Pyle’s Peak

**So there’s this 5 peak challenge where you gotta hike these specific peaks and take a selfie next to the summit signs. Once you get all of those pics, you email them and you get a certificate and a pin. Not much but hey it’s a bigger motivator than nothing.
And you guessed it, Pyles Peak was one of them!
You can reach the trailhead when you get to the top of Cowels Mountain. I have no idea if there is any other way up there. This was a considerably less busy trail and slightly narrow compared to Cowels. I passed only about 13 people (yes I kept count) on my way to Pyles Peak summit and probably a hundred billion at Cowels. The view was not as great here but nature is nature and it’s amazing regardless. If you like a quiet, more secluded hike, this is the place for you.
**Totally copy/​pasted that part in another one of my reviews cuz lazy.

For those who love hiking and want to take on another challenge after you topped the Cowles Mountain, consider Pyle’s Peak!
Entrance/​parking: the only way to access Pyle’s Peak is from the top of Cowles Mountain. After you arrived Cowles peak, find the service road and walk toward west. You will see a sign for Pyle’s Peak.
Trail distance/​difficulty: 1.5 miles to Pyle’s peak summit but it includes multiple downward and upward hikes throughout. The hike to Pyle’s peak is a difficult hike because its distance and change of elevations.
Activity: This hike is much less popular than Cowles Mountain so it is excellent for hikers who want to get out there and enjoy the scenery by yourself. At the half way to the peak, there is a view point for you to enjoy the view. The trail here is smaller and less maintained than Cowles but definitely gives you more of a «real» hiking experience. When you are about to summit Pyle’s peak, it can be a steep challenging hike; however, you will see the summit in no time! After that, the view is all yours!
Tips: Make sure you bring enough water! With Cowles hike, you will be hiking about 3.5 miles to Pyle’s peak so the hike gets long and difficult.

The extended version of the cowel trail. I would say it was a tough hike, but I don’t hike that often. Bring a lot of water because there is no alternative exits, you’ll have to hike all the way back up to cowel’s summit. There are some hidden trails if your looking to spice it up, but nothing to drastic.

If Cowles Mountain is not enough then you can head down here. This is the road less traveled. Barely any people so it’s a nice, quiet hike. There are sections of the trail that can be a little challenging, but otherwise it’s an easy hike. There is an outlook point just below the peak with amazing views. Or, you can certainly go up the peak itself, but be careful. There is no set trail and lots of loose rock and dirt. But the view is amazing on top!!!

My bf and I started at Big Rock park in Santee. I would definitely not recommend starting on this side, as the trail was not very interesting or strenuous and we really just thought we were lost for the first mile. Having hiked the Cowles trail, I’d recommend making that your way up. Again, quite an odd path to Pyle’s Peak. It’s mostly downhill from Cowles to Pyle’s. The terrain is very rocky, so wear good shoes! When we got to the top, I stepped on a tarantula patch and definitely gave a pretty outrageous screech. My bf wanted to pick them up, but I just wanted to get out of there!
All in all, it was a fine hike. I wouldn’t do it again, or at least not the same way, but if you’re looking for a moderately easy hike that takes about 3 hours, go for it.

This is a great evening workout when Cowles mtn just isn’t enough. I took the fireroad up the back side of Cowles which is nice because it’s just never crowded and from there I ventured north to Pyles Peak. All in all it took me another hour at a moderate pace to get to Pyles and back to the top of Cowles. Will definitely do it again but the last final climb to the top of Pyles peak isn’t really worth it IMO. The path is not marked well and has very loose dirt and rocks. Not worth an injury. From the Barker trailhead this is a 5.9 mile out and back.

Makes for a great 8 mile r/​t hike if you start from the trailhead at Big Rock Park in Santee. It is almost 2.5 miles to the top of Cowles, and then 1.5 miles from Cowles to Pyle’s. I would say the whole thing is moderate, with a few intense spots towards the summit of both Cowles and Pyle’s peaks. I am an avid hiker though, so the whole thing may seem pretty intense if you don’t do much hiking.
As others have said, it is good to have hiking or trail shoes, as it is difficult to get proper footing on the way down.
You don’t need to worry about getting lost, all of the trails are very clearly marked!

Difficulty: Moderately strenuous
Pyles Peak summit is 212 feet below Cowles Mountain summit but is a difficult and challenging hike.
After the 1.5 mile climb to Cowles Mountain summit, a short walk to the Pyles Peak trailhead begins just a hundred feet short of the summit marker. A sign on the left turns you down some steps. Another left turn and a short walk on the service road leads to the Pyles Peak trailhead sign.
The first .5 miles of this spectacular trail drops through five switchbacks into a ravine. This is followed by a climb up six easy switchbacks with an altitude gain.
Along this ridge, a sign directs you east to an optional side trip of .4 miles up to a viewpoint overlooking the east county. Back down to the main trail and into a shallow ravine, then a small rise followed by yet another descent ending at another viewpoint. While there, check out the great views of Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center, downtown San Diego and on clear days, Mexico!
It is from here the real workout begins. Backtrack 50 feet from the overlook to the sign and the trail which follows nearly a straight line east up a steep climb to Pyles Peak’s 1,379 foot summit.
Congratulations, you’ve done it! Enjoy the view and then be careful going back down the steep trail — I have seen many people eat dirt!

Yay! Pyle’s peak is pretty awesome. Its nice to do after Cowles, because it is much less crowded, and much quieter. The trail has a nice mix of up and down both ways, which keeps things interesting.
The final part of the trail that leads to the summit is VERY steep, which is a nice challenge, but getting back down is pretty difficult, and likely to cause sprained ankles or falling. So be careful, and go slow.

A friend told me about this back trail, so I thought I would check it out. I tried out my new 2 L hydration backpack to make sure I had plenty of water. The trail had a nice terain of plants of various kinds. The trail started out at a slow decline and had a lot of rough trail that seemed to be totally vacant for most of the hike. Beautiful views to look at. I did not see any rattlesnakes just one tiny baby lizard. A very peaceful hike not strenuous until you get toward the top. I think I will try to add it to my favorite hiking trails for an early morning. Definitely worth checking out. Bring water and extra sunscreen/​hat. When the sun comes out it gets hot quick.

Great workout, great trail, great hike! see my write-​up on this hike at my web/​blog site
Mark

Pyle’s Peak is a nice addition to my Cowles Mountain hikes. It doesn’t usually have much traffic on it, but I have run into a few rattlesnakes… well, not literally– I’ve always seen them a few feet ahead of me, and haven’t been bitten yet. The trail itself is really short, but leads to a beautiful view usually accompanied by a very cool and refreshing breeze. I really don’t think the trail is very difficult at all if coming from the top of Cowels. If headed up one of the smaller, less-​maintained trails from the bottom, then it is much more challenging, and longer, though not incredibly difficult. Anyway, it is an enjoyable hike that I recommend to all hikers and outdoor enthusiasts!

Another great hike in the MTRP!
Though this one is definitely not as well-​maintained as Cowles (as just about everyone else has said). We summited Cowles, then took the Pyles trail from there. The Pyles trail starts off seemingly easy. There isn’t much uphill for awhile. Once you get near the summit, though, it gets pretty intensely uphill for a short while. Then you’re there! It didn’t seem like it took all that long. There was a nice guy who I liked to call our «trail guide» who told us all about the trails & mileage. He was also helpful because my husband and I are pretty rattlesnake terrified & he said he’s never seen one on that trail (and seems to trek it often). :) Thanks, dude!
Overall, glad I did it! The loose rocks got a bit old after awhile, though. It was kind of treacherous coming down from the summit because it was SO steep and the rocks gave way frequently. Just be sure and wear good shoes, and be sure to protect your ankles! I almost twisted mine a few times.
Nice moderate hike, and in conjunction w/​Cowles we trekked about 6.75 miles. :) We’ll probably do it again in the future!

Thanks to Brian K. for suggesting Pyle’s Peak to get away from all those people on Cowles Mountain.
Pyle’s Peak is a continuation of the Cowles Mountain trail, so look for signs once you reach the Cowles summit. Our round trip went like this:
Navajo Rd. & Golfcrest Dr. Staging Area to Cowles Mountain Summit: ~1.5 miles
Cowles Mountain Summit to Pyle’s Peak Summit: ~1.5 miles
Pyle’s Peak Summit back to Cowles Mountain Summit: ~1.5 miles
Cowles Mountain Summit back down to Staging Area: ~1.5 miles
So you’re looking at roughly 6 miles. Roughly. Markers at 500m, 1 km, and 1.5km on the Pyle’s Peak trail.
Bear in mind that this less-​traveled trail isn’t maintained as well as the Cowles Mountain trail, so if you experienced any footwear issues hiking Cowles you won’t want to continue on to Pyle’s. Specifically, expect to experience a few steep areas of rock and loose sand that’ll really test your footwork and your footwear when descending from the Pyle’s summit.
Difficult? Not terribly, though my calves have a pretty good burn going on right now. For me – I’ve only started getting back into hiking shape during the last month – the toughest part was the few hundred steep and rocky feet leading up to the Pyle’s summit. Overall, I consider this hike to be only slightly more challenging than Cowles Mountain.
The Pyle’s Peak trail is serene, a worthwhile endeavor if you wish to extend your hike or, again, to lose the vast majority of the Cowles Mountain hikers. Passed just 11 people on this trail Sunday mid-​afternoon.

I’ll let you in on a secret. While most people make their way back down after climbing Cowles Mountain, they don’t know that they’ve passed up an even better experience by opting to skip the hike up Pyles Peak. This is an underrated, short 3.0 mile roundtrip trek through some fun and twisty trails. The views are serene and filled with the green colors of the Chapparal brush dotting the surrounding mountainscape, something you won’t experience climbing up the dried-​out and relatively bland-​looking trails of Cowles. Pyles in contrast has the special feel of a path less traveled. Don’t make the mistake of opting out of this treasure of a trail.

You can do this one as part of a two for one with cowles mountain. I think coming back down is the hardest part!

The trail head to Pyles Peak starts at the summit of Cowles Mountain. Think of it as an extension of the Cowles hike. The trail out to Pyles can be steep at some points. Since it is a less traveled path, it is not as well maintained as the more popular climb up to Cowles. If you want to get away from the crowds, this is a good hike for you. Keep in mind once you make it out to Pyles, you still have to return to Cowles so that you can start your decent. All together I believe the hike (Cowles and Pyles) is close to 6 miles round trip. Personally I think the view from Cowles is far surperior…

My friend and I hiked up Pyles Peak after conquering Cowles Mtn. Quite some foot traffic at Cowles Mtn. But once you get to the top. You see some pretty nice views. Not many hiked up to Pyles Peak. I believe going back down from the Pyles was a b*tch. Other than that, reaching the Peak was glorious, you can see San Diego at all angles. Once you finish Pyles, you have to remember that you are not done and that you still have to hike back down to Cowles. Oh maaan. It was a good workout. I know I worked up a sweat. In fact, I’m feeling a bit sore the next day.
5 stars total which includes Cowles. I combined the ratings!

MORE BREEZY THAN THE GIRLS TIGER WOODS BRINGS HOME
* I was lucky; it was cold and windy
* The hike up Pyles Peak Trail is easier than Cowles. If you can do Cowles, you can do Pyles
MORE DISAPPOINTING THAN TIGER WOODS’ SPONSORS
* I read that the view was better than Cowles but not really
* The plus: You get to avoid the Cowles Mtn traffic. I think I love 80% of the Cowles Mtn. hikers but the other 20% are complete morons. Cowles is very frustrating to climb due to numerous idiots… not walking in columns (walking abreast), wearing Chucks and Air Force One’s, etc.
* Should be called Cowles Hill and Pyles Hill, not «mountain»
MORE BUSHIER THAN TIGER WOODS’ YOU-​KNOW-​WHAT (THAT IS, THE GOLF COURSES HE PLAYS AT)
* The last leg to the Pyles Summit is hardly maintained which is a good thing (I’d say maybe 1% of Cowles hikers continue to Pyles)
* If you get allergic reactions from wild plants, wear pants; you don’t want to be caught with your pants on the ground, pants on the ground
MORE AMBIGUOUS THAN TIGER WOODS’ CADDY’S FUTURE
* The distance and total time measurements vary wildly according to each person
* The Afoot & Afield San Diego County book states that it’s 5.2 miles r/​t, 3 hours r/​t
* Once you descent the Cowles Summit, you see markers for Pyles Peak. It starts with 0.5km, has 1 km in the middle and ends with 1.5km. Ther markers are ascending which is somewhat misleading
* My GPS measured 3.02 miles via Cowles Mtn. Staging Area starting point. The «descent» measured 3.12 miles
* You will summit Cowles then descend down to head over to Pyles Peak Trail; the trail is boring if you are by yourself

little known hike if Cowles is not enough. Once you’re at the peak of Cowles and you realize, wow, this view is awesome, but what about that next mountain, look for the Pyles Summit sign and continue yonder. It’s the next western (closer to the ocean) peak.
It’s much MUCH quieter, less people, and more of nature vs. rocks and dirt. Down into the valley and then up Pyles. Solitude. Hope not to see you there :-)
ps — the fires of recent years must have past through this area as many of bushes are black ash, so when you notice the black markings on your thighs you’ll know where it came from, and know you’ve had a great hiking day