On December 13, 1925, people gathered near the summit of Mount Rubidoux in formal clothes and heavy coats to dedicate the Peace Tower and Friendship Bridge. A century later to the day, a group met at the same spot to mark the centennial. As the Press-Enterprise described it, most wore short sleeves and the high reached 77 degrees. The paper reported that about 40 people walked the final stretch from Huntington Rock. The program included a reenactment, singing and a dove release.
Volunteers organized that morning, and much of the mountain's recent public life has run the same way. The City has become the more active caretaker of the ground, and the line in Riverside's capital plan for repairing the trails and firebreaks has no money assigned. On a walk this fall, the trails look the way they have for years. The new work is at the bottom of the hill.
The centennial was a volunteer production
Friends of Mt. Rubidoux describes its mission today as historical education, promotion and preservation advocacy. Its website leads with the Peace Tower centennial, exhibits, educational resources and a documentary. According to the Raincross Gazette, the group worked with the Mission Inn Foundation and Museum on "On Peace and Friendship," a centennial exhibit curated by Nancy Wenzel. Glenn Wenzel, president of Friends, compiled a companion book under the same title. The exhibit opened November 16 and was set to run through mid-February 2026, so it has closed. Winners of the group's Peace Tower photo and art contest are still posted on the Friends of Mt. Rubidoux site.
The newest permanent addition near the summit came out of the same kind of partnership. On February 28, 2025, Friends, the Riverside African American Historical Society and Riverside Parks, Recreation and Community Services dedicated a bronze tablet marking Booker T. Washington's 1914 visit to the mountain with Frank A. Miller. KVCR reported that the artist was Shelly Topete Gonzalez and that Kenneth B. Morris Jr. spoke at the ceremony. If you walk up often and haven't found it yet, it's worth a stop near the top.
Friends' hands-on role has changed over time. The group's own history says volunteers held a monthly work party in 2002. In 2023 the Press-Enterprise reported that Friends volunteers had painted over graffiti, repaired railings, picked up litter and passed larger problems to Riverside Parks and Recreation. The same story said the City had since become the more active caretaker for repairs and cleanup, with input from Friends.
The ground sits on a different ledger
The City's Mount Rubidoux park page still says the roads and trails are maintained by both the City and Friends. That covers 161 acres, 3.5 miles of paved road and several dirt trails. Larger repairs show up in the City of Riverside 2026–2031 Capital Improvement Program, and there the mountain appears twice. Neither project has full funding.
| Project | Location | Estimated cost | Status in the 2026–2031 CIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Rubidoux Park Trails and Firebreak Repair and Modification | Mountain-wide | $665,475 | Entirely unfunded, priority 16 on the unfunded schedule |
| Mount Rubidoux Trail Landscape Improvements | Base of the trail on the Carlson Park side | Not fully funded | In planning, no construction start date |
The Carlson Park project would put native plants behind the rock retaining wall at the base of the trail. The City lists erosion control and appearance as its purposes. The trails and firebreak line is in Appendix A, the City's schedule of unfunded capital projects. It sits between a $154,000 playground resurfacing at Riverwalk Golden/Schuyler and Sycamore Highlands, and a parks ADA improvements line of $66,150,000. Those neighbors put the mountain's request in proportion. At $665,475, it is a modest item on a long list of parks work waiting for money.
The funded work sits at the foot of the mountain
The project that did get funded is on Mission Inn Avenue. The Riverside City Council unanimously approved the work on February 24, 2026, and hired Hardy & Harper Inc. of Lake Forest for $1,540,000. As the Press-Enterprise reported, it adds a curbed median from Redwood Drive to Scout Lane, more speed warning signs and more crosswalks at Redwood Drive. Before the project, only a painted stripe separated the two directions of traffic where the road curves past Mount Rubidoux and heads over the Santa Ana River toward Jurupa Valley.
The funding came from outside the parks budget. Riverside received a $7.8 million grant from the state Highway Safety Improvement Program in March 2023, and the City had to add at least $1.2 million of its own. That explains why the median moved ahead while the trail repairs did not. The median contract alone is more than twice the cost of the unfunded trails and firebreak work, but it came from a state traffic-safety program, and the trail repairs have to compete for park capital money.
The City's construction list, last updated October 1, 2026, shows the job as Bid 8184, "HSIP Cycle XI Improvements- New Raid Median and High Friction Surface." It lists the contract at $1,540,000 in Ward 1, with an estimated completion date of October 16, 2026. If you reach the mountain by way of the Mission Bridge, that schedule means the work should be wrapping up this month.
Saturday, Oct. 24, from the Bonaminio lot
The mountain's biggest fall morning also starts at its base. The 15th annual Pink on Parade, a fundraiser for The Pink Ribbon Place at the Riverside Community Health Foundation, starts this Saturday at Ryan Bonaminio Park, 5000 Tequesquite Ave. The Raincross Gazette reported that the founding committee mapped the 5K to the summit on purpose and chose the hardest way up.
The morning, drawn from the Pink on Parade site and the Gazette:
- 7:30 a.m. Registration opens at Ryan Bonaminio Park.
- 8 to 11 a.m. Volunteers direct walkers across the Tequesquite Avenue and San Andreas Avenue intersection.
- 9 a.m. The walk to the top of Mount Rubidoux starts. Walkers who would rather skip the climb can take the 1.7K Family Fun Walk, which loops the park.
- Noon The event ends.
The event's current home is fairly recent. It began in 2011 at Fairmount Park and moved to Ryan Bonaminio Park in 2016. After the pandemic, organizers added an annual Classic Car Show and rerouted the walk so participants pass through the show on the way to the mountain. Last year about 1,200 people took part and the walk raised $66,400. The Gazette says the City co-sponsors the event and coordinates a road closure. If you usually walk the mountain on Saturday mornings, plan for a busy park and a busy summit until about midday.
Pink on Parade is one of a few dates each year when the mountain fills with organized groups. The Press-Enterprise covered this year's Easter Sunrise Service at the summit on April 5, 2026. The service's When & How page points attendees to parking on San Andreas Drive, on Glenwood Drive and at Ryan Bonaminio Park, and asks them to allow at least 45 minutes to walk up.
The rules of an ordinary visit
On the other 360-some days, the City's park page covers the basics:
- Hours: Dawn to dusk. The trails have no lights, night hikes are not allowed, and the mountain and the nearby parking lot close at night.
- Vehicles: The park is closed to vehicle traffic, so the paved roads are for walkers, joggers and cyclists.
- Parking: The City recommends the lot at Ryan Bonaminio Park. Street parking nearby is limited.
- Restrooms: Restrooms are at Ryan Bonaminio Park and are open during that park's hours. There are none on the mountain.
- Timing: The City estimates 20 to 30 minutes for a run and 45 to 60 minutes for a walk at a good pace.
- Groups: The City discourages large gatherings.
The City's page credits both the City and Friends of Mt. Rubidoux with maintaining the roads and trails, and Friends also carries the mountain's history. The Friends board is led by president Glenn Wenzel, with Claudia Rodriguez as secretary, Rob Reul as treasurer and Natalie Gomez as membership director. Annual memberships cost $25 to $250 and include newsletters and event invitations. For hands-on volunteer projects, the City's park page lists the Parks Main Office at (951) 351-6250. The larger trail and firebreak repair is a City capital project, and its $665,475 is still on the unfunded list.
At Brad Alewine Group, Mount Rubidoux is our usual landmark when we talk about downtown, from the homes on Banker's Row to the cottages a few blocks off Mission Inn Avenue. If you want to know which downtown streets are an easy walk to the Bonaminio lot, or what this fall's work at the base means for your block, contact us.
