Hike Bell Bluff Cleveland National Forest, CA

Apr 14, 2023 — Bell Bluff is an excellent little peak with a short scramble within Cleveland National Forest, a quick drive from San Diego. There is no official trailhead for Bell Bluff, so I parked on a suburban side street. It felt like this was an illegal hike due to the "no parking" signs and unmarked locked gate at the trailhead, but it's perfectly accessible to the public. The hike begins along the California Riding & Hiking Trail, this portion labeled Spanish Bit Drive. The trail was once an old dirt road, but has now been converted into a trail.

After hiking through a short public corridor hugged by residences, I reached the crossing of the Sweetwater River. Due to the wild amount of water received this year, the river was flowing up to my thighs. Past the river crossing, a grassy section leads to a well-carved trail that wraps around a hill. It's an easy walk for a few miles with very slowly changing views. At some point the California Riding & Hiking Trail leaves the ridge, but the hike to Bell Bluff continues east. Bell Bluff seemed to creep closer, the hike leading directly toward its base.

The Bell Bluff Trail switchbacked a couple of times and emerged on the western shoulder of the peak, where the trail then bends to the north and away from the peak. I left the more obvious main trail here and headed to the right where cairns marked the start of the summit route. Starting here the hike became more overgrown, but was overall easy to follow and I didn't get a single scratch. Gaining elevation steeply, the social trail stuck to the western ridge of Bell Bluff, the well-trodden route scrambling up a bunch of Class 2 and with one short Class 3 move. The views progressively improved as well, many of the classic San Diego peaks visible all around.

The last quarter mile or so to the summit of Bell Bluff was a bit trickier to follow since divergent social trails lead away from the primary summit route, but I overall didn't have difficulty making it up. Without the social trail, the brush would be a nuisance, so I was thrilled previous hikers have carved the way. The summit area is wide and riddled with boulders and brush. While most people seem to consider the benchmark to be the highest point, there are a couple of large boulder clusters that are clearly taller. A summit register at the lower point seems to be what most consider a summit of Bell Bluff, and very few previous reports mention the more serious bouldery summit. I called the route Class 3 because of this, since the standard seems to be to hike there and call it good.

While most don't actually go to the true high point, I wanted to give it a try. I picked my way north through some brush and reached the base of the summit cluster. The left side seemed tricky, so I poked around on the right, where a wide crack seemed to provide a low Class 5 scramble option. This was made much easier by the existence of a rope. I generally don't blindy trust ropes hanging off a ledge, so I used it sparingly, choosing to use the decent holds to ascend. The climb lasted about 15 feet. I returned the way I came from Bell Bluff, making a few errors on the way down due to the tricky divergent social trails I mentioned earlier.