Toro Peak, in Southern California, is the highest mountain in the Santa Rosa Mountain Range. It is located south of Palm Springs, west of the Salton Sea, and east of Temecula, in the County of Riverside, California. Part of the mountain is under the jurisdiction of the

San Bernardino National Forest The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States National Forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Berna ...

. Another portion, including the 8,717 ft summit and the United States Geological Survey marker on the summit (registered in 1939), is gated and controlled by the

Santa Rosa Indian Reservation The Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla Indians, located in Riverside County, California.Pritzker, 120 Reservation The Santa Rosa Indian Reservation, not to be confused with the Santa Rosa Rancheria, i ...

. A third portion of the mountain is administered by the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument.

Location

The mountain is accessible from California State Route 74 (also known as the Pines to Palms Highway) via a dirt road approximately 5 miles east of Route 74's junction with Route 371. The dirt road begins at an elevation of 4,700 feet and heads towards the summit for approximately 13 miles. A 4x4 or off-road vehicle is recommended because the road is steep and rocky. It comes to a locked gate around 8,200 ft and from there it is a 500-foot hike to the summit up a rough maintenance road that passes the former MCI (now owned by Verizon Communications) primary power generator that provides electricity to the summit.

Top of the peak

From Toro Peak's summit one can see the Santa Rosa Mountain Range to Palm Springs, and neighboring mountains such as

San Jacinto Peak San Jacinto Peak (; often designated Mount San Jacinto) is a peak in the San Jacinto Mountains, in Riverside County, California. Lying within Mount San Jacinto State Park it is the highest both in the range and the county, and serves as the sout ...

, Mount San Gorgonio, Palomar Mountain, and Hot Springs Mountain. To the east/southeast, the Salton Sea and Imperial Valley are visible. From the peak in good weather Charleston Peak in Nevada is also visible.

Vegetation

Toro Peak and the Santa Rosa Mountains come under the category of sky island mountains. Vegetation on the mountain is a mixed variety of trees: Incense Cedar, White Fir,

Jeffrey Pine ''Pinus jeffreyi'', also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja Califo ...

, Ponderosa Pine,

Sugar Pine ''Pinus lambertiana'' (commonly known as the sugar pine or sugar cone pine) is the tallest and most massive pine tree, and has the longest cones of any conifer. The species name ''lambertiana'' was given by the Scottish botanist David Douglas, ...

and on the highest slopes Limber Pine, which is an ice age remnant species. Typical of mountains closest to the Pacific in California, these trees ignore the elevation separations of vegetation (known as

life zones The life zone concept was developed by C. Hart Merriam in 1889 as a means of describing areas with similar plant and animal communities. Merriam observed that the changes in these communities with an increase in latitude at a constant elevation ...

) that are found on many other mountains. For example, in the adjacent picture, trees such as White Fir and Incense Cedar, are seen growing on the lowest extent of the mountain beside dryer, weather-tolerant trees such as

and Ponderosa Pine.

Climate

In winter, the weather on Toro Peak and the Santa Rosa Mountains can be difficult. Snow falls on the mountain more than a few times during the winter and accounts for most of the annual precipitation, with a second percentage coming from monsoonal thunderstorms during the summer. Nighttime and daytime seasonal lows in the winter and seasonal summer highs are taken from the Long Valley Ranger Station on neighboring Mount San Jacinto. This mountain is one of the many scattered sky islands in the southwest. Toro Peak's high elevation helps clear the smog emitted from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

and the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities o ...

. There is limited human activity beyond a few remote campsites on various parts of the mountain. The peak has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate ( Csb). File:Toro Peak 277.jpg File:Toro Peak 976.jpg File:Toro Peak 884.jpg File:Toro Peak 922.jpg File:Toro Peak 527.jpg File:Toro Peak 925.jpg File:Toro Peak 635.jpg File:Toro Peak 566.jpg

External links

San Bernardino National Forest

Album of Toro Peak pictures, August 2009

Topo map of Toro Peak

References

{{reflist Mountains of Riverside County, California Santa Rosa Mountains (California) Mountains of Southern California