Black #2 (SDC #87, 1544′) • map • directions*

Black Mountain #2 is the Black Mountain that most people in San Diego would think of when you say Black Mountain, most people being unaware of “big” Black Mountain near Ramona. Black Mountain #2 is highly visible from much of northeastern San Diego (city, not county) and resembles a small volcano with its nearly symmetrical free standing cone-shaped summit.

Black Mountain, seen from Sorrento Valley Rd in March 2011

I had hiked Black Mountain #2 several years ago, and I honestly had little interest in doing it again. The vegetation is bland, the hiking is uninteresting, and the summit is covered in towers. That being said, the views of San Diego are superb and are worth the trip, and I do appreciate such a large reserve being available close to home (10 minutes!). In fact, with newfound interest, I plan to add Black Mountain #2 to my regular mid-week rotation.

My second hike of Black Mountain #2 took place on a Saturday morning with Anna and my roommate Christian. I drove the three of us to the mountain without doing any research ahead of time. I had remembered that there were several trails to the summit and I figured we’d just wing it. We ended up going up the north side of the mountain via Miner’s Ridge, which I suspect is the shortest route. The three of us made the summit in 30 minutes and spent almost as much time enjoying the view, though I failed to bring a camera and managed just one cell phone summit shot.

Black Mountain’s towered summit

Black #2 stats: 2.0 miles roundtrip, 800 feet gain/loss

*-driving directions get you to the entrance to the Black Mountain preserve, continue up the paved road to the parking area for this route