Pinoche Peak Trail

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Features Birding · Fall Colors · Historical Significance · Spring · Views · Wildflowers

Give yourself plenty of time, as you may wish to scramble up nearby peaks, namely Brown and Pinoche. Use caution, as you'll need to travel cross-country to follow the trail.

This is a remote area of the forest. There are no restrooms or services. There is no signage along the road or the trail, so be sure to carry a map, compass, and GPS device. Fellow hikers will be few, if any. Cell service is spotty at best; we recommend you carry a satellite-based emergency communication device. Cross-country travel is required, increasing the odds of getting lost, or found, and introduces many hazardous conditions. Only one source of water exists along the trail; treat before consuming. If you opt to travel in this area, be fully and independently reliant. Always carry the 10-essentials, and if travelling alone, tell/show someone where you are going and when you plan to be back. Be aware. Be prepared.

This is a moderate 7.6 mile "out-and-back" hike along the Pinoche Ridge that overlooks two "Wild and Scenic" river canyons. The trail starts where Henness Ridge Road (Forest Service Road 3S30) and another dirt road, also from Yosemite West, meet a gated third road that heads southwest to Cathewood Saddle; the third road is the beginning of the Pinoche Peak Trail.

Follow that road which leads to Cathewood Saddle. On the right side of the road, keep a lookout for Barrel Spring, a little under a mile in. Barrel Spring is a good opportunity to get some water, as there is no other water source along this trail. From Barrel Spring, continue hiking on the dirt road to Cathewood Saddle. It's easy to lose the trail past Cathewood Saddle, so be attentive here.

About 50 yards past the saddle, turn left from the road onto a singletrack trail, which soon heads downslope, but which veers to the right, staying higher than the gully to your left. The trail goes through a beautiful glen of Black Oak trees, an absolute treat of golden leaves in the fall. The trail rises out of the glen and leads to the southeast flank of Pinoche Peak, offering a sudden and stunning view of the South Fork Watershed. This spot is a wonderful place for to eat, drink and refresh.

From here, one could opt to scramble up to Pinoche Peak, or continue along the ridge to Canty Meadow. Views from the ridge are spectacular, so give yourself plenty of time to explore and relax. While still a good distance from Canty Meadow, the trail will fade away and disappear into the brush. At this point it is best to head for the ridge and hike west on it until you arrive at Canty Meadow, once adorned with large Ponderosa Pines and Sugar Pines, but decimated by the pine-bark beetle then then burned in the 2018 Ferguson Fire.

It'll be rough going, as the Ferguson Fire laid waste to many trees along the ridge. West of Canty Meadow, the trail is but a line on a map. From Canty Meadow you could follow the Cold Canyon Road to Highway 140, or hike south down the road to a mine (there may be water flowing in the creek above the mine). Or, one could scramble up to Brown Peak (a broad undistinguished mountaintop).

The trail traverses through grasslands, oak-pine woodland and chaparral plant communities. Raptors, including hawks and eagles may be seen. Deer, bears, mountain lions and coyotes also live in the area. Be watchful for rattlesnakes too, especially near the springs.

HISTORY---- It's highly probable that Pinoche Ridge was used by indigenous peoples for thousands of years, as a route between the High Sierra and the foothills below. In the late 1800's, a trail shows up on maps connecting to Mariposa, through Jerseydale. Additionally, mining-related trails, all but a memory now, used to drop into the South Fork Drainage to places such as Sim's Cove, Peach Tree Bar and into Zip Creek.