"Long, undulating hike from McKinley Saddle. The HPS climbing guide needs to be updated. The brush along the road on the ridge is very manageable. There was absolutely no trace of a use trail up to the 5484'-Santa Cruz saddle, so we ended up climbing a very steep firebreak on the north side of 5484' and then cutting over to the saddle. The use trail up to Santa Cruz is a bit overgrown in places but is well ducked at the critical junctions. If you find yourself fighting brush, you're probably off route and should back up and refind the route. It goes the whole way to the summit. Killer views from Santa Cruz peak to Hwy 154 out to the Channel Islands, Santa Ynez valley, and all across the Los Padres. It's a very long walk back to the trailhead from this summit." — edg • Mar 24, 2019

"I hiked the Big Three as an overnight backpack - San Rafael and McKinley on Saturday, Santa Cruz and Cachuma on Sunday. Even though it's called the Big Three, this peak is the main attraction due to its difficulty and remoteness. Fortunately, I found the route in relatively good shape. The overgrown fire road/trail is easy enough to follow from McKinley Saddle all the way to the base of bump 5484'. From there I climbed up the steep, clear firebreak almost all the way to the top of the bump, where a good clipped trail appears on the right and drops down towards the saddle with Santa Cruz. From here, another semi-clipped/ducked route makes its way through dense oak trees. The trail becomes indistinct at this point and I lost it briefly both on the way up and down, but I only had to plow through a few bushes before I picked it up again. After the scrub oak section, the route traverses some rocky slopes then climbs the ridge to the summit. It's a brushy, crap peak with crap views, but the challenge makes this peak the most memorable of the three." — klotito • Apr 9, 2017

"This weekend's hiking was devoted to the HPS "Big Three," with a couple of add-ons (an extra ascent of McKinley, plus Cachuma Mountain). I had done two of the three, but needed Santa Cruz Peak. After solo hiking Cachuma, San Rafael and McKinley on Saturday, I met up as planned with an HPS group led by Ignacia Doggett on Sunday morning at my campsite. The group was doing all three of the "Big Three" in one day as a bike-and-hike, and started by the short-and-steep McKinley Mountain. I was happy to do this lovely summit again, two days in a row. (In retrospect, given my exhaustion at the end of the day, I probably should have skipped this "bonus" ascent of McKinley.) After that we did the very difficult hike to Santa Cruz, which I thought was harder than Big Iron, and about as tough as Rabbit/Villager or Cactus-to-Clouds. Perhaps this was because I had hiked around 18 miles on the previous day. Although everything about the area is absolutely beautiful, I can see why this peak seems to be pretty much ignored by anyone not checking off the HPS list. It's long, there is a lot of descent to be regained, and there are several false summits along the way. The final summit push ..." — HikerMark • May 17, 2015