San Mateo Backpacking Loop AKA My 70 Mile Thru Hike Conditioning Trip In Orange County
- Updated: February 18, 2025
- Post By: Matthew Hengst
February 16th to 19th, 2022
Day 1 18.7 miles, 3,950'
Day 2 20 miles, 3,700'
Day 3 20.6 miles, 3,000'
Day 4 11.3 miles, 2,200'
Total 70.6 miles, 12,850'
Welcome to another episode of my continuing search for good warmup trips to do before the main PCT / CDT / AT long distance summer hiking season. This year since I was tied to Orange County until early March due to volunteer commitments I started looking at one of the lesser known wilderness areas: San Mateo.
San Mateo Wilderness is basically the area south of Ortega Highway bounded in by various bits of private property and then the military base to the south. I've most commonly visited it to hike Sitton Peak from the Bear Canyon / Candy Store trailhead off Ortega but I did do an overnight Sierra Club trip backpack out there years ago to Fisherman's Camp which is actually a lot nicer than you'd expect considering the area. There are even swimming holes back there.
I set out to come up with the biggest multi-day loop that made sense. While overnight camping is legal the area is bounded on the north by a large no over night camping zone and to the south with a no entry allowed military base. I picked the San Juan / Hot Springs Trailhead to start at a short distance from Caspers Park because it was the easiest to access.
This turned out to be my new favorite local conditioning trip. At least when fire closures don't get in the way.
Time of Year
I did this hike in mid February of 2022.
Other than straight temperature the biggest issue is going to be water. The good news is most of the water sources I used were pumps that aren't likely to run dry. (Hopefully. Caspers Park did have its well run dry in late 2021 but it's come back in recent years)
Red Tape
A permit is required for overnights in the San Mateo Canyon Wilderness but fortunately they make them really easy to get. Just fill out the PDF here and email it to the address specified. They say to allow 2 days for processing but I was able to get one issued same day when I called and spoke over the phone to a helpful ranger at the Trabuco District. Just be ready to explain in each interaction that you're not trying to do anything near the PCT since they seem to get most of their permit inquiries around the Descano PCT area.
(In the event this link is broken you just want to search for Cleveland National Forest Trabuco ranger district wilderness permit.)
I also found it useful to email SM.FS.trabucord@usda.gov with questions and they've always gotten back to me quickly.
Camping
Dispersed camping is allowed in San Mateo but not in the area to the north which included the Los Pinos Peak area. Fortunately there are a few established campgrounds you can use to still be legal. I used Blue Jay which has bathrooms, water, and trash service but you could also stay in El Cariso if you would prefer more road walking and to be deafened by the sound of motorcycles all evening.
There is also a developed campground at Wildomar which was empty when I went through mid week but I elected to push on and camp off the road near Elsinore Peak.
As always opportunities exist if your willing to set up late and leave early I'd just recommend doing everything you can to stay out of sight. One night I was woken up by a bunch of drunk teenagers who were out driving one of the dirt roads and caught sight of my tent up a hill.
Private Property
My route passed through two private -ish communitie Wheeler Ranch and Morrell Potrero. Per the rangers no official easement exists for hikers but there's also nothing explicitly banning you from walking through. I didn't encounter any big no trespassing signs and any vehicles that passes me in those areas seemed friendly enough.
Having said that I did take my usual precaution of taking my breaks before and after these roadwalk sections so as not to trigger the whole "hey that scary looking guy sitting over there looks homeless call the police" thing that can happen around OC. And a confident stride and friendly nod as you go about your business can often avoid any sort of confrontation.
Food & Water
You're going to have to carry all your food here unless you have someone meet you at one of the campgrounds. The route does pass by the Ortega Candy Store which may have some limited items but as of February 2022 they were in the process of changing ownership and only had limited drinks. I haven't been back since the new owners took over.
The good news is there is reliable water in several places thanks to the pitcher pumps.
I started with 3.5 liters at San Juan / Hot Spring TH and drank as much as I could manage before getting dropped off. That was enough to get me to San Mateo Canyon where I found copious amounts of water flowing. That got me to Tenaja Trailhead where I used the pump, then to Wildomar Campground where I used another and then dry camped that night having filled 3.5 again. That got me to the Sitton Peak / Bear Canyon trailhead where I filled up 2 liters using another pump, drank my fill, and that got me to Blue Jay Campground which has spigots. That was enough to get me back to the San Juan / Hot Spring TH.
Depending on the time of year and the amount of rain there may be other flowing sources along the way. For example the creek in Long Canyon was flowing though it's proximity to the Sitton Trailhead meant I didn't use it.
Daily Route Notes
The following is a few notes from each day of the hike. If you're interested in more details I made extensive daily vlogs while on trail here.
Day 1
The first part of the trail is a short jaunt past some cabins back to Ortega where you have to walk briefly along the side of the busy road before getting on the trail at Lucas Canyon.
Around mile 8.5 you enter Wheeler Ranch. This is a private gated community so you can't drive up here. When I asked the rangers if there was any sort of official easement to allow hiking through here they indicated there was not however I decided to take the forgiveness vs permission approach. I smiled at any vehicles that drove past and didn't stop at all until I was back on the trail.
If I'd been turned back I had a fallback of taking the trail to Oak Flats and then picking up the Bluewater Trail to rejoin my route.
I was nominally aiming for Fisherman's Camp but there was so much better camping in San Mateo Canyon I ended up staying a few miles south. There are multiple campsites right beside the creek here with enough water I could have gone swimming.
Day 2
This was where I did the majority of the road walking. The road in question is a 1.5 lane mix of dirt and badly maintained pavement with only very occasional traffic during the week.
I did look into cutting off some of the road in favor of trail but that would have resulted in less miles. And since my goal was conditioning I wanted to maximize my miles within reason.
If you do want to do less road my suggestion would be to take the Tanaja Trail which goes past a popular set of falls and can connect you with San Mateo Peak.
You'll know you getting close to the Tanaja Trailhead because of all the graffiti. I also ran into a few dayhikers and mountain bikers in the area.
The water pump at Wildomar worked but had a sign that it wasn't safe to drink. I took that to mean it just needed to be filtered. And it hasn't seemed to kill me yet.
Rather than stay at Wildomar I elected to continue on and found a flat spot south of Elsinore Peak. Unfortunately this was a bit close to the road and I did have some curious teenagers come up to my tent waking me up sometime after 10 pm. Still, the views were great especially after dark.
Day 3
This finished up the roadwalk briefly cutting through the community of Morrell Potrero. I did this so I could go up and over San Mateo Peak but you could continue along the road, cross Ortega at El Cariso, and get up to Blue Jay via the road hitting a few more miles along the way. Once again I didn't run into any issues with locals. Once again a smile and a wave go a long way.
The parking lot across from the Candy Store on Ortega has a pitcher pump and you can find cold drink in the Candy Store. This area is really popular with day hikers going Sitton Peak so if you find yourself in need of anything you can probably find help here.
Blue Jay Campground is popular on weekends but has enough sites and is far enough back there that it rarely seems to fill up. I had the advantage of having my girlfriend head up earlier and get a site but even in the event you're there on a weekend there are enough spots you're probably going to find something. As a last resort you could follow trails to the south and find a stealth spot.
Now if you are there on the weekend expect noise. Lots of noise. Loud pounding music until late in the night ect. Next time I might consider just finding a quiet spot to camp illegally.
Day 4
From the campground I picked up the main divide truck trail leading up towards Santiago and then the trail out to Los Pinos Peak. This is a great little peak.
From here the trail down to San Juan TH is less maintained. It was passable but expect to be petting the vegetation a bit.
Near the bottom you have the Lazy W Ranch. Coming in this way you would pass several private property / no trespassing signs. Apparently pre covid you could call to ask permission to pass through but they stopped allowing that post 2020.
I just hiked through. If I'd had anyone approach me I was ready to be polite and say I was just exiting. But even with my neon green and orange pack I didn't have any issues. I would suggest this is a good reason to hike down this section vs trying to go up.
Conclusion
And that's about it. I ended up really liking this loop as it gave me a really solid workout and doesn't have any of the drawbacks of the other longer local options I've done like the Santa Monica Backbone Trail, Trans Catalina Trail, or the San Diego Trans County Trail. It's now become my goto option for pre season conditioning.
2023 Note: I was told Wildomar was closed when I went for my permit this year and they claimed the pump was going to be off. I didn't make it out there to verify but it's worth asking about before you go just to make sure you don't need to do a longer water carry. Also this area has now been affected by fires as of 2025. Trails north of Ortega area closed along with the Cariso and Blue Jay campgrounds. I'm hopeful that the area will reopen for next year but its always hard to predict with Cleveland National Forest these days.
0 comments