Pincushion Hill Climb

The trail begins at the sign for the San Joaquin River Trail located on the east side of the South Finegold Picnic Area parking lot. There is a cattle gate which is unlocked that you pass through as you begin. There is a steady but slight incline to begin as you wind along the base of the hill underneath oak trees. As you wind clockwise around the base of the hill to the east-facing side, you'll come to an unnamed, big fork in the trail. Stay to the right and it will take you up to the peak (if you continue to the left, you'll keep going on the San Joaquin River Trail upriver). The trail rises before you, and you'll pass under a few trees in spots where you can pause to catch your breath, or keep pushing on up! The final section before the summit requires you to scramble up boulders. Be careful in these spots, because it's easy to stumble (and tumble) when you're tired, both on the way up and on the way down. The view from the top is awesome: Yosemite just over the horizon to the north, Fresno to the south, the Central Valley to the west, and the Sierra Nevada foothills to the east. After enjoying the views, head back the way you came. Be careful of your downhill speed as you descend the trail. There are many loose rocks and ankle-deep erosion ruts along the trail. You can hike the Pincushion Hill out-and-back as part of a longer hike along the San Joaquin River Trail which stretches close to 100 miles upriver.

This is a well-known hill climb of the region, and it was even turned into a race in 2014 that is held each September with the San Joaquin Running Club (for more info, visit the race website). The race was featured in a TrailRunner Magazine February 2018 article as one of the five classic vertical trail races in the U.S. It's a great test of your grit. The race also has a "Mountain Goat Edition" that people can enter allowing entrants to scale the peak multiple times within four hours, for extra honors! This is also the same location of the start of the San Joaquin River Trail 50K and 100K Ultra held each December.