"I am 22. The moment it hit 4:39 a.m, when I was exactly born, I started the hike. It was pitch black on the way up to Bedford from Maple Springs, but daylight savings happened so it would be light earlier than before. As I got to Bedford, the sun hasn't risen yet, looking down towards the Inland Empire, as well the other ranges. But my eyes were leered on Santiago, My biggest target I've been waiting for. After increasing the elevation little by little, going all over SoCal, my determination rose. Leaving Bedford behind, made a small side trip to Bald, as I looked at Santiago again. Off to the queen of the Santa Anas Modjeska, it was firmly shaded with all the burnt trees possibly from the airport fire. I saw The Sinks from down below which is part of Oc Parks, my training grounds for my quest to hike. I took the rocky side up to Modjeska on the right with the split path. Haven summited Modjeska, it was time, heading down to the small trail coming across an eroded part from the fire, making it back to the road, then on the single track trail. The final climb before my target, back on the road I put on some music for the final push. It ran through the full finale as it ended, I cele..." — ChristianFlowerstheczywildhikr • Nov 2, 2025

"Peak #11 of the 2020 SoCal Six (18) Pack of Peaks Challenge and my 3rd peak of the Six Alternate Peaks. Today I joined up with the Hiking Group Friends that Hike as we tackled Santiago Peak from the Maple Springs Truck Trail. We met up at the Maple Springs Truck Trail Trailhead, and carpooled up to the intersection of the North Main Divide Road. From there it was a relatively easy hike up the road to Santiago Peak. Another great day on the trail with friends." — Philip-Yoho • Jan 19, 2020

"Today was my recon hike in preparation for the group hike on Sep 21. I was oonly supose to go to the North Main Divide Road, but what the hell. I'm this close, may as well go all the way. 13.2 miles and 1955 feet in elevation gain" — Philip-Yoho • Sep 14, 2019

"Rode the MTB up Modjeska and Santiago from Silverado Ranger Station. Maple Springs Road is an awesome ride, both up and down. The Main Divide Road, however, was covered with baseball-size rocks that made for a frustrating climb and a very bumpy descent. " — klotito • Apr 21, 2018

"Took about 8 hours. Started at Holy Jim trail. My quads were killing me. I wanted to give up but I had my most amazing best friend/ husband who encouraged me to persevere... and we did it! What an accomplishment 🤗 We took a wrong turn initially and therefore added more miles to this hike... our iwatch tracked 20 miles round trip. I could barely walk that evening" — sytara710 • Apr 5, 2018

"Started this hike from the Holy Jim Trailhead and hiked up to Santiago Peak. Took a short detour to the waterfall on our way down to cool off. Also ran into one of our friends as she was cruising with a groups of jeeps along the dirt road." — Philip-Yoho • Feb 10, 2018

"My fourth hike to Santiago Peak this time originated from the Maple Springs Trailhead at Silverado Canyon. I began at about 5:45 am in the dark hiking up the asphalt road. I could have driven to the end of the pavement and parked there and saved 6 miles round trip, but I wanted to do my first long-distance hike in several months. Soon I was in natural light and passed through many groves of Bigcone Douglas-Firs, Coulter Pines, Bigleaf Maples, Bay Laurels, and Canyon Live Oaks as the now dirt road switchbacks gently up the canyon. The chaparral is also beautiful. Only walking up this road can you fully appreciate and savor the sights and smells of the area. I hiked up to meet Main Divide Road and took it to the Saddle between Modjeska and Santiago Peaks. I found a use trail at the saddle, and went right on it. It is very brushy, so watch your head in the jungly chaparral. The trail is very easy to follow, but you may get scratched a bit. I did not see nor contact any Poison-Oak along the stretch thankfully. The use trail meets up again with Main Divide, and I followed it to the summit. Once I was done at the top, I headed back the same way to the saddle, and then took th..." — brianpowell • Jan 20, 2018

"Finally made it to this peak in my backyard. Nice climb up the Holy Jim trail. Lots of haze/smog in the valleys, but clear views of San Antonio, San Gorgonio, and San Jacinto from the top. Lots of Jeeps, motorcycles, and mountain bikers out today." — edg • Jan 6, 2018

"I have completed my 3rd summit of this mountain on 4/8/17. I am making it a yearly pilgrimage to hike to Santiago Peak, so I can make a hiking tradition for myself. I needed another Santa Ana mountains fix before the weather gets and stays too hot to hike below 6000'. I picked a nice, cool day for this, because it would be even more strenuous than it is already with even mildly warm weather. This time, I came from another area. My hike started about 6am. I took Indian Truck Trail (near I-15 - Riverside County) nearly 7 miles (2,500' gain) to Main Divide. I turned right at Main Divide came to the junction of Upper Holy Jim Trail, and took Upper Holy Jim Trail (bottom at 4,030'): the small trail sign is now missing; look for a trail branching off under a few small Bigcone Douglas-Firs; I took the Upper Holy Jim through manzanita chaparral (with a few picturesque, stunted Coulter Pines here and there) rejoining Main Divide at the hairpin turn at 4,870.' I turned right on Main Divide. I then followed Main Divide to the summit (5,687'). It is about 11-11.5 miles one way, and it took me 7hr 45m to summit at about 1:40pm. There were many clouds, so views were hard to find, b..." — brianpowell • Apr 8, 2017

"Did the hike from Indian Truck Trail this time. Much more mellow than Holy Jim, but has minimal 4x4 traffic. Long hike but fun if you're looking for a new way to tackle Santiago Peak. I have the full trip report and directions on my blog here: https://hikingguy.com/hiking-trails/hiking-orange-county/hike-indian-truck-trail-to-santiago-peak/" — HikingGuy • Feb 16, 2017