of the 1995 quad..." — ctrain2018 • Oct 21, 2018

"Took a lot of years of avoidance, but my time finally ran out. The day came to climb San Gorgonio for the first time. I started out at daybreak and wound up stumbling through the darkness on the way back (good thing I still packed my head lamp from the Mt Whitney trip). I don't look forward to another long hike on the Vivian Creek Trail, but I know that day will come again, especially since there are so many other HPS summits up there. There was light foot traffic on a Friday and the hike was rather straightforward and uneventful, other than seeing some sights for the first time. I made it all the way up and down without even a stumble. However, with about 500 feet to go back to the parking lot, I stepped in a hole in the darkness and turned an ankle. I went down like a ton of bricks and slowly got back up to limp my way to the imaginary finish line like a conquering hero." — Peak-Conquistador • Oct 19, 2018

"It could not have been a more spectacular day to hike Old Greyback. It was sunny but crisp and cool. We arrived at 6:30 am and already had to park in the bigger lot. We were on our way by 6:45am. That first mile up from the vivian creek trailhead is no joke but it was even worse thinking that would be one of our last miles down! We took it slow and were on top of the summit by 1:20pm. It was so nice! Bright blue sky, great views, slight breeze. We ate lunch and headed back down around 2:20pm. We were lucky to see some beautiful deer around basecamp. We hit the dreaded steep mile down with very tired legs and were back in the parking lot just as the sun was setting at 6:45pm. " — yosinalissebeck • Sep 24, 2017

"This was a two-day backpack with a planned camp on the summit. My buddy and I had to pause for nearly an hour on the switchbacks above High Creek Camp, when thunder began booming overhead. We weighed our options and decided to head back to High Creek Camp, try to find a campsite there, and delay our summit until the next morning. But the thunder eventually died away, so we reverted to the original plan and headed up to the summit. No wind, full moon, beautiful night! We had some rain in the final hour of the descent, but we were warm (and dirty) enough that it didn't really bother us. This was my third ascent of San Gorgonio, but it was the hardest by far, since I hadn't previously needed to carry camping gear all the way." — HikerMark • Jul 8, 2017

"Got to the trailhead parking lot late Friday and pitched a tent right next to the car. We were up and on the trail around 4:30 am and summitted around 11. Great hike and amazing views" — jakeshurer • Jun 4, 2017

"There was more snow than expected. I did not have all the proper equpiment for the climb. My boyfriend was a great guide (OzzyTheGuide) we made it about 8,500 feet before we were unable to go any further. We camped out instead. Great camping trip. We are attempting to summit again this weekend. :) " — Parker33845 • Mar 4, 2017

"Best hike in So Cal. Just gorgeous. And the well engineered makes the trek seem so much easier. I'll have to be back to camp on top someday. Oh, and that's my first peak list down (6/6.)" — JustinB • Aug 5, 2016

"This hike is a beast. Over 5k ft of climbing, 18 miles, it's a long day. Buy hey, it's the tallest peak in SoCal, so you have to do it. I have my full trip report on my blog here > http://bit.ly/1PwUVL1" — HikingGuy • Oct 20, 2015

"Training and acclimatization hike for a Sierra trip. Hiked up the Forsee Creek Trail and camped at 10,600ft. Hit Charlton on the first day and Jepson, Dobbs, and San G. on day 2." — klotito • Aug 30, 2015

"This was a tough one, but great anyway. A beautiful day for a hike with a successful summit. The snow slowed us down, varying from hard ice to deep wet slush and everything in between, but crampons helped a lot on the steeper bits before things got too warm and mushy. Happy to check this one off the list." — Mark • Feb 8, 2015

"We summitted on a day when the mountain had a sporting chance at defeating us. A foot of new snow from a week earlier had partially compacted into a walkable surface above 8k. We had an uneventful trip from Vivian creek trailhead up to "High Camp". Our party strapped on crampons/microspikes for the ascent up the slope where there are usually a number of switchbacks. We straight-lined it on the snow, which was fun, but had us all breathing hard. The trail was relatively snow free from there until we hit 11,000' where it became a slog to the summit! We made it, but had to fight for it. There was much post-holing and gnashing of teeth on the descent. After a beautiful sunset, and a couple hours of headlamp hiking and we were home!" — benjineer • Feb 8, 2015

"It was my ninth time up to old greyback. I took a friend for his first time. We also climbed Charlton, Little Charlton, and Jepson on the way. The clouds were flying all around us and we watched it pour rain all across the valley, but we never even got sprinkled on. It was awesome." — DerekJayRichardson • Sep 16, 2014

"Drove to Cali with 8 others with a Meetup group. We arrived at the TH at about 10:30 pm. We hit the trail and hiked for a little over an hour before setting up camp. Finally climbed in our bags about 3am. The next morning we took our time because of the late night before. I finally wandered out of camp up the trail by myself at about 10:30 am. I made it to Dry Creek by about 1:30pm. After waiting for hours I set up camp and took a nice little nap. I awoke to know sign of my party but several other hikers setting up in the area. This was the camp most people used to stay as a high camp for an early summit. I was rather disappointed in losing my group and figured they had taken a different route. Just after 5pm 3 of our group wandered into camp. I couldn't believe how slow they were. The 4 others of our group must of hiked through while I was sleeping in my tent. Corey, who was the organizer of the trip, explained his plan for the remaining of the day. I broke down my camp and loaded my pack. I was actually happy to have joined back with my party. Off we went. It was interesting for me because I was now traveling with an interesting personality with Corey and two fairly inexperienced..." — darinwilson • Jun 7, 2014

"San Gorgornio was no saint today! We had snow up to our shins (and occasional knee when it fell through the drift) for the last two and a half miles of the ascent. All of us made it to the top! It was an amazing experience and has got me excited and revved up for our Mt Whitney ascent next month." — glaciergirl • May 23, 2014

"12 hours round trip, starting from Aspen Grove. (That added two miles of lovely flat hiking, but I didn't think that my Honda Accord would make it all the way on the dirt road to the Fish Creek trail head.)" — HikerMark • Aug 24, 2013

"We headed up San Gorgonio the highest mountain in Southern California at 11'503'! It was pretty cold most of the way and really cold at the summit. We made it to High Creek in 5 hours, 3:15 to the summit from there. 2 down from the summit and 2:15 down from camp. Awesome trip." — sterling • Sep 2, 2012

"Started at Vivian Creek Trailhead at 7:30AM after snagging the last two wilderness permits. Trucked it through a nice grove of Sequoias, past High Creek and to the summit by 11:30AM. We were amazingly the only two at the summit despite it being a weekend day in August. The visibility was really good for the summer with colors popping on San Jacinto across the way. Headed down and back to the car a little before 3PM. All and all an outstanding day." — Christopher • Aug 26, 2012

"After climbing at Tahquitz the day before did this hike. Did Fish Creek - a little too low angle on the switchbacks for me. Took fun ridge down to Mineshaft Saddle on the way down. 16.9 miles rountrip - back to car at 3:30 PM. Like combo trips of rock climbing and mountain hiking. " — louhibbard • Aug 5, 2012