Otay Mountain Truck Trail
14.8 mi
Distance
7 hrs 59 min
Time
terrain
2,831 ft
Elev Gain
Overview
This is a difficult one way trail in Otay Mountain Wilderness.
Rate this Hike
★★★★★
I didn’t do the whole trail, I started at Pio Pico and parked at the convenience shop/store at the faded parking spaces. It was a partly cloudy Tuesday afternoon on May 18, 2021. I went to ask the store owner if it was okay to park there but they were closed but an office was open that verified it was okay to park.
My girlfriend and I planned to camp up there so we tried to drive up with my sedan and quickly realized how essential it was to have a 4 wheel drive vehicle with high clearance, so I quickly reversed. The road up we came to see was not that bad once you got passed the first half mile or so, but there are many gaps and holes that my little Honda would never dream of driving through.
We started our hike up very late, around 3:30 which would normally not be okay but the sun was setting later, so we did have time to get up there and set up camp. There is no way we would have been back down by sunset.
Camping/backpacking is allowed, but there were not many areas we saw that was out of the way, but there are some available. Just be advised many trucks drive through so if you camp off to the side, you may be woken up by the sound of trucks. We found a nice little spot off to the side towards a mile away from the summit by Doghouse Junction. We did not hike the full length. We just hiked to Otay Summit and then walked back down to camp.
Starting the hike, we realized it was going to be a long one (that’s what she said), simply because there is little to no shade most of the way, it is mostly uphill, and you’re kind of walking on a paved roadway the whole time. It didn’t have much to offer in terms of visual aesthetics other than a few flowers on the side of the road. I would primarily use this for “off-roading” or taking up your truck to chill and enjoy the view.
Fast forward 5 miles, the views as we hiked were great, just not as breathtaking as I was hoping for. The hills of San Diego are great, just not a lot of green, a lot of desert, which is fine, but I love views and although we snapped some great pictures, I was left with wanting more. The hike itself is strenuous, we average a mile an hour because we were carrying all of our gear, it was hot, and we hadn’t hiked since before we got sick with COVID, so about 8 months. It is definitely doable, but I would not recommend it for first time hikes or adventurers. Definitely need sunscreen, at least 3 liters of water for every 5 miles, and start early.
We ran into border patrol who seemed very interested in our presence on the mountain. There were very nice but did let us know that we caught their attention since they were not sure if we were illegal migrants until they got closer to us. There were many patrols up there, but all very friendly and welcoming. Just do not hike up there at night to avoid any negative interactions with border patrol mistaking you for an illegal migrant.
The best view we had once around sunset which was beautiful. The clouds rolled in and covered the landscape so we essentially camped above the clouds. Everything was worth it in that moment, and I would do it again just for that. However, it might have been a fluke since it isn’t guaranteed to get that weather every time. Great views, strenuous hike, relatively little shade, lightly trafficked, but wouldn’t recommend unless you are okay with the San Diego brownish mountain views and smog.
Took us about 6 hours to get to the top, we camped and then it took us about 4 hours to get back down. Reminder, we didn’t hike the whole way, just from Pio Pico to Otay Summit then camped and then hiked back the next morning to Pio Pico where we parked. I used to 3 liters of water and used 39 oz of water to cook, and my gf used 2 L of water. I would recommend taking more or the same amount but make sure to conserve as there are no water sources up there.
In case of emergencies, next to the larger radio tower on the mountain, there is a message with a red button you can push on top of Otay Mountain summit that will alert border patrol to come to you. It is also written in Spanish so I am assuming it is to help illegal migrants as well, so expect a possibly puzzled response if needed.
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