In the beginning of January 2018 I and my wife hiked to Murray Peak, the highest mountain foothills peak in Palm Springs area. It rises to 2,100 feet which makes it a bit of a challenge. Like previous times into this peak we started from Frank Bogert trail in Andreas Hills and rose to Murray Peak along this trail, Wild Horse Trail and Clara Burgess Trail along the western slope. Three guys had come from the other side of the peak so we decided to go down from that side. This is a continuous drop almost 2,000 feet to a canyon along Clara Burgess Trail. From the canyon you have two alternative routes back to Frank Bogert trail – one unofficial trail following the canyon side the other along Clara Burgess Trail to Goat Trails which is longer. We to the shorter option and it rises again about 1,000 feet to meet Frank Bogert Trail. The whole loop was more than 9.3 miles (15 km) which we felt in our feet.
There are a couple of other options to reach Murray Peak ending up at loop. One is to start close to Vons supermarket along Goat Trails and straight up to Murray Peak, and down towards west. That loop is about 8 miles long. Another loop is to start from Palm Canyon creek to Garstin Trail and from there along Clara Burgess, Wild Horse and again Clara Burgess down to Goat Trails and back to Garstin. That is also about 8 miles and about as strenuous as our loop.
A very useable smartphone app AllTrails claims Murray Peakin rise and return the same way from Frank Bogert Trail as “easy”, from Garstinilta as a loop “hard” – but as said, I think they are equal. But I still recommend this app for any hiker as it includes almost all hiking trails at least in this area where it covers currently 250 hikes. AllTrails also includes trails the world over.
Attched you see a couple of shots from our loop trail, one of them having my map and some facts from my smartphone’s SportTracker app, another a piece of dirt road along Frank Bogert Trail. And this article’s photo towards south to Santa Rosa Mountains with us two at the picking tables. If you are short of trail options, this one is suggested, but I will next choose the option to rise and return Murray Peak the along the route starting from Vons.
Vesa's Murray Peak Loop from Frank Bogertt Trail.
Frank Bogert starts as a dirt road and last year's rains had washed away a part of the road- just a short detour.
Me and my wife at the top of Murray Peak after a rise from Frank Bogert trail.
