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May 20, 2024 — Keller Peak is a prominent summit in the San Bernardino Mountains near Lake Arrowhead, featuring a fire lookout tower. Although you can drive to the summit, Amanda and I wanted to get some miles in and decided to take advantage of a maintained trail called the Children's Forest Exploration Trail. We felt a little silly since this trail parallels the paved Keller Peak Summit Road for a fair distance, but it turned out to be a very scenic hike regardless. It's always more enjoyable to walk when a trail exists rather than drive.
The hike begins through the forest, crossing Dry Creek and weaving through various rock formations that hug the trail, gradually gaining elevation. A large portion of the hike is forested with gentle grades, featuring only a few small switchbacks. We were able to enjoy some beautiful views of the surrounding hills as we neared the end of the Exploration Trail.
Next, we followed the paved road to the summit of Keller Peak, where the lookout personnel informed us that they had just closed the tower to the public for the day. Nonetheless, we took in the views from the summit boulders, especially towards Mount San Gorgonio to the southeast and down toward the Santa Ana River canyon.
We decided to tack on Slide Peak, accessed via a social trail about halfway up Keller Peak Road from the end of the Exploration Trail. This unmarked trail leads up a sandy slope, over a hump, and down to the southwestern base of Slide Peak. From there, a steep and sandy road leads almost to the summit, and an easy scramble brought us to the top. While it might be tempting to descend directly to the paved road from here, the land between Slide Peak and the end of the Exploration Trail is privately owned, so I recommend simply retracing your steps.
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Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!
