(12/1/23)
Level 1 to 5 Trail Ratings
This is a large great 4×4 playground. It’s about 6 miles long and about 1.5 miles wide. There are numerous trails at every level of difficulty. There are narrow steep rocky climbs. There rocky steps. There are sand dunes. About the only thing it doesn’t have is water obstacles.
Superstition Mountain is about two hours east of San Diego. It’s kind of at the edge of the range for day runs from San Diego. It’s worth making it out there a few times a year. There is also beaucoup camping area.
Most of the mountain itself is BLM open area. (BLM Map) (Interestingly, a couple chunks of it are privately owned. The Sand Dam is on private property. The owners seem to put no restrictions on its use.)
There are about 25 trails that are named. There are countless other trailets and connections. It’s virtually a maze. I don’t know of any map that shows all of the trails. Below is a map that most specifically shows the trails run during the San Diego 4 Wheelers annual event.
Below is a representation of what is available in the California Trail Map. It’s a good map. (You can buy it online. California Trail Map ) It doesn’t show the common trail names but it gives a good representation of most of the trails.
With all those trails, what route do you take? That’s a question. There is no single answer. Below are a few GPS tracks from previous runs that covered a good part of the fun stuff.
GPX track 1 – Includes Sand Dam, Dois Twister, Ramsey Hill, Bil’s Hill, Bulldog Hill, Black Cat, half of Tilted Table, Mine Trail, Knock-On-Wood, Trail 13, Lost Dutchman, Ed’s Lost 4, and Helicopter.
GPX track 2 – Includes Dois Twister, Ramsey Hill, Bil’s Hill, Bulldog Hill, Under the Ladder, Jamie’s Crack, and Mine Trail.
GPX track 3 – SD4W Black Cat E-W. Includes Dois Twister, Ramsey Hill, Bulldog Hill, Black Cat Head, Black Cat Paw 4, Mine Trail, and Sand Dam.
GPX track 4 – Includes Mine Trail, Black Cat Paw 4, Black Cat Head, and Bulldog Hill.
If your map doesn’t have labels for the trails and features, below is a GPX files with a large set of waypoints. It is not as convenient as having a map with the labels built in but it can be a help in planning and navigating.
Videos of previous runs:
March 2018
January 2017 (1 of 2)
January 2017 (2 of 2)
Under the Ladder
Mine Loop
Bil’s Hill
(Yes, it is ‘Bil’ with one ‘L’. He lost one of his ‘L’s in a tragic childhood accident. He was able to lead a relatively normal and fulfilling life nonetheless.)
The Waterfall on Black Cat’s Paw 1
Sand Dam