West Horsethief Trail

West Horsethief Trail starts at the West Horsethief and Trabuco Trailhead located 1/2 mile past the Holy Jim falls parking. The drive to the trailhead is high clearance or 4 WD only. The trail follows the valley floor then switchbacks up to a ridge with beautiful Coulter Pines then returns. There are many options with this trail and the listed distance and elevation is based on the route from the parking lot to the ridge and back. The upper parts of the trail are very exposed so bring lots of water. The trail follows the creek through Trabuco Canyon for approximately 1.7 miles before hitting the junction of West Horsethief and Trabuco Trail. Take the left trail which then begins to switchback steeply up the hill to the ridge for a total distance of 3 and 1/4 miles. As it ascends the hill the vegetation becomes dense chaparral on either side of the trail until the trail tops out in a grove of endangered Coulter Pines. Coulter Pines are famous for having the heaviest pine cones in the world, and they're equipped with spikes that curl up to 1 inch long. At the top, the ground is covered with clean decomposed granite and it's a nice place to site an soak up some sun. If you return from here the total distance is 6.5 miles. The trail then reaches the main divide rode for the Santa Ana mountain. At the top, the ground is covered with clean decomposed granite. It's worth continuing the hike another 1/2 mile to right in order to get the view of the east side of the Santa Ana mountains. One can see Mt. Baldy, San Gorgonio, San Jacinto, as well as Lake Perris, Lake Elsinore and Lake Hemet from the top. If instead you go left upon reaching the Main Divide Road, you can continue along the main divide road for 1.4 miles to reach the summit of Trabuco Peak at 1.4 miles which is distinguished with a couple lonely pines on top. The Spur Trail to the top is clear, seeming to run straight up the hill on the far side of a locked gate to the right of the trail. Return from here and your total distance will be 10 miles. A popular alternative is to go right from the Main Divide/Horsethief junction to the top of the Trabuco Trail passed earlier and the make a loop back down to the junction with the Horsethief Trail.