GOAT TRESTLE TRAIL

[Girl Hiker]

I spent last weekend in Jacumba Hot Springs at a motel 52 miles from the border with Mexico. That probably explains why I saw so many Border Patrol cars, more than I've ever seen in one day driving from San Diego.

Anyways, the Goat Trestle trail had been on my bucket list for a long time. On Saturday I met two of my friends and started the hike from the nudist resort. It had rained the night before but it didn't rain during our hike, though it was very cold. I saw a bunch of cacti but the really exciting part was all the tunnels we walked through along the train tracks. According to one of my friends, who had hiked the trail a few years ago, there was more graffiti this time. Also, Tunnels 1 and 3 are closed.

When we reached the trestle, there was a train car with the coolest painting of cowboys on the side of it. It was exciting for me to walk on the tracks of the trestle and look down below me to see how high off the ground I was.

The trip was so beautiful and worth the 16-mile roundtrip journey.

Oh yeah, watch out for the chollas!

[Girl Hiker]

Some more pics
Whale rock

[dima]

Neat! Thanks for posting. There's another approach from the other side. It is shorter, and legal, but you end up directly at the Goat Canyon Trestle, skipping all the other stuff. Your route is cool.

[tekewin]

Sean and I came down Goat Canyon, so I haven't done the tracks. We missed the rail cars and lots of tunnels, but I love the bridge. There is nothing else like it I've seen in the state. Good one to cross off the bucket list!

The chollas got you good. I can't tell you how many times that's happened to me. Sneaky bastards, too. Tweezers or needle nose pliers are the 11th essential in the desert.

[Girl Hiker]

Yeah I couldn't believe it! I barely brushed up against that cholla. Those needles pierced through my shirt and my skin. Luckily, we met two guys on the trail that helped removed it from my arm. Then, they meticulously removed the needles from my skin. Lol

[Sean]

Why does that nudist have deformed feet? Gross.

[Girl Hiker]

Why does that nudist have deformed feet? Gross.

Well you know what women say about a man's feet. In this case the deformity matches another part of his body lol

[jfr]

Fun hike! I've been there several times. Once over the hill from Mortero Palms near Dos Cabezas, and twice along the tracks. The tracks were much easier, but it was a long hike the first time. The second time, I found a way to cross the raw tracks with a 4x4 and take a rough dirt road out to an old railroad construction camp near one of the tunnels. Then it was only a 3.5 mile hike to the trestle. Definitely the shortest hike. See https://caltopo.com/m/91FV for the short route and https://caltopo.com/m/PF50 for the longer hike. I don't recommend going over the top unless you have a track and a gps, as route-finding can get confusing up on the high plateau.

The railroad tracks have a 1.5% grade, so there were also lots of mountain bike riders taking the tracks. But the cholla thorns will get your tires if you don't have goop inside the tubes, so be warned.

All in all, a fun hike. And standing on that old galvanized catwalk on the trestle, then looking downward at the canyon far below. is well worth the effort.

P.S. Don't bring a dog to that part of the desert unless you want to pull cholla thorns out of its nose with needle-nose pliers! Believe me, the dog likes it even less than you do. Ouch!

[Girl Hiker]

Jfr- I am aware of the shorter route but I chose the longer one to walk through the tunnels and see the trains. Plus, my car could not handle that rough road from Dos Cabezas. I didn't see any bikers. I'm glad I took the longer route. It was very beautiful.
Loved the view below

[LetsGlissadeLhotze]

i see swampy and a tribute to Big Will MD1... those guys used to ride a custom made motorized railbike on that section of rail in 2010-2012.. Theres video on youtube of it... They did the whole entire length