When looking for an amazing camping spot, look no further then 9S05 - Indian Flats, in the Cleveland National Forest. One of the many features of this trail is the oak tree shaded surroundings making for one of the ultimate California off-road camping excursions. Indian Flats Campground is at the half-way point of this 11.1-mile trail. As you approach the site the views are spectacular into the Warner Springs Valley, Lake Henshaw, and the Palomar Mountains. Indian Flats Campground is shadowed by Hot Springs Mountain, the high point in San Diego County at 6,533 feet.
Trail Difficulty and Assessment
Exclusive for our All-Access Members
Easily identify whether the trail is stock friendly
or not.
View 14 specific concerns along the trail such as
height and width restrictions.
Upgrade from free to our All-Access Membership and get
every detail, waypoint, photo, and more on every single
trail guide.
When you are an All-Access member, our trail guides
come with a short video of the author running the trail
to give you a visual understanding of what to expect.
From Temecula and the 15 Freeway, go east on Temecula Parkway, which is Highway 79 South, 35.8 miles to Lost Creek Road on your left, which is the trailhead.
From Warner Springs go west on Highway 79, 1.7 miles to Lost Creek Road on your right, which is the trailhead.
This was a fun trail but definitely getting much harder in certain areas than the easy rating would leave you to believe. The rain and water from the winter has caused some erosion and made some pretty big rutted areas with exposed loose rock, which will test your camber and traction. I would definitely recommend a high clearance 4x4 to get through the whole trail. It is a great drive and the area is beautiful, with most pullout campsites open and empty right now. Perfect day and trail.
Fun Trial, the Indian Flats campground is a great place to take a break, have lunch, and use the restroom. the rest of the trail north is a fun drive with some great views. If you're looking for something exciting, there is a trail up to a lookout off 9S04 - Puerta la Cruz (33.36931, -116.69835). I recommend going up and down one at a time as there is not a lot of space to turn around up top.
We only ran this trail from the north trail head to puerta la cruz. We were looking for BLM land to do some target practice. We hit it after snowy week but almost all snow was gone at 4400 feet. Im not sure if it was the clean air, water greening everything up, but it was super pretty up there. While we were there, there was a couple trucks and motorcycle that passed so i think there is a lot of traffic. We even saw a front wheel drive sedan up there. They followed us down to northern trailhead but it must have been rough. We were in 4WH and could have gone to 4WL easily if it was a little wetter. I gather from other reviews that this is the roughest section but i think any 4wd or AWD higher clearance vehicle could do this. I was bummed to see a bunch of toliet paper at cruz intersection. Please bury your waste 🙏 and pick up your trash (brass, wrappers, etc) If you dont, it makes it gross for everyone else.
We just ran this trail today. It's paved up to the Indian Flat campground, which is closed and gated now. The road is narrow and meeting someone head-on would involve backing. Fortunately there are wide spots fairly frequently. We drive a Rubicon, but I did that whole stretch of 5.5 miles or so in 2WD. The views are fabulous and you go through various eco-zones. After the campground, it's a different story - an unpaved road. Very hard ground, not a bit of sand and no rocks to speak of, but it quickly had me in 4Low going just a few miles per hour and rattling our teeth from time to time. In my Subaru Outback, I would have turned around - the EASY rating applies up to the campground, but no longer for the run beyond it. We hit a long stretch of ice on a shelf road, which almost got me me to turn around, but nothing ventured, nothing gained . . . and it was soon behind us. A few miles further and the dirt road through forest became a dirt road through some agricultural areas, then out onto Chiahuahua Road and back home. All in all, a beautiful drive, with a little fizz of adventure in it.
We are new to jeeping. We especially liked this trail because it is easy enough that we didn't feel out if our depth at all but still really felt like it was an adventure with lovely views. We walked a bit of the pacific crest trail with the pups as well. A really fun day.
Pretty easy but a beautiful ride. Camp ground was open half way it looked like. Nice way to do something this summer while social distancing is still being enforced. Nice one to do as a first run or as a solo ride.
Great trail for the day, it’s paved asphalt for a good while, but don’t fret the dirt starts later on. Keep on. Great for stock trucks or Jeeps. There is a hill in the middle where you can do some flexing. The gate towards the end of the trail was closed but you can take the road that splits off. That road will take you down to the 79 hwy. Overall great trail with views.
The trail was nice and easy. The campground is ok, no views or anything just a bathroom & fire pits (closed right now due to wind conditions). Some fun sections for beginners like me towards the end of the trail.
For San Diego wheelers this is a great and mostly unknown trail, easy for the rookie and still fun for the intermediate wheeler. Start at Warner Springs and head north. To make the day ever more interesting, once you hit the intersection with Chihuahua Valley Road continue north on Cooper-Cienega Truck Trail and explore the westward heading Cooper Canyon jeep road. [Note: this trail has not yet been reviewed here on Trailsoffroad.com.]
From the Community
Exclusive for our All-Access Members
Ask the author of a trail guide any questions you may have and
get a direct answer from the author and the community! One of
the many perks that come with an All-Access Membership.
Dennis Clark was born in Los Angeles in 1942 and after 76 years of living in So Cal he moved to Emmett, Idaho with his wife Patricia, has four adult children with many grand and great grandchildren. He has loved the outdoors since his Cub Scout and Boy Scout days while camping with the family. He's an archer, hunter and fisherman but no longer wishes to harm animals. He has been involved with photography since the 1960's. He became more of a serious hiker in 2010 when he started Geocaching and has hiked the three tallest peaks in So Cal, Mt San Jacinto, Mt San Gorgonio and Mt Baldy, along with most of the lesser peaks in search of caches. Geocaching started his love for the USFS Trail system as he used the trails frequently to get to certain trailheads. He had a 2002 Ford Ranger 2wd and its amazing where that little pickup took him. In 5 years of weekly geocaching he was only stuck once in some Palm Springs sand. His 2016 Wrangler Sport Unlimited was purchased in 2015. He has become quite lazy in the hiking department as he can now drive to most locations. He's looking forward to posting some trails and don't hesitate to ask him for any help you might need.
By clicking "ACCEPT", you agree to be the terms and conditions of each
policy linked to above. You also agree to the storing of cookies on
your device to facilitate the operation and functionality of our site,
enhance and customize your user experience, and to analyze how our
site is used.