Dec 06, 2017 — Santiago Peak, the highest point of the Santa Ana Mountains, offers a nice, moderate grade to the summit, with really nice hilly views the whole way up. From the Holy Jim Trailhead, follow a road, passing some homes along the way. You'll get to the official trailhead, which leaves the dirt road and follows a well-beaten trail to the trickling Holy Jim Falls (probably just not the best time of year to visit). After the falls, go back a short way and continue up the trail toward Santiago Peak. Toward the top, you hit a dirt road. Going left follows the road to the summit, but going right, which seems counterintuitive, follows the road for a few hundred feet before a trail appears on the left, which is a much nicer approach to the summit than the road. The best views of the day were on this approach. I took the road on the way back to see what the difference was. Anyway, eventually, the prettier route (the trail) will meet back up with the road, which you have to follow to the Santiago Peak summit. Once at the summit, radio towers make it a little confusing to find the summit, but just keep following dirt roads that gain elevation, and soon the summit will be clear.
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