Boo Hoff Point

Date: October 8, 2011
Time: 2.5Hours
Length: 6.5 Miles
Location: La Quinta, CA
Elevation: 1,940
Weather: 70-94’ Clear
Difficulty: Moderate

Description:  Started the hike at 7:00am with 100 ounces of water and 6 energy bars, the weather was okay starting out, but it heated up with every step.  When I started the hike people were renting mountain bikes in the parking area.  By the time I finished the temperature went up over 20 degrees and there wasn’t anyone in sight.The Boo Hoff Trail is actually 7.5 miles and cuts through the mountain coming out by Avenue 60.  You can have a car meet you there, or you can continue towards Lake Cahuilla and make the full loop back on the Lake Cahuilla Trail at a total of 12.7 miles.  On this hike all I did was go to the highest point on the Boo Hoff trail then came back down.  I feel that a lot of people tend to do this hike, and that the trail’s posted at the top of the cove can be a little misleading.  Hopefully this will help shed some light on where it actually goes.  I will also do the Boo Hoff Loop to show you the entire hike on GPS.  This trail is very well marked but seems to undergo some vandalism with the trail post.  You will see stickers missing and even the post on the ground at times. You start from the trailhead going south towards the Boo Hoff Trail.  You will come to your first fork and go left, this will bring you to your first Boo Hoff Sign next to a trash can.You will see a “Trespass and Loitering Forbidden By Law” sign, I’m pretty sure that is just for vehicles.  You go past that and take a right with an immediate left at the next Boo Hoff Sign.You want to head up this wash until you reach the mountain.  You will see a great deal of trash to your left and right.I was told the trash has been here since the 50’sAs you get closer to the mountain there are two ways of continuing on the trail.  You can head to your right as shown in this image up to a little bank, or you can keep heading through this wash.  If you are having trouble walking in the soft sand of the wash, I would suggest heading up to the bank.The actual trail is up on that bank. If you want to get up there and missed it the first time, there is another easy point at this post, just head straight up.The reason I suggest you can stay in the wash, is because at this point on the trail you actually go back down to the wash.  Just remember if you did stay in the wash you need to take a right here.Continue up the wash until you see the Boo Hoff steel sign.From here the trail is pretty easy to follow it will take you up to the point.You will see a “Please Stay on the Trail” sign which means your at 1,940 feet elevation.  Also, what I call the Boo Hoff Point.A few feet past that sign it looks as though someone has cleared out a spot for a tent awhile back.If you continue down the Boo Hoff trail you can start to make the Boo Hoff Loop.It’s a pretty nice view from the point.If you were like me and focused on the trail, you probably missed the old Jeep on it’s back.  You can see it again on your way down, it’s a little past the steel sign.  If your doing the loop make sure you keep an eye out for it on the way up, you’ll only get one chance.If you have any questions regarding this hike, or would like the GPS Track file, please contact me for more information.