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Indio Hills Badlands Trailhead

4.9 (8 reviews)

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Wow. Hills & sky
Diann B.

Amazing views of the desert. Well.maintained trails. Some trails have concrete. My lifelong friend & I went to the left on a desert sand trail. We hiked to the cross. I was totally surprised to see a bunch of homes with a lake between them. I was taken by how clean everything was. I have never seen anything so beautiful in the desert. I love the clouds and the mountain formations. I didn't even feel like I was exercising. My friend & I just took in all of the beauty. I am in awe.

AJ M.

This trail is AWESOME. It is so engaging, beautiful, and ... maybe playful is the right word? See the pictures and videos attached to get a good sense of it. If you go clockwise, the hike starts with ascending *into* the badlands where you're weaving through the landscape by walking up rock stairs, through mountainous crags, and starting to approach the mountaintop. NOTE: When you get to the trailhead and start the hike, take the trail left, directly away from the golf course, where the marker sign is. Soon enough you'll see a lake/pond and housing community in the distance. You will turn to the right 90* to head toward the badlands. However, either we missed the marking sign, or there isn't one. Try to look for a dead straight path that goes under the power lines. If you walk toward the lake/pond/housing community enough that you see the big Cross in the ground, you've gone too far. Once you ascend to the mountaintop via the switchbacks, you'll traverse the top for a mile or so. Beautiful views on a sunny day. The descent is quick but not difficult. We went in Feb and it was perfect temperature, sunny, and windy. Long sleeves and shorts were perfect. There were no spots left in the small parking lot, so we parked on the street just outside the parking lot.

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Martinez Mountain

Martinez Mountain

5.0(2 reviews)
16.6 km

Gorgeous and challenging to access mountain. You will be one of the only people summiting, whether…read moreyou come on a weekday or weekend. It's just not easy to access and there are no trails going up this mountain. It's a rock scramble that you'll have to navigate yourself. This past weekend, I ended up going up Martinez Mountain and Sheep mountain. We started at the Cactus Spring Trail and hiked to Horsethief Creek. We were able to filter a good amount of water at the creek with a decent water source and from there hiked to Cactus Spring (about 5 miles from the start of the trailhead). Martinez Mountain was about 8 mile round trip back to Cactus Spring. It was quite a feat to traverse and required some class 3 moves to get up to the summit. Quite a thrilling adventure. Coming down the backside of the gully was not for the faint of heart; I definitely got some injuries I wish I didn't get...if I do this mountain again, it would probably be an out and back, although you can hit Sheep the same day (I ended up doing Sheep the next day). All in all; it's quite a challenge and you probably won't see a soul up here, but it's worth it for the adventurous-minded!

On April 27th, 2014 Lindsay, Kate and myself set off to climb Martinez Mountain. We drove up the…read more74 and parked the truck near an old mine. We started about 8 am, and the hike lasted almost 12 hours. All of us are in great shape but this turned out to be a brutal day hike. Starting point is located up the 74. Make a left on the dirt road right after the sugarloaf cafe. Then after the cactus spring trailhead sign, drive down and to the left to get the closest start. Exact location: Latitude: 33.5767109413 Longitude : -116.4422111493 The elevation was 3922 ft The hike starts off descending and you go cross a small stream about a half mile in. At 1.7 miles in and 3400 ft, we crossed Horse Thief Creek, which surprisingly had a good amount of water flowing. No water after that. After 1 mile of good grade it leveled out and we followed a wide wash, making out way to the mountain. We met another hiker who knew the area well and told us where the trail we needed connected to the wash. At 4.97 miles from our start, we took the trail to the right and headed to the saddle just west of Martinez Mountain. It could easily be missed without keeping an eye out. 1.35 miles after leaving the wash, we made it to the saddle and stopped for lunch. We could see Jacinto, Santa Rosa Mountain, and the south side of the Martinez. From here, there is NO TRAIL to the top. Making out way up the ridge was a scramble. It was a lot of work, and there are large boulders and overgrown bushes. Its steep and you will need to be in great shape. At 7.64 miles from the start, and 6543 ft up, we summited! The summit is a group of large boulders and you will need to be able to lift your own bodyweight to get up. We found the summit sign in ammo box, which only had about 100 signatures in the last ten years. On our way down we decided to go a more direct way down, which was very steep and slow moving. Our knees really took a beating jumping down rock to rock. We then got back on the trail in the wash and headed back to the start. In total, we hike 14.8 miles. We had a great time and want to explore this area more!

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Martinez Mountain - Summit

Summit

Martinez Mountain - Down summit

Down summit

Martinez Mountain - Climbing down boulders

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Climbing down boulders

Indio Hills Badlands Trailhead - hiking - Updated May 2026

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