Trip report
Oct 1, 2025 — The Desert Divide stretches north to south as chain of peaks forming the southern spine of the San Jacinto range. The full traverse spans twelve summits, often called “The Divide Dozen”, with the PCT tracing the crest. After yesterday’s hike along the Desert Divide to reach Spitler Peak, Apache Peak, and Antsell Rock, I set out to complete the northern peaks along the Desert Divide: Taquitz Peak, Grey Taquitz, Red Taquitz. Although these summits are only about 1000 feet taller than the southern group, the landscape is much different, with lots of forest and steep granite faces visible along the slopes.
After retrieving my free wilderness permit online, I headed up to the Devil’s Slide Trailhead, one of the classic access points for San Jacinto. The trail climbs gently through the forest with great views back toward the giant granite face of Tahquitz Rock (aka Lily Rock), the valley below, and Suicide Rock across the way. After a few broad switchbacks I reached Saddle Junction, where a tangle of trails meet. I dropped south on the PCT toward Tahquitz Peak and followed the South Ridge Trail to the summit and its old fire lookout tower.
Next up were Red Tahquitz and Grey Tahquitz, slightly lower summits located just east along the ridgeline. The crest looked really rugged between Tahquitz Peak and these next two, so I ditched my original plan to keep to the crest off-trail, instead choosing to follow the PCT to reach Grey Tahquitz’s northern slope. There’s a social trail that leads all the way to Red Tahquitz, marked by a fairly obvious divergent fork from the PCT. I’ll note that I took a much more direct route up to Grey Tahquitz from the PCT, but I included only the out-and-back social trail option in my map/track since it’s much more straightforward. If you choose to head directly to Grey Tahquitz via its steep northwestern slope, expect some Class 2/3 scrambling over large boulders.
Red Tahquitz has two bumps of about equal height, but the farther one gives the better views south along the Desert Divide. The short off-trail connection from Red Tahquitz to Grey Tahquitz winds through a cute maze of granite boulders. easy to keep Class 2 if you stay low, but the boulder-hopping up top is the most enjoyable part of the day. You can likely avoid any Class 2/3 by staying lower beneath the boulders, but I found this to be the most fun part of the day.
After tagging both peaks and backtracking, I dropped onto the Little Tahquitz Valley Trail, a quiet stretch that led through a couple of pretty meadows. I then headed up the Caramba Trail back to Saddle Junction.