Distance (round-trip)
22.7 mi
Time
18 hrs
Elevation Gain
8300 ft
Season
Spring
Fall
Winter
Weather
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22.7 mi
18 hrs
8300 ft
Spring
Fall
Winter
–
One of the most challenging hikes in Southern California. This ascent of a long, ramp-like ridge takes you first to Villager Peak and then, after much undulating, to the remote sky island of Rabbit Peak. The views are phenomenal, and the sunsets and sunrises can be once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Not for the faint-of-heart, and certainly only for experienced hikers, this is one of the most memorable hikes you can take in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
Villager Peak before sunset
If you’ve spent any amount of time in Borrego Valley, then chances are you’ve seen it staring you down, both challenging and beckoning you: a formidable wall of granite rising straight up from the desert floor and culminating in a flat, wooded summit known as Rabbit Peak. This sky island crowned with pinyon pines, meadows, and chaparral stands aloof from the rest of Southern California in one of the most isolated and difficult-to-reach parts of the region. No roads and few trails penetrate this part of the Santa Rosa Mountains, and the only way to reach the peak is to undergo the ordeal of climbing straight up a daunting ridge from the desert floor.
Pinyon snag at sunset
There are two popular routes reaching Rabbit Peak. A north approach from the Coachella Valley is shorter, but far steeper. The east approach described here rises up from Borrego Valley via a ramp-like ridge that leads first to Villager Peak (itself a daunting destination at 14 miles and 5000′ of gain) before following an undulating ridgeline to Rabbit. The total distance on this route is 21 miles with a gain of 8300′.
Rabbit Peak and the terrain inbetween it and Villager Peak
Incredibly, even though Rabbit Peak is only 900′ higher than Villager Peak, there is a net gain and loss of 3,300′ over the 7 mile round trip hike from Villager Peak. The adventurous and stamina-blessed souls who assault Rabbit on dayhikes insist with great sincerity that this route is more difficult than Cactus-to-Clouds, which climbs Mt. San Jacinto from Palm Springs. Remember that on Rabbit Peak, there is no conveniently located tram to take you down when you’ve had enough.
Clark Valley, Coyote Mountain, and the San Ysidro Mountains from Villager Ridge
Any hike of this magnitude is going to be rife with challenges, and Rabbit is no exception. The Santa Rosa Mountains, as austerely beautiful as they are, are an unforgiving, even cruel place for the unprepared. There is no water and little shade. The terrain is craggy and uneven at best, and several portions of trail on this hike follow the edge of a spectacular 3,000′ escarpment that will give acrophobes a panic attack. The grade on the hike routinely hits 1,000′ per mile, with many sections exceeding that ratio. On nearly every step of the trail, you cross paths with some form of plant that is capable of inflicting damage, including cholla, ocotillo, agave, Mojave yucca, and thick stands of chaparral plants. And of course, you are miles away from the nearest road with no phone reception on a trail that is sparsely traveled even during the peak of desert season.
The “trail” to Villager Peak
By this point, many people will have already concluded that this hike is not for them. If you’re still salivating and wish to hike Rabbit, here is what you need to be prepared for:
Pinyon-juniper woodland
Tempting as it may be to hike this in a single day (or, at least a 24 hour period), we strongly recommend doing this as an overnight hike. Even if you are physically capable of such a feat, you’ll get the most out of the experience if you allow abundant time to experience the sunset and sunrise, as well as to explore the summit plateaus of Villager and Rabbit Peaks.
Pinyon snag and the Salton Sea at sunrise
To begin, start from the trailhead on the north shoulder of the Borrego Salton Seaway and follow the abandoned tread of an old jeep road north. Aim straight toward the eastern base of a low line of hills in front of you. There will likely be sets of footsteps to follow, but in case there aren’t, know that you will travel due north from the parking area for .5 mile. Once you reach the base of these low hills, you will find a well-defined trail that you can follow into Rattlesnake Wash for another .6 mile to the base of the ridge leading to Villager Peak. At the base, you’ll identify a switchbacking route that climbs out of the wash and onto the ridge.
The beginning
The initial .5 mile is exceedingly steep, although the grade soon attains a more manageable 1000′ per mile ratio. For the first 2 miles of the climb, the vegetation is dominated by creosote, ocotillo, red barrel cactus, cholla, and brittlebush. Initially, the terrain is fairly easy to negotiate, with the occasional bit of loose scree on a firm surface.
Lone cottonwood at Rattlesnake Spring
At 3000′, the vegetation makes a pronounced change with desert agave (century plant) becoming the dominant plant. The agave stalk, of which you will see thousands, contains a fleshy “heart” that was a staple food of the Cahuilla Indians. The Cahuilla lived in and around the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains, and they eked out a living off of what may seem meager resources to us. In order to eat the agave hearts, the stalk needed to be roasted for several days in an underground, coal-fired pit. Due to the difficulty of transporting large amounts of agave stalks over the mountain trails, the Cahuilla roasted the agave where they harvested it. Astute observers may spot circles about 10-15 feet in diameter in the midst of these agave thickets. The circles that have tan-colored sand in the center were sleeping circles where the Cahuilla constructed and used shelters during their harvests. Circles with darkened sand were likely roasting pits.
Tip-toeing along Villager Ridge’s spectacular escarpment
At 3.8 miles and the 3200′ contour, you’ll reach the spectacular and terrifying Santa Rosa escarpment that drops 2000-3000′ down to Clark Valley. The trail remains quite close to the edge of the cliff until the summit of Villager Peak. Meanwhile, the terrain becomes more jagged and broken, and it takes more effort and concentration to keep track of the trail. If you’re having trouble keeping to the trail, focus instead of keeping to the highest part of the ridge to avoid inadvertently descending away from the path.
Mojave Yucca with Mile High Mountain and the Salton Sea in the background
Around 4800′-5000′, the vegetation again undergoes a change with junipers, pinyons, yuccas, and nolina becoming the dominant plant life. Mercifully, the agave disappears and the cholla thins out considerably, making navigation slightly less stressful. You’ll traverse a false peak, passing a few windswept campsites before making a 250′ climb up to the rounded summit of Villager Peak. Just north of the summit, you’ll find a pinyon-studded flat with abundant campsites. This is an excellent place to camp and establish a jump-off point for your summit attempt on Rabbit Peak during the following morning.
Summit cairn on Villager Peak
Villager’s summit is marked by a cairn (rock pile), and from here or several flat rocks nearby, you can take in the full extent of the view that has been developing on the way up. To the south, the expanse of Borrego Valley, framed by the San Ysidro Mountains, Pinyon Ridge, Pinyon Mountains, and Vallecito Mountains lies before you. Numerous other highpoints are also easy to spot, including Granite Mountain, Cuyamaca Peak, Hot Springs Mountain, and Toro Peak. If you descend from the summit and walk across the summit plateau to some boulders on the north side, you’ll take in about half of the even more impressive Coachella Valley, framed by the the Little San Bernardinos, the Mecca Hills, Joshua Tree National Park, and the sparkling waters of the Salton Sea.
Sunset color from Villager Peak
Since you’re camping, you’ll also get the benefit of watching the sun set from the summit. Watching the evening shadows lengthen across Borrego Valley while the surrounding mountains take on contrast and relief from the sun’s angle is one of the sublime pleasures available on this hike. A dayhike will not grant you ample time to enjoy these handful-in-a-lifetime kind of sunsets and sunrises.
Crimson alpenglow across Borrego Valley
Sun rising over the Orocopia Mountains
For the approach to Rabbit, you’ll wish to get a pre-dawn start if you want to make it to the peak and back, re-pack your gear, and then take the arduous 5000′ descent down from Villager in time to eat a hearty dinner in Borrego Springs. Because you’re backpacking, you can leave the majority of your gear and some of your water behind to lighten your load. Navigation in the dark is a bit tricky, and you will absolutely need a headlamp even if the moon is full. Previous hikers have left reflective cubes attached to trees along the path to help you find your way. You’ll miss them if you aren’t using a headlamp.
Along the crest
Thus begins a rollercoaster of a hike in which you will promptly lose and gain elevation repeatedly as you ascend every undulation in the ridge between Villager and Rabbit. The initial 500′ drop from Villager is followed by several 100-300′ undulations and 600′ ascent to Peak 5859, followed by a 300′ drop and a 200′ climb before you reach the base of Rabbit Peak. From the base of Rabbit Peak, you’ll climb 900′ in a little over .5 mile to reach the flat summit. On your return journey, you’ll do the whole thing in reverse.
Sun rising over the Salton Sea
Somewhere along the way, provided you had a pre-dawn start, you will no doubt notice the sky’s transition from inky, diamond-strewn black to a deep blue with a line of warm color on the eastern horizon. The waters of the Salton Sea will become translucent as the dawn approaches. If it’s cloudy, the clouds will undergo a transition from grey shadows to blood red streaks across the sky. Do your best to be atop one of the ridge’s higher points, because this is a sunrise you will not wish to miss. To the east and north, the sun rises over the Salton Sea. To the south and west, the sun’s first rays cast a violently iridescent alpenglow across the San Ysidro Mountains and Coyote Mountain. As far as sunrises go, there is a fair chance that this could be one of the most memorable you’ll ever experience.
Borrego Valley at dawn
From the base of Rabbit Peak, commence the steep climb up a rocky, sandy slope through a sparse woodland of shade-giving pinyons. This arduous climb will take a lot out of you, and it’s not much easier coming back down. However, the grade will soon flatten out, and you’ll find yourself entering a heavily-wooded flat studded with pinyon pines, scrub oaks, chaparral, and several small meadows. A boulder pile with an ammo canister chained to it marks the summit. You won’t get the same panoramic views as on Villager or even on the ridge, although you will get your first clear looks at San Jacinto and San Gorgonio from the summit boulders.
Rabbit Peak’s summit plateau
The real beauty of Rabbit Peak lies in its “Island in the Sky” nature. Here, you are in a secret world, separate from the rest of Southern California. You will find numerous campsites around the summit, and if you want to get a full sense of the view, you can spend several hours poking around looking for vistas north, south, east, and west. Camping here would be wonderful in many ways, but you will need to assess for yourself whether you wish to carry your full pack over the 10.5 miles and 6600′ of climbing between here and the trailhead. It will make the climb significantly more challenging.
From left to right, Mt. San Jacinto, Mt. San Gorgonio, and Martinez Mountain in the foreground
Whether dayhiking or backpacking, this is your turnaround point. As you’ve probably gathered, you should not underestimate the amount of work you have before you. Not only do you have another 10.5 miles of walking, you also have 2000′ of climbing and 6600′ of elevation loss to contend with, not to mention all of the terrain and pointy-plant challenges you encountered on the way up. While physically easier, the return journey is much more challenging mentally, as you will undoubtedly reach a point when you are ready for it to be over.
Toro Peak with Peak 6582 (Dawn’s Peak) in the foreground
Before long though, you will have collected your gear from Villager Peak, loaded back up, and will have made the painstaking descent back to the desert floor. By the time you finish, you will have conquered one of the most difficult hikes in Southern California, and the sense of accomplishment exceeds that which you get from other challenging hikes. More than that, there is an abundance of moments on this route where you will experience a number of sublime sensations ranging from awe as the sun rises over the Salton Sea, excitement at the sight of meteors streaking across a clear, cold sky, and the mysterious remnants of ancient cultures.
There is a fairly well-beaten path based on what is likely an old Cahuilla trail that is kept navigable by the passage of bighorn sheep and hikers.
You are camping on the summit of Villager or Rabbit Peak, most likely. Thanks to Anza-Borrego's merciful lack of red tape, all you have to do to camp here is climb the mountain and pick a spot.
From San Diego, drive to Borrego Springs by whichever route seems easiest and fastest. From the Christmas Circle in the center of town, head east on Borrego Salton Seaway. Continue east for 12.7 miles until you reach a parking area on the north side of the highway directly opposite the Thimble Trail.
13 Comments
Glad you had a great hike, and it sounds like the right decision to do Villager. It is an accomplishment just doing that your first time there!
You sound like a strong hiker, and I am sure you will get to “wabbit” soon! Happy hiking!
Also when I did C2C fall 2019, I did C2C2I, as I rode in with friends then hiked down to Humber Park in Idyllwild with another friend who met me at the peak coming up Devil’s Slide. That put my hike over 23 miles as a day and all daylight hike. Rabbit was still harder, but in many ways more beautiful especially in the desert’s vastness and solitude!
I will add, esp after doing C2C a second time this fall and much of Skyline with someone I met near the start and the upper part to peak alone that Rabbit most definitely is harder as a day hike, in large part that the desert is just harder on your body - the slippery scree, the cacti and agave and the spots the trail “hides” among the small slabby rock sections - the “escarpment” and narrow upper ridges of Villager can play with your mind and you are just highly exposed both in lack of shade and weather and wind the entire trail. Also Villager coming down is one of those hikes where it seems like it keeps getting longer the farther you hike. You have to stay mentally “on” the entire way as it can be slippery descending and the last part coming off Villager is the crumbly “exceedingly steep” start of the ridge rising above Rattlesnake Wash. Then you have to find your way back to the car, crossing first the alluvial fan rock fields then the tip of the earthquake fault and the braided trail across open, cactusy desert back to S-22 - likely in the dark (but under a magnificent field of stars - I’ve seen the Milky Way in Borrego)!. A lot more involved than the tram ride down and rideshare back to Ramon Rd or the Art Museum.
Both are challenging and need to be adequately prepared for, taken seriously, and mindfully hiked in relation to staying hydrated, keeping a stable pace, and keeping your energy up.
I will say if Jacinto has snow, C2C is most definitely harder, as snow hiking is slow, hungry work and depending on conditions can be a navigation challenge. Also if snow is low Skyline’s “traverse” can be deadly with its runout, so don’r attempt it pls in Skyline snow conditions. Upper parts of Villager are narrow and “pinched,” so I would recommend caution in snow or high winds and to avoid if you don’t know the area if these weather conditions are present. The mountains still will be there.
These are two of my favorite, most beautiful hikes, and there is nothing like seeing the moon rise seemingly out of the Salton Sea while the sun paints fire over the San Ysidro mountains as it sets. There is such magic and beauty in the Santa Rosas!
Attempted this hike Sat (November 30, 2019). Got to Villager Peak in the good time, and there was snow up in above 5000 as well. Very nice! As we app the saddle between Villager and Rabbit, we knew that we would be descending for 3 to 4 hours in the dark if we continued. We were all prepared for that, but due to the terrain, and the fact that it was our first time hiking in this area we opted to turn back and come back for Rabbit another time. The hike to Villager Peak and down Ridge toward Rabbit was a fun full day adventure in its own right. Next time we will get an earlier start, our 6am start was too late for this kind of hike. We made it back to our car around 4pm. We did have two in our group who did continue on to Rabbit. They finished around 8:30pm. Definitely a formidable hike up there with C2C. Great trail write up! Without bagging Rabbit, our hike to Villager and down to the saddle between the two peaks and back, came in at 17.3 miles and 5819 of elevation gain for the day. Not too shabby!
Hi Hiker Girl,
Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you had a great experience, and I'm happy that my guide played a part in that. Many happy adventures!
My first season of desert hiking a year into hiking in general finished great doing Rabbit as a day hike (and having the mtns to ourselves) a few days ago. I went with my highly xp friend so knew what I was getting into, and we did Villager a few times and cached water for this recently, so I was set.
Your guide was spot-on and fun and easy to read. I agree most people would find it most enjoyable to overnight at Villager. I also agree having done both that this hike took more out of me, both surprisingly some leg fatigue and definitely mental overload, than C2C tho I was quite the newbie when I did that almost a year ago. The loose scree, constant scanning for the trail esp among the rocky areas, in the groundflower undergrowth, and to Rabbit the use trail does fade in and out, plus the many “wee hills” that just sap your energy if you don’t pace yourself and keep hydrated and fed enough, make C2C seem like Disneyland with its worst-case rescue boxes, an actually very well-maintained trail compared to the Santa Rosas, and the comfy tram station to cool off and relax, plus nice green pine - and shade! - trees much of the way to the peak. But both are beautiful in their own ways, and both are some of my favorite places! I had no idea what to expect after Villager and was surprised at both the length of the ridge to climb over to get to Rabbit and how beautiful the land was. It was great to put another piece of the entire ridge together, as we have hiked a lot of the eastern section earlier this season. It was so beautiful too!
Thanks for your great trail reports and your books - they have helped me and even my friend when they are looking for new adventures!
Happy hiking!
This was the best information I've ever found on a hike. Just finished the summit of Rabbit, and I think I lost one of my nine lives. It should be reinforced that, if you are wanting anything less than a wicked adventure and you have a disdain for easy-to-follow trails (i.e., you can zone-out), then pick another hike!!!
To chime in - the track I provided was heavily corrected to clean out all of the phantom distance that occurs whenever a hiker stops but leaves his GPS running. I arrived at the original distance (which you will see in Afoot and Afield) by running that corrected track through both Caltopo and Google Earth. For me, the mileage was neat 21 miles, and I averaged it out to a round 21.
It's possible that you may have had an inflated distance from your GPS due to the phantom distance I mentioned earlier. Any time you stop moving but leave your device on, it continues to record your location in slightly different spots - probably due to constant motion of the triangulating satellites. Your GPS records this as distance and adds the mileage to your overall distance. Hikers are often disappointed to find that they didn't hike as far as they thought because their GPS "added" a couple of miles to their overall distance.
Thanks for the catch, Ali! As you probably know, GPS outputs can be notoriously finicky and often show different distances depending on what programs you're using to look at them. I've updated the distance on the hike here to match your numbers (as well as our embedded GPS map). Glad you enjoyed the hike (even with its difficulties)!
Thanks for the great write up! Just had a suggestion for you, and that's to update the mileage at the top of the page. I did this hike (dayhiked it against your advice because I'm a stubborn old fool -- ouch!) a couple of days ago and ended up with a total of 24 miles as reported by my Fenix 5. I wondered how my mileage could have been off by three miles, but then I revisited your post and found that the elevation profile plot shows a total of 22.7 miles. Wouldn't hurt to update the mileage to that value. Other than that, I found your post to be spot on. I will definitely make my next visit an overnighter.
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