WayneFry - Nov 12, 2023 9:30 am Date Climbed: Nov 9, 2023
SW Ridge
We had originally planned to climb Mount Mildred this day but discovered mosquito ridge road was closed. As a backup we headed over to Signal Peak and climbed from the Indian Springs OHV staging area. We stayed on the 4x4 track for most of the way and stopped at Red Mountain Lookout first then continued over to Signal Peak. Clear sunny day.
colingregory - Sep 16, 2019 12:16 pm Date Climbed: Aug 31, 2019
Dayhike
Quick hike up from the 'painted rock' TH. Some strangers in a Polaris awarded me a cold beer on the summit!
Scott Fulton - May 19, 2018 4:31 pm Date Climbed: May 19, 2018
From Fordyce Summit
Parked the car at Fordyce Summit and hiked it with my son Matthew. Nice views.
kaylam87 - Jul 16, 2017 12:12 am Date Climbed: Jul 15, 2017
Fun Hike with Great Weather
Fun hike today with Will, Daniel, Vita, and Aubrey. We drove up the dirt road to about .4 miles past the 1 mile marker. I had looked at the route on Gaia and it showed only one trail up. Along with some trip reports from Fedak, Mountain Hiker, and Yamagata, we didn't have a problem finding the trail. In fact, you could just use the Gaia map overlay and find it quite easily. Definitely steep in some sections, but not too difficult, and the first half of the climb was mostly shaded. The actual summit is a little blah due to all the comms equipment on it. But the abandoned railroad lookout is pretty cool. We hung out there and ate lunch, and most of us went up on the roof. I needed some help in that department, ha. No snow on the trail, lots of pretty flowers. My seventeenth Ogul! My Gaia GPS said it was about 4.2 miles, 1700' ascent, just under three hours RT not including our long break at the lookout.
Marmaduke - Aug 17, 2016 10:39 pm Date Climbed: Aug 17, 2016
Easy hike, great views
Was a 3 1/2 hour R/T via the Indian Springs OHV trail. A guy doing tractor work on the trail said it was 2.5 to 3 miles one way. Trail comes up from the west. Views to north and east are great.
Larry Laverty - Apr 4, 2015 2:19 am Date Climbed: Apr 3, 2015
Southeast Slope
One of my grandfathers having been a railroad man made the history of this peak especially significant. Parked my low-riding Honda Civic near the campground and hoofed it up Fordyce. Intending to take a left and go up the old road, I proceeded to march right past it. Figuring I'd better head up somehow, I picked a drainage, a bushy not so sexy drainage, and headed straight up toward the summit. A real lollapalooza. Do not ascend this way without adequate supply of beer and pretzels.
Brian Asher - Nov 3, 2014 6:50 pm Date Climbed: Nov 2, 2014
Snow Hike after Storm
There was a lot of snow on the ground and the start to the trail was difficult to see. Parking your car on the shoulder of this road at exactly 1 mile past the bridge and .4 of a mile past the 1 mile marker will get you very close. If you cannot find the start of the rough 4WD path due to snow, begin heading due north from the road and you will run into the 4WD trail which heads to the northeast towards the peak. Follow the 4WD trail up until until about 7,500 feet when you will see electricity posts and wires. This should be about 1.5 miles into the hike. Once you get to the top of the ridge where the hiker’s hut is the antenna covered summit comes into view a few hundred yards ahead. My round trip distance was about 3.8 miles, gaining nearly 1,700 feet. It had snowed the night before I went so it was slow going to the top, taking about 2 hours. I then ran down in about 25 minutes.
thelocs - Apr 8, 2014 3:44 am Date Climbed: Sep 11, 2013
Fun Quick Regular Climb, and Underappreciated views.
Some of the best views around Tahoe peaks and also of other surrounding peaks. Relatively straight forward trail and easy to access with 2wd in Spring-Summer.
trexkerry - Jun 23, 2013 4:04 pm Date Climbed: Jun 1, 2013
Too many offroad vehicles
Had planned to double this with Old Man Mountain but wasn't feeling well enough so settled for just this one. Trip report at http://www.mountainhiker.org/trip_report.aspx?id=88
labgloves - Mar 18, 2013 11:00 am Date Climbed: Mar 17, 2013
Spring day
We hiked (with a some postholes) up the jeep trail from Cisco grove after minor problems finding the first turnoff. The descent in sun-soften snow was a blast!
ckerth - Apr 10, 2012 12:31 am Date Climbed: Apr 9, 2012
SW Ridge
Parked near the campground at Cisco Grove. I followed the southwest ridge from near highway 80 over three minor highpoints and past the abandoned lookout before arriving at Signal Peak. I crossed several different bear tracks going over the ridgeline in this section. I tagged the slightly lower unnamed peak near Signal before continuing along the ridge to Fordyce Summit. From there I followed snowmobile tracks down Fordyce Road back to the campground. Except for a short section at the beginning, I was able to use snowshoes the entire way.
BCL - Feb 16, 2010 12:02 am Date Climbed: Feb 15, 2010
SW Ridge
Easy half day snow shoe.
NewDayRising - Feb 15, 2010 10:54 pm Date Climbed: Feb 15, 2010
SW Ridge
with a group of 10. it took an hour to drive up from roseville pnr on taylor rd. a little over 2 hours to ascend sw ridge and 1 hour to descend. beautiful and warm weather on compact snow.
snowflake - Mar 31, 2009 4:19 pm Date Climbed: Mar 31, 2009
Skis
Left Nevada City at 6:15 and back before noon. Skied off the summit at about 10:00 just as the sun was beginning to soften the upper centimeter, so made for a quick morning sneak-away-from-work-trip.
McCannster - Feb 19, 2008 7:27 pm Date Climbed: Feb 19, 2008
Snowshoes
Like other people, I couldn't find the old Jeep trail, so I just slogged up the SE face on snowshoes. The snow was good, but it was really warm going up. The summit was really cool. I climbd the medium sized radio tower for an added rush. Checked out the old lookout hut as well. Coming down was very fun, I just glided down the snow on my shoes. Went snowboarding afterwards. 3 hours, roundtrip.
Ol Walsher - Jul 8, 2007 6:25 pm Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2007
SW Ridge and then along Rattlesnake Creek
Hit the trail early but was still hot. Cool views from top....hiked with Alan and Steve. Was not able to find register. Did find a geo cache though!
Bob Burd - Mar 2, 2007 4:04 am Date Climbed: Feb 4, 2007
SW Ridge
What Matthew said below. It was chilly out to start and windy atop, but otherwise the weather was pretty nice. Trip Report
Hiking Metal Maniac - Jan 11, 2024 5:14 pm Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2021
Red Mountain Lookout and Signal PeakFrom the dirt road down below, a decent trail. Class 2.
SOUNDTRACK: Rush: Signals
https://hikingmetalmaniac.blogspot.com/2021/07/signal-peak.html
WayneFry - Nov 12, 2023 9:30 am Date Climbed: Nov 9, 2023
SW RidgeWe had originally planned to climb Mount Mildred this day but discovered mosquito ridge road was closed. As a backup we headed over to Signal Peak and climbed from the Indian Springs OHV staging area. We stayed on the 4x4 track for most of the way and stopped at Red Mountain Lookout first then continued over to Signal Peak. Clear sunny day.
colingregory - Sep 16, 2019 12:16 pm Date Climbed: Aug 31, 2019
DayhikeQuick hike up from the 'painted rock' TH. Some strangers in a Polaris awarded me a cold beer on the summit!
Scott Fulton - May 19, 2018 4:31 pm Date Climbed: May 19, 2018
From Fordyce SummitParked the car at Fordyce Summit and hiked it with my son Matthew. Nice views.
kaylam87 - Jul 16, 2017 12:12 am Date Climbed: Jul 15, 2017
Fun Hike with Great WeatherFun hike today with Will, Daniel, Vita, and Aubrey. We drove up the dirt road to about .4 miles past the 1 mile marker. I had looked at the route on Gaia and it showed only one trail up. Along with some trip reports from Fedak, Mountain Hiker, and Yamagata, we didn't have a problem finding the trail. In fact, you could just use the Gaia map overlay and find it quite easily. Definitely steep in some sections, but not too difficult, and the first half of the climb was mostly shaded. The actual summit is a little blah due to all the comms equipment on it. But the abandoned railroad lookout is pretty cool. We hung out there and ate lunch, and most of us went up on the roof. I needed some help in that department, ha. No snow on the trail, lots of pretty flowers. My seventeenth Ogul! My Gaia GPS said it was about 4.2 miles, 1700' ascent, just under three hours RT not including our long break at the lookout.
Marmaduke - Aug 17, 2016 10:39 pm Date Climbed: Aug 17, 2016
Easy hike, great viewsWas a 3 1/2 hour R/T via the Indian Springs OHV trail. A guy doing tractor work on the trail said it was 2.5 to 3 miles one way. Trail comes up from the west. Views to north and east are great.
Larry Laverty - Apr 4, 2015 2:19 am Date Climbed: Apr 3, 2015
Southeast SlopeOne of my grandfathers having been a railroad man made the history of this peak especially significant. Parked my low-riding Honda Civic near the campground and hoofed it up Fordyce. Intending to take a left and go up the old road, I proceeded to march right past it. Figuring I'd better head up somehow, I picked a drainage, a bushy not so sexy drainage, and headed straight up toward the summit. A real lollapalooza. Do not ascend this way without adequate supply of beer and pretzels.
Brian Asher - Nov 3, 2014 6:50 pm Date Climbed: Nov 2, 2014
Snow Hike after StormThere was a lot of snow on the ground and the start to the trail was difficult to see. Parking your car on the shoulder of this road at exactly 1 mile past the bridge and .4 of a mile past the 1 mile marker will get you very close. If you cannot find the start of the rough 4WD path due to snow, begin heading due north from the road and you will run into the 4WD trail which heads to the northeast towards the peak. Follow the 4WD trail up until until about 7,500 feet when you will see electricity posts and wires. This should be about 1.5 miles into the hike. Once you get to the top of the ridge where the hiker’s hut is the antenna covered summit comes into view a few hundred yards ahead. My round trip distance was about 3.8 miles, gaining nearly 1,700 feet. It had snowed the night before I went so it was slow going to the top, taking about 2 hours. I then ran down in about 25 minutes.
thelocs - Apr 8, 2014 3:44 am Date Climbed: Sep 11, 2013
Fun Quick Regular Climb, and Underappreciated views.Some of the best views around Tahoe peaks and also of other surrounding peaks. Relatively straight forward trail and easy to access with 2wd in Spring-Summer.
trexkerry - Jun 23, 2013 4:04 pm Date Climbed: Jun 1, 2013
Too many offroad vehiclesHad planned to double this with Old Man Mountain but wasn't feeling well enough so settled for just this one. Trip report at http://www.mountainhiker.org/trip_report.aspx?id=88
labgloves - Mar 18, 2013 11:00 am Date Climbed: Mar 17, 2013
Spring dayWe hiked (with a some postholes) up the jeep trail from Cisco grove after minor problems finding the first turnoff. The descent in sun-soften snow was a blast!
ckerth - Apr 10, 2012 12:31 am Date Climbed: Apr 9, 2012
SW RidgeParked near the campground at Cisco Grove. I followed the southwest ridge from near highway 80 over three minor highpoints and past the abandoned lookout before arriving at Signal Peak. I crossed several different bear tracks going over the ridgeline in this section. I tagged the slightly lower unnamed peak near Signal before continuing along the ridge to Fordyce Summit. From there I followed snowmobile tracks down Fordyce Road back to the campground. Except for a short section at the beginning, I was able to use snowshoes the entire way.
hauntedbymediocrity - Feb 5, 2011 8:27 pm Date Climbed: Feb 5, 2011
Beautiful dayNice views from the top, but very cold and windy.
fedak - Oct 16, 2010 2:20 am Date Climbed: Oct 14, 2010
Ridge Up/ATV Trail DownOk the "Jeep Trail" isn't a jeep trail- its an ATV width track 1 mile from the bridge (or .4 miles from the 1mi marker on Fordyce Road)
OGUL #49, Pics and Trip Report are here.
BCL - Feb 16, 2010 12:02 am Date Climbed: Feb 15, 2010
SW RidgeEasy half day snow shoe.
NewDayRising - Feb 15, 2010 10:54 pm Date Climbed: Feb 15, 2010
SW Ridgewith a group of 10. it took an hour to drive up from roseville pnr on taylor rd. a little over 2 hours to ascend sw ridge and 1 hour to descend. beautiful and warm weather on compact snow.
snowflake - Mar 31, 2009 4:19 pm Date Climbed: Mar 31, 2009
SkisLeft Nevada City at 6:15 and back before noon. Skied off the summit at about 10:00 just as the sun was beginning to soften the upper centimeter, so made for a quick morning sneak-away-from-work-trip.
McCannster - Feb 19, 2008 7:27 pm Date Climbed: Feb 19, 2008
SnowshoesLike other people, I couldn't find the old Jeep trail, so I just slogged up the SE face on snowshoes. The snow was good, but it was really warm going up. The summit was really cool. I climbd the medium sized radio tower for an added rush. Checked out the old lookout hut as well. Coming down was very fun, I just glided down the snow on my shoes. Went snowboarding afterwards. 3 hours, roundtrip.
Ol Walsher - Jul 8, 2007 6:25 pm Date Climbed: Jul 8, 2007
SW Ridge and then along Rattlesnake CreekHit the trail early but was still hot. Cool views from top....hiked with Alan and Steve. Was not able to find register. Did find a geo cache though!
Bob Burd - Mar 2, 2007 4:04 am Date Climbed: Feb 4, 2007
SW RidgeWhat Matthew said below. It was chilly out to start and windy atop, but otherwise the weather was pretty nice. Trip Report