Cahuilla Mountain ( 5635 ’ ) ( RiversideCounty ) Date : Nov 14 , 2018 10 : 12 ~ 13 : 36 ( 3 h 24 m ) Course : Trailhead ( 10 : 12 ; 4500 ’ ) ~ Summit ( 11 : 57 ; 5635 ’ ) ~ Left the Summit ( 12 : 16 ) ~ Trailhead ( 13 : 36 ) ; RT 6 Miles , 1700 ’ Gain With : Sierra Club HPS Team 11 Members DRIVING ROUTE Take I - 10 or SR 60 east to SR 79 in Beaumont . Take exit south to SR 79 . Go south on SR 79 to the Ramona Expressway . Turn left ( east ) . Go east and then southeast on the Ramona Expressway until it ends at SR 74 . Turn left ( east ) . Go east on SR 74 to Mountain Center at the junction with Idyllwild Highway ( SR 243 ) . Continue east on SR 74 for 12 . 5 miles to the intersection with SR 371 on the right . Turn right . Go 9 . 5 miles on SR 371 to Cary Road on the right . Turn right . Note your odometer and go as follows : At 3 . 7 miles , fork , with sign " Tripp Flats ". Go left ( west ) . At 4 . 5 miles , fork , with Tripp Flats Station on the right . Go left ( west ) on 6 S 22 , through a gate . At 6 . 1 miles , saddle . Park here . HIKING ROUTEFrom the parking area ( 4500 '), hike south up the obvious trail past the burnt remnants of a sign that once identified it as 2 E 45 " Cahuilla Mountain Trail . " It goes around the mountain ' s east side to the top of the ridge just southwest of elevation 5604 '. The trail is as shown on the topo until it passes a gully at UTM 205158 . Beyond here and up to the ridge , the trail is slightly south of that shown , going up the gully to the saddle at UTM 201158 . Continue south on the trail ( no longer shown on the topo ) . It goes down along the right side of the ridge , passes to the left of a rocky hummock , then heads east up a shallow ravine . Follow the trail as it goes around to the left and comes out on a summit where the register is located . The broad summit to the west - southwest is lower . SPECIAL CONDITIONSDirt roads in the area may be closed for fire or rainy season . Check with the Forest Service in Idyllwild : ( 909 ) 382 - 2921 Named for the Cahuilla Indians , whose Reservation is nearby . The northeast slopes were traveled by Garces ( 1768 ) and Anza ( 1775 ) . But the peak achieved world - fame for a different reason . Helen HuntJackson ( 1830 - 85 ) wrote Ramona in 1894 . An enormously popularbook , based on truth and legend , it was meant to be a polemic outlining wrongsto the Indians . Instead it was devoured as a fabulous story of star - crossedlove . It succeeded by greatly romanticizing the attempts of the Californios touplift the natives , in counterpoint to the greed and vulgarity of the Yankee usurpers . " Juan Diego Flat " between Cahuilla and Little Cahuilla Mountains iswhere the real model for the fictional " Allesandro " was senselesslykilled . For decades afterward , the first tourists to Southern California cameprimarily to visit Ramona ' s ( imaginary ) home . They were met at practicallyevery tram station by someone declared to be the " real " Ramona . Dozens of towns throughout the Southland were named Ramona . The manufacture ofRamona curios became a basic local industry . Scores of just - founded hamletsclaimed to be her birthplace . Later there would be a stageplay ( 1902 ) , hit song ( 1926 ) , movies ( 1910 , 1916 , 1926 ) , and even a Ramona starring Don Ameche andLoretta Young ( 1936 ) . Today , two towns still remember : Hemet - San Jacintoproduces the Ramona Pageant and Cahuilla maintains the gravesof Ramona and Juan Diego / Allesandro . The truth long ago became a myth that hasredressed much of the wrong . ***