Trail Overview

Fir Cap Trail - North Segment - FS 10E22 is the northern half of a connector route, accessed via Saddleback Road. The route begins with a slight descent into an area that resembles an old mining site, though no structural signs of a mine remain. From there, the trail climbs over Fir Top Mountain. Along the way, there is ample space to pull off for a group before reaching an incredible camping spot at the summit that overlooks the valley. The trail has seen recent maintenance, with significant amounts of deadfall cut and cleared out of the way, revealing beautiful panoramic views once you reach the top. Note that signage at the start of the trail indicates it is only open to quads and dirt bikes due to how narrow the trail gets, though a car could potentially make it through the initial section. At the end of this segment, the trail reaches a gate that is no longer in use.

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Difficulty

While parts of the trail could be considered a 3, the route earns a solid 4 due to significantly steep climbs and descents filled with loose rocks. Portions of the trail are washed out and feature loose rocks reaching up to 18 inches in diameter, alongside ruts that are up to 18 inches deep.

Technical Rating

Blake Ramsey

Sep 06, 2026

Open

Normal

Started trail at Red Ant, where it takes you up well maintained and flowy forest roads that were freshly rained on a day prior, so there was an abundance of hero dirt and no dust whatsoever. Once it pull up into a bit more elevation the trail starts to narrow a bit, but wide enough for an ATV. This is where it opens up to extremely scenic views, but also gets a bit hairy with rocks mixed with softer dirt, so keep your speed up and pick your line to commit to on the uphill sections. It clears a couple times for insanely beautiful vista points and a great photo opportunity, and leads you right to the junction to head up to the look out tower access road.