Twin Peaks Trail

Twin Peaks Trail is two miles round trip and is located in Poway. The trail is a mix of steep fire road, single track, and rock scrambling, so even though it is a short trail, it is still rated hard while babywearing or for bigger kids to hike on their own. If you feel most comfortable hiking with poles, this would be a trail to use them on. There is no shade and Poway is known to get extremely hot, so make sure to bring sun protection and plenty of water. Because the trail is only a mile to the top, this is a great trail to practice babywearing on tricky terrain or to get big kids used to rock scrambling and hiking steep trails. There is a bathroom and trash cans located at Silverset Park.

Normally I write up where all the trial forks are and which way to go, but this trail is one of those trails that has a thousand different trails to the top. Most of the lower forks have trail markers to tell you the way to the top, so keep an eye out for those. Once you get to the single track you are on your own. General rule of thumb is when in doubt to take the widest trail that looks like it is headed up hill and you should eventually make your way to the top. I highly recommend using a GPS navigation like AllTrails while hiking this trail to make sure you don’t go the wrong way. Even then the trails I take often aren’t on the map, so if you get off course just keep heading up and eventually you will make your way back.

The trail starts at the left of the entrance to Silverset Park next to the park’s sign. First, you will climb up a gravel fireroad. After a little ways you will reach what looks like a four pronged intersection with a bench straight ahead. The right two take you to some bike jumps, and the furthest left takes you to another trail that circles the base of the mountain. To get to the peak, take the second from the left (indicated by the red line in the photo below). From there continue until you reach a Y intersection. Both ways will take you to the top, and you can make a loop by returning on the other trail. The left, gravel trail is slightly longer and less steep but has a lot of single track and rock scrambling, while the trail to the right is steeper with about half fireroad and half single track, but a lot less rock scrambling. So take whichever trail you prefer. Continue on the trail until you reach the peak. At the top you will see gorgeous views of Poway and all the surrounding areas. There are many large boulders to sit on to enjoy a snack and water. Once you are ready to head home, either go back the way you came or take the other trail down to make a loop.