Stonewall Peak: How to Hike with Kids in Snow

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Stonewall Peak is a popular hike in San Diego’s east county. It is a high enough elevation where it can get snow, but not too challenging of a trail.

The invigorating cool air matched the excitement perfectly. The first day of a new year, new adventures, a new challenge- and a new hiking experience with the girls! Just enough snow to be new and different without being too cold. A familiar trail with a different look and 51 more hikes to go- Happy New Year!

Stonewall Peak Hiking Stats

Location: Stonewall Peak Trail, Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

Distance: 3.9 miles (6.3 km)

Elevation: 830 ft. (253 m)

Weather: Chilly, Snow & Ice.

AllTrails Rating: Moderate

Bathrooms: Located by Parking Lot

Snow Hike Gear:

Hiking Poles
Baby Carrier
Crampons
Snacks
Water
GPS
Dress in Layers

52 Hike Challenge 2021: Hike #1 Stonewall Peak

Stonewall is a hike I grew up with. Not difficult, but a good exercise and a very rewarding view. On a clear day, you can see from the desert to the ocean. We even hiked this one when our oldest was just a little toddler still in the hiking carrier.

Now we have 2 little girls: one 1.5 years and big sister now 4 years old.

We took both of them on this hike on January 1, 2021, to kick off our 52 Hike Challenge (it’s not necessary to be a new years resolution, but we’re suckers for that stuff). It began our “New Year, New Start, New Adventures” outlook, especially after how much everything in 2020 changed our travel plans, work plans, and life plans (I’m sure you can relate).

For more information on Hiking with kids and doing the 52 Hike Challenge, click to read our post on the Best Family Adventure: Hiking Challenge with your Kids.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because, revisiting an old hike can be just as much of an adventure as going somewhere new, especially when it’s a different season.

We joke that we don’t really have “seasons” in San Diego, but if you go up in elevation in the surrounding mountains, you will get some snow. And yes, we got snow.

The Climb up Stonewall Peak

It wasn’t a lot of snow- in fact, the whole first stretch the snow was just beautifully off to the side, giving a sense of new excitement to our trail. But it was icy. The higher up we went, the more the icy snow covered the entire path. We were slipping around a bit in our hiking boots when we decided to stop and put on our crampons.

What are crampons? Spikes you wear on your feet so you don’t slip and slide on ice and snow.

Why did you have crampons? Well, we are planning to go cold weather camping, and we always hike when camping, so my husband did the research and bought us some of our very own crampons for an upcoming trip.

Why did you bring crampons with you? My husband looked up the weather report (he’s so good at making sure we are prepared!) and saw there might be some snow. We didn’t know if we would even need them on this hike, but better have it and leave it in the car than need it and not it, right?

There wasn’t much snow at the bottom, so we asked the park ranger who confirmed there was more snow higher up: this settled it, we put the crampons in our hiking backpack just in case. I am glad we did!

By not slipping around, I was able to help our oldest munchkin hike. Her little kid crampons didn’t ship out on time, so she definitely needed some help walking over the icy snow. When hiking with a 4-year-old, even without snow in the mix, you’re holding onto their hand(s) most of the time. We climbed up the rest of the trail with ease and made it to the top.

Our friends didn’t have crampons, and even though they were sliding around a bit, they made it without any falls. We passed by a handful of other hikers as well, very few had crampons. Most had on tennis shoes or hiking shoes.

A quick note on what to wear when hiking in the snow: dress in layers! Here are some cold-weather outfit tips:

How to Dress for Cold Weather Hiking

Base Layer: this can be long johns (long underwear), or just cotton or wool long sleeve shirts and pants.
2nd Layer: Pants & Shirt. We typically pair a short-sleeved shirt with the long-sleeve base layer and hiking pants. If you know there will be a lot of snow (or even rain), make sure the pants are water-resistant.
3rd Layer: Sweater or Jacket. This can be a fleece sweater or a down jacket.
Outer Layer: Water-resistant jacket, warm hat, gloves, warm socks, and good weatherproof hiking shoes.

A little side note: the above information came from a result of trial and error from multiple resources & YouTube videos as "we" (i.e. my husband) researched what to wear for us and the girls. We took the information, tested different layer combos on different hikes, compiled our own preferences, and this list is our final checklist.  I would like to give a shout-out to REI for having amazing products and knowledgeable staff who always answer our questions.

The Summit of Stonewall Peak

The top of this particular trail is a narrow stairway with a railing on one side. When you get to the peak, that same railing continues around the top.

The stairs (usually covered with squirrels begging for food- *side note, don’t feed wildlife people food!) were covered with ice. Some snow, but mostly ice. We walked up and down very slowly so munchkin could be sure of every step. We always tell her to make every step count, meaning to not just be sure of her foot placement, but also think ahead to where her next step will be.

Here are our Top 6 Lessons for New Little Hikers

Don’t put your hand where you can’t see
Make every step count
Listen to your parents
Leave the animals alone- you’re a guest in their home
Don’t touch a plant you don’t know
Drink your water

As she grows, we’ll add in info about navigating the trails, more details about the “Leave No Trace (LNT)” principles, general first aid, etc. For now, I mainly want to make sure she’s listening to us, learns proper foot placement, and doesn’t get into any issues with mother nature’s plants or animals.

After some photo ops and a video of the summit, we were ready to head back down the stairs. Typically, we snack as needed on the way up and down the mountain, but we save our main sit-down snack for the summit (if munchkin can last that long). So we sat down on the large rocks at the base of the stairway to the outlook and had our snack. Little sister woke up just in time for some food…and a Facetime call with her abuelos (grandparents).

Some hikes have no signal, while others still have cell phone signals. It is nice to be able to “disconnect” for a while (we have a GPS so we can still track our whereabouts and send an emergency call if needed), but it is also pretty fun to have family see the girls while they are on their adventure. No one was at the top with us during this time, so it was perfect for a quick chat and sharing the view. If you do decide to take a quick call, be sure to remember your hiking etiquette and be respectfully aware of other hikers.

Stonewall Peak Descent

The way down is always quicker, although with kids you need to remember to not go too fast. When the trail gets a little steep, it’s a great opportunity to teach your kid some control. Walking sideways (being careful to not cross your feet over each other) is an easier way to go down a steeper incline.

Hiking with a toddler or little kid means your hands are busy holding on to theirs, so make sure to communicate if you need to go first or if they need to go first while you follow behind when side-by-side isn’t an option.

On the way down we sang some songs, listened to the birds, and stopped for some more photo ops (I do love my photos!).

We even played around with our wristband compass from our Nomadic subscription box.

At the bottom, we crossed the street to the parking lot, used the restrooms, and got out the sled for a couple of runs. Again, the snow was icy, so it wasn’t the best sledding conditions, but we still had fun.