Playhouse Rock & Chongo Boulder via Keys Ranch Road is a 4.8-mile out-and-back near Panorama Heights, CA. The route passes Chongo Boulder before reaching Playhouse Rock at the turnaround, 2.4 miles in. It is mostly level, with 216 ft of elevation gain. It scores 78/100 on the Ambleway Wildness scale: genuinely wild.
Elevation
Getting there
Directions
Playhouse Rock & Chongo Boulder via Keys Ranch Road
4.8 mi · ▲ 216 ft · 1 hr 42 min
Elevation 4,085–4,217 ft
Out & Back
Trailhead: 34.02280, -116.15634
Weather Aug 3: Clear, high 98°F / low 77° · precip 0% · wind 6 mph · sunrise 5:58 AM · sunset 7:45 PM
Toilets at the trailhead · Parking lot at the trailhead
- Start at the trailhead, heading W.
- 150 ftTurn left, heading SW.
- 50 ftTurn right onto Keys Ranch Road, heading NW.
- 0.1 miPass Chongo Boulder.
- 0.8 miTurn left, heading NW.
- 0.4 miTurn left, heading SW.
- 50 ftTurn right, heading SW.
- 50 ftBear right, heading SW.
- 0.1 miTurn right, heading W.
- 0.6 miTurn left onto Quail Springs Historic Trail, heading S.
- 0.2 miTurn right, heading E.
- 450 ftBear right onto Dairy Queen Right Approach, heading SE.
- 50 ftTurn left, heading SE.
- 50 ftReach Playhouse Rock, then turn around and head back the way you came.
- 50 ftTurn right, heading S.
- 50 ftBear left, heading SE.
- 450 ftTurn left, heading NE.
- 500 ftContinue straight onto Quail Springs Historic Trail, heading SE.
- 450 ftTurn right, heading S.
- 0.6 miTurn left, heading N.
- 0.1 miBear left, heading NE.
- 50 ftTurn left, heading NE.
- 50 ftTurn right, heading NE.
- 0.4 miTurn right onto Keys Ranch Road, heading E.
- 0.9 miTurn left, heading SE.
- 50 ftTurn right, heading SE.
- 50 ftArrive back at the trailhead.
Each distance is the walk from the previous step. Tap a step for a map of its junction.
Trail surface
Weather
Sunset
The best sunset spot on this hike is 1.5 mi in (~39 min). Leave by 6:46 PM for the 7:45 PM sunset. Back at your car by 8:39 PM, after dark — bring a headlamp.
Good to know
- Toilets at the trailhead
- Parking lot at the trailhead
Other ways to reach this destination
More from this trailhead
- Figures on a Landscape–Solid Gold, 5 cliffs 3.5 mi · ▲ 247 ft
- Hunk Rock - East Face–Barker Dam Trail, 3 sights 4 mi · ▲ 189 ft
- Banana Cracks - West Face & Chongo Boulder via Keys Ranch Road 4.4 mi · ▲ 162 ft
- Banana Cracks - East Face & Chongo Boulder via Keys Ranch Road 4.5 mi · ▲ 260 ft
- Dairy Queen Right & Chongo Boulder via Keys Ranch Road 4.8 mi · ▲ 341 ft
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Hikes near Panorama Heights, California