On January 12, 1964 I hiked a 6 mile round trip to the top of 5,633' Granite Peak in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. I climbed via the ridge from Rodriquez Canyon summit. Easy cross-country walk - minimum of brush due to fairly recent fires.
There is also a frequently used route from Cold Canyon. The route followed in this video and description was up from Rodrequez Canyon and down to Cold Canyon.
I took the route from Rodrequez Canyon south of Granite Mountain up and down and did not go to Cold Canyon
Granite Mountain lies on the Western edge of Anza Borrego Desert State Park, right at the border between the desert and the mountains of the Cleveland National Forest. Granite Mountain's slopes contain a wide variety of flora and fauna. From cacti to chaparral to manzanita to pinyon pines. Deer, Mountain lions, and rattlesnakes are a few of the animals that inhabit this area.
This is the easiest way to get to the Granite Mountain summit. The hike starts at an old mining road off Rodriguez canyon road. Start up the mining road for a gradual climb, a nice warm up.
At the point the mining road levels off and turns right, go up north on a steeper slope that leads to the ridge. This steeper part is good for hiking, filled with enough sand to give good footing.
Once on the ridge, follow the ridge up, the only obstacles, a lot of relatively harmless cacti. The ridge goes up gradually, close to the end of the ridge, one small obstacle a dike, looks more of problem from afar, from up close no problem to climb over.
Now head north/east heading for the summit, a bunch of huge boulders. The climb up the peak boulder is a bit of a challenge and maybe easier to climb up from the east side.
