Distance: 1.5 miles
Total elevation gain/loss: 400'/400'
Hiking time: 1 hour (round-trip)
Optional Map: USGS 7.5-min Canada Gobernadora
Best times: All year
Agency: CWP
Difficulty: easy

Adapted from Afoot & Afield in Orange County by Jerry Schad

The view from the visitor center is impressive, but from Pinhead Peak it's even better. Here you can look down on the three-way confluence of dry creekbeds San Juan, Bell, and Verdugo and spot the toy-like visitor center perched atop the knoll between the first two.

You may pick up the trail, an ill-defined footpath at first, at either the equestrian camping area or the old windmill site a little farther north. Travel south across a meadow into a grassy cove, then follow a better-defined trail up the scrub-covered ridge on the left. After a short but vigorous climb, you'll reach a high point on the ridge next to a wire fence defining the park boundary. This is the 662-foot peak called"Pinhead." The trail continues 200 yards to a slightly lower bump on the ridge offering a more panoramic view. From both peaks almost the entire extent of Caspers Park can be seen. Successively higher ridges lead the eye northward and eastward toward the two summits of Old Saddleback and other notable promontories in the southern Santa Ana Mountains.