Dec 04, 2017 — I did this hike a few years ago, but wanted to revisit for no particular reason, except maybe to see how my memory changed. This nice loop hits pretty much the entirety of Palomar Mountain State Park. Starting at Doane Pond, follow the Thunder Spring Trail southeast until the juntion with the Chimney Flats Trail, which leads to Scott's Cabin Trail. There are lots of trail names, but they're well-marked and you can't get too lost since it's a fairly small park. Rather than head up the Boucher Lookout Trail beacuse it seemed to stay very close to the roads, I followed the Scott's Cabin Trail and went up the Adams Trail, which led to the Boucher Lookout. The views here were the best of the hike for sure, even though you could have just driven to the Boucher Lookout. After visiting the high point, continue along the Baptist Trial and check out the Weir Historic Site, a nice ruin on a stream. Continue up the Lower Doane Valley Trail and Loop back on the French Valley Trail. You could just follow a paved road back to the trailhead, but I decided to take the Nature Trail, which ended up being really nice and had a lush stream toward the end.
Please consider helping me out if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all site fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing these trip reports is unpaid. You can also hire me as a web developer. I really appreciate it!
If you find my site helpful, please help me replace my many broken cameras, fund my website fees (hosting, APIs, security), or just support my countless hours of work. I pay for all expenses myself, and all trip reports I post are unpaid and unsponsored, so any support is really appreciated!
If using PayPal, please select their option for "Sending to a friend" so they don't take out fees, thank you.
My site is free to use, but consider sending me a few bucks to help keep it running. Thanks in advance!