Volcan Mountain: Sunset Hike To The Summit

I recently signed up for the San Diego six-pack of peaks challenge where I need to complete six hikes within a calendar year, or rather, within the next five months. Hmm, how is this year going by so fast? Volcan Mountain is one of the six peaks to summit during the calendar year. So on Saturday, July 29, 2023, I drove out to Julian in the late afternoon to enjoy a golden hour hike up to the summit of Volcan Mountain.

Volcan Mountain

Volcan Mountain is a moderate hike near Julian, CA. This is an out-and-back hike of around 5 miles, with approximately 1,200ft of elevation gains. I hiked this trail on July 29th, 2023, as the first hike towards my 2023 San Diego Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge. Easy parking is available at the trailhead on Farmer Road. Dogs on leash are welcome to join your hike. There is also a winery nearby if you need a pick-me-up after your climb.

Gear Recommendations

In conjunction with the famous ten essentials, explore the following gear recommendations:

My Volcan Mountain hike

Sunset is my favorite time of the day for hikes. Golden and blue hours are my favorite. And the sunset at the summit of Volcan Mountain was magnificent that night. I would recommend this hike during the golden hour.

The hike starts easily and gets progressively steeper for perhaps a mile or so towards the middle of the uphill. Don’t forget to look back as you climb up, to enjoy the views. The last section of the hike offers expansive views as far as the ocean on a clear day. From there you can see San Diego, Coronado Island, Middle Peak, Cuyamaca Peak, and even Catalina Island if you’re lucky. The other side offers the wonders of the desert landscape including the Pacific Crest Trail, Mount San Jacinto, and Salton Sea.

Hiking Stats

I hiked this trail on July 29th, 2023, as the first hike towards my 2023 San Diego Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge. I started my hike at around 6.45 pm, to get to the summit at sunset.

The hike was 5.1 miles long with 1,214ft of elevation gain. It took me 2hrs 4mins total, including photo breaks. The trail starts easy and gets rather steep quickly.

I thought the trail was well-maintained (not overgrown) and easy to follow, but I did not see any other humans on the trail. It was the perfect me-time outing.

I had a few tech issues on this hike, which means I cannot provide a breakdown of moving versus total time. I was aiming to complete it in under 2 hours of moving time. I am sure I accomplished that because I spent more than 4 minutes taking photos, but it would be nice to have proof.

My Fitbit and the Relive app worked great, but I don’t use “autopause” on them, so it just recorded the total time. AllTrails is usually reliable but it crashed three miles into the hike that day. And my Garmin, which I typically rely on for the moving vs total breakdown, accidentally recorded my drive home as part of my hike… never mind!

Wildlife

It was still daylight on my way up to the summit, and I had to fight with quite a few bugs. So much so that I wished I had a bug net with me. I was also surprised to see so many ants on this trail. You can’t walk five steps without seeing an ant colony. As is usual at night, there were also plenty of scarab beetles on the way back down.

More excitingly though, I saw a cute rabbit on the way up, but he hid before I got a photo of him. Then I saw two deers at the summit at sunset, and a scorpion on the way back down!

Final Thoughts on Volcan Mountain

So that’s Hike 1 of 6 done… I enjoyed this hike because it was quick and easy, and would likely hike it again when I have the chance! What about you? Have you completed this hike? If not, I hope this post inspires you to do so! And you can sign up for the San Diego Six Pack of Peaks challenge here to experience it for yourself!

Happy trails!

Post originally published on August 6, 2023, and last updated on February 23, 2024.