Toro Peak, in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

, is the highest mountain in the Santa Rosa Mountain Range. It is located south of

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

, west of the

Salton Sea The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline body of water in Riverside and Imperial counties at the southern end of the U.S. state of California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough that stretches to the Gulf o ...

, and east of

Temecula Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a ...

, in the

County of Riverside, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...

. 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 Bernard ...

. Another portion, including the 8,717 ft summit and the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

marker on the summit (registered in 1939), is gated and controlled by the Santa Rosa Indian Reservation. A third portion of the mountain is administered by the

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument is a National Monument in southern California. It includes portions of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountain ranges, the northernmost ones of the Peninsular Ranges system. The nationa ...

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 Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...

) 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

, and neighboring mountains such as San Jacinto Peak,

Mount San Gorgonio San Gorgonio is Spanish for "Saint Gorgonius"; San Gorgonio might also refer to: Landforms and parks *San Gorgonio Mountain, California, United States *San Gorgonio Pass, California, United States *San Gorgonio River, California, United States * S ...

Palomar Mountain Palomar Mountain ( ; es, Monte Palomar ) is a mountain ridge in the Peninsular Ranges in northern San Diego County. It is famous as the location of the Palomar Observatory and Hale Telescope, and known for the Palomar Mountain State Park. His ...

, and

Hot Springs Mountain Hot Springs Mountain is a peak located in the Peninsular Ranges in California. The mountain rises to an elevation of and is the highest point in San Diego County. Some snow falls on the mountain peak during winter. It is located in a remote regio ...

. To the east/southeast, the Salton Sea and

Imperial Valley , photo = Salton Sea from Space.jpg , photo_caption = The Imperial Valley below the Salton Sea. The US-Mexican border runs diagonally across the lower left of the image. , map_image = Newriverwatershed-1-.jpg , map_caption = Map of Imperial ...

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 Sky islands are topographic isolation, isolated mountains surrounded by radically different lowland environments. The term originally referred to those found on the Mexican Plateau, and has extended to similarly isolated montane ecosystems, hi ...

mountains. Vegetation on the mountain is a mixed variety of trees:

Incense Cedar ''Calocedrus'', the incense cedar (alternatively spelled incense-cedar), is a genus of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae first described as a genus in 1873. It is native to eastern Asia and western North America. The generi ...

White Fir ''Abies concolor'', the white fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Cascade Range and southern Rocky Mountains, and into the isolated mountain range ...

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 ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

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 ''Pinus flexilis'', the limber pine, is a species of pine tree-the family Pinaceae that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States, Mexico, and Canada. It is also called Rocky Mountain white pine. A limber pine in Eagle Cap Wildernes ...

, 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) that are found on many other mountains. For example, in the adjacent picture, trees such as

and

, are seen growing on the lowest extent of the mountain beside dryer, weather-tolerant trees such as

and

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 world' ...

and the Inland Empire. There is limited human activity beyond a few remote campsites on various parts of the mountain. The peak has a warm-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

( 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