Hike to San Diego’s Corte Madera: An Epic Adventure
DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase after clicking one of my links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For more information, see my disclaimer.
This article tells the story of my conquest of San Diego’s Corte Madera Mountain, which is part of the San Diego Six Pack of Peaks challenge. Corte Madera is my second peak in this challenge and below is everything you need to know about hiking Corte Madera, as well as a Relive video to show you what the hike is like. Enjoy!
Preparing for the Corte Madera Hike and reaching the trailhead
The Corte Madera Hike is a 6.8-mile hike near Campo, California. AllTrails reports the elevation gain at 1,509 ft, but my Garmin recorded a total ascent of 1,740 ft.
The hike is rated as “hard” on AllTrails, but I guess that’s pretty subjective. To me, Corte Madera is really just a moderate hike, with only two short harder sections. There are two sections where the hike is pretty steep and a rock scramble is required. Other than that, it’s moderate at most. It took me 3 hours 13mins of moving time, four hours total. My car read 80 degrees Fahrenheit at the trailhead when I started my hike at noon.
Trailhead
The trailhead is located at 32.73555, -116.55735 in the Corral Canyon OHV area, and you’ll park on Corral Canyon Road. The small parking area is located on the left when you get to the locked gate at Kernan Road. To reach this parking area, you’ll drive through a dirt and paved road. The road is worse at the beginning and then improves. it’s about 4.5 miles long.
It’s also worth noting that you’ll need an Adventure Pass to park at the trailhead. In addition, there are no amenities at the trailhead. So plan ahead if you need the bathroom!
Preparation tips
The trail is fairly exposed at times, but it’s also got shaded areas. Of course, don’t forget your sunscreen, plenty of water, and some electrolytes!
I was wearing these shorts and a tank, and I would recommend against doing that if hiking in the fall! By the time I reached the summit, my arms and legs were scratched all over from overgrown vegetation, and one of my legs was bleeding. So I would highlight recommend weather long sleeves and pants.
A bug net may come in handy as well as the bugs were quite tenacious. There were plenty of bees at the trailhead, and all sorts of other bugs trying to land on my eyelashes for about half the hike, mostly in the first section both on the way out and back.
The Ascent and Scenic Views to Corte Madera
The hike starts off at the locked gate on Keran Road. At first, it’s an oak-lined road with a very easy ascent. About half a mile into it, there’s a sign to take the trail on the left. The trail starts to follow Morena Creek (dried out when I hiked on September 17th.)
After 1.3 miles, you’ll reach the main saddle with stunning views of Corte Madera Mountain. San Diego may also be visible on a clear day, but I did this hike to escape the cloud cover in San Diego, and at that point, I got great views of that cloud cover in the distance as you can see in the photo below.
Keep hiking up on a dirt road, which is actually sandy at times. You’ll reach another intersection with a small parking lot, and from there, the trail becomes a single track. You’ll encounter large boulders (handy to take a quick rest!), and beautiful views. This is where the trail gets quite steep with a little rock scrambling, but only for about a quarter of a mile or so. It then starts to go down with another rock scramble, and then it’s just moderate again to the top of the mountain. But the trail is very thin and the shrubs overgrown and that’s how my clothes got damaged.
Reaching the Corte Madera Summit and Enjoying a Break
Reaching the summit of Corte Madera Mountain was quite rewarding, with panoramic views and 4 signs to take photos with! Thank you to those who carried those signs up for us all to enjoy!
I was lucky enough to have the summit to myself. I was happy to find the summit signs (I missed them at Volcan Mountain!), and ate my complete cookie while admiring the views.
The weather was perfect that day; it was not windy at all, and it was just quiet, lovely, and peaceful.
The Descent
Descents are always my strength, and this one was no exception. Much faster to go back down and the rock scrambles were funner on the way back as well. The bugs got bad again in the last mile and insisted on landing on my eyelashes. So I spent the last mile waving my hands in front of my face. If you have a bug net, bring it!
Relive my Corte Madera hike
If you’ve seen my posts before, you’ll know I typically use Relive to make a movie of my hikes. I love how it gives a better perspective of the terrain.
I use the free version, so the video quality is not the best, but it’s pretty good for being free. Best of all, I don’t need to track with Relive, it connects to the Garmin app.
Final Thoughts
This San Diego Six Pack of Peaks challenge is challenging me and I am so glad I found it. I was bored of San Diego hikes, but this challenge is making me discover new trails I didn’t even know existed, and they are more challenging than the typical San Diego hikes (Cowles, Iron Mountain, Potato Chip Rock, etc.)
Overall Corte Madera was a fun hike, and I highly recommend it, especially if you’re stuck under the clouds in San Diego! This hike was a great way to find the sunshine!
So what about you, have you hiked this trail before? If not, what are you waiting for? Head over to the trailhead now! You won’t regret it! And you can sign up for the San Diego Six Pack of Peaks challenge here to experience it for yourself!
Post originally published on September 21, 2023, and last updated on March 17, 2024.
