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Mount San Jacinto State Park
Rating Details »
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
10 reviews for Mount San Jacinto State Park
MOTHER NATURE NEVER LOOKED MORE BEAUTIFUL! (Well... she has but you get my point.)
Pros:
-Family oriented place. Which means it is both children and adult friendly.
-You get to ride on the kick-butt tram!
-They take your picture like at the amusement parks.
-They have that coin penny squishing machine.
-There's snow up there! Beautiful green trees and lots of big-big-big ricks to climb!
-You can go all the way to the top and get a great very of the city below.
-Great place to just have lunch if you wish not to hike (you'd be crazy not to!).
Cons:
-The only way up there is to pay for the tram.
-The air is really thin up there so it makes it a little more tiring.
-It gets pretty cold up there.
GO!!! Pack your bags and put on your tennis shoes and GO-GO-GO!!!
If you like hiking or rock climbing, then this is a great place to be. I've been to the area around Tahquitz and the Suicide Rocks, and it's absolutely gorgeous. I went in March up the Deer Springs trail to do a hike through semi-snow to the top of the Suicide Rocks. My boyfriend and I ate lunch up there and it was so peaceful and the view was amazing. The trail continues on but we just went back, it was a nice little day hike.
You need a wilderness permit to go on most of the trails (free, available at any ranger station), and we bought a parking permit as well ($30 for a year, and it applies to several other parks too).
So beautiful, I can't get over it! My boyfriend does a lot of rock climbing here over by Tahquitz. They have a lot of good stuff over there, you should check it out!
What's nice about this park is that it's very accessible from OC (where I live) without being a compromise in awesomeness. I would like to go back sometime and go to the summit of Mt. San Jacinto.
Great day hike and a beautiful view of Southern California from the peak of Mt San Jacinto. It's nice to remind yourself that this peak is rated 6th amongst peaks in the contiguous US, so feel free to be extremely proud of yourself once you get to the top. ;-)
A group of friends and I took the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway for around $23.00 to Mountain Station, and then hiked the 11 mile round trip trail to the top. You can look up ticket information here: http://www.pstramway.com/
The tram by itself is worth it. It climbs approximately 6000 ft in 15 minutes, and it rotates 360 degrees throughout the ride. Once you get to Mountain Station, a Wilderness permit is required for hiking but is free. Mountain Station is at 8516 ft., and elevation gain to peak is approximately 2300 ft. Climb is gradual, and moderate in difficulty. There's plenty of scenery and wildlife to enjoy along the hike, so just relax and have fun!
At the top there's a little bit of bouldering to do and plenty of opportunities for goofing around. We took tiny bottles of rum, vodka and tequila with us to celebrate when we got to the top. I'm happy to say that this has officially become my new tradition to celebrate reaching a new peak! Now... go conquer the world!
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For a Northern California transplant, Mt. San Jacinto State Parks is a great find. While MSJ doesn't rival the dense pine tree environs of Tahoe, Trinity or the Redwoods it's a welcome escape from the city. This escape is only two hours away from LA or San Diego. There's plenty of trails that can be linked up for hikes to suit any fitness level. The easiest trails are the Desert View and Round Valley routes. Beyond the Desert View and Long Valley nature hikes, you'll need to pick up a free wilderness permit. From the tram, a manageable hike can be made up to the top of Mt. San Jacinto. Camping site seem to be pretty ample and the scenery is great.
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This review is for the hike to the summit of f San Jacinto peak (10,834 feet).
This is a great hike! It's fairly strenuous but if you allow yourself plenty of time you should be able to get to the summit. The scenery is awesome and there is a fair amount of shade since you will be hiking through a wooded area. There are several different paths to the top of San Jacinto peak (10,834 feet) but we decided on taking trail that starts off at 8,500 feet at the end of the Palm Springs tram ($22.25 or $20.10 with AAA discount, first car up on weekends is 8am, last car down is 9:45pm). Don't forget that your group will need to obtain a free wilderness permit at the ranger station on the trail. Total elevation gain/loss is about 2,300 feet and should take about 6 hours round-trip. Don't forget to bring a light jacket because the temperature drops quickly on the mountain (it snowed/hailed on us on our trip off the summit).
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Short Version: If you're into life and everything that's good, this is your place.
Long Version: You wouldn't suspect that in the middle of the desert you'd find one of the greatest hidden jewels of our state park system, but that is amazingly the case. Thanks to the magic of plate tectonics, Mount San Jacinto exists and you must must must go there. It is an incredible retreat from the desert, which you can oversee from its incredible height. It would be ridiculous to think that anyone could possibly describe this place well with words, so suffice it to say that if you need your soul replenished and hope for the world and what it can be, you need to visit. You'll thank yourself for the trip. Go. Now.
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My sister used to work as a assistant Park Ranger here. She has some great stories involving heights and rescuing people and poop. These stories will make you laugh until you cry.
But the good times aren't exclusive to her stories - oh no. The good times include sneaking up to the Heli Pad to watch fireworks on the Fourth of July. (Where else can you see five cities fireworks at one time?)
1. Take the aerial tram from Palm Springs - pack a sweater even though you might be sweating balls when you get on the tram. I promise you will need it.
2. Enjoy the ride.
3. Play in the snow.
DO NOT:
1. Get drunk at the restaurant at the top of the tram. Altitude sickness does not spare the stupid.
2. Go on the tram if you are afraid of heights or have inner ear problems. It will not go well for you.
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want to escape the palm springs desert heat, go up!
minus one star because no pets allowed at this park. shame on you California.
the "new" tram is awesome. 360 rotating view of the area. Hike to the top is amazing, 11mi round trip, and I swear I saw NO trash/debris on the trail. Major props to all you hikers.
try and make it to the top, start before noon if you don't want to race the sun back down. The views from the peak are worth it. They say you can see the Pacific Ocean/Catalina/Colorodo and Mexico, not sure about that. 2nd highest peak in all of socal, over 10,000 feet, amazing. and the plants/trees/brush are different up there, kinda felt east-coast-ish
ps - make note of your turns, the trail isn't marked so great on the way back to the tram. Kinda important if you don't have warm overnight stuff.
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what a spiritual experience. you start at the top of the san jacinto valley, at 8,516 feet above sea level (the highest peak is 10,843, making it the second highest point in southern california), you are surrounded by some very old trees and are privy to the most amazing sights and smells.
yes, smells.
some of these trees have scents. the most common is vanilla and butterscotch. sights include the valley belows (palm springs, coachella among others) and the nature around the valley itself. beautiful birds, beautiful rock formations and big trees all around. the contrast of weather between the san jacinto valley and the desert nature below is so far removed it makes for a far more impressive sight.
there are ranger stations throughout the trail hikes and the trails themselves are very well kept. the main ranger station, also called mountain station, has shops, a restaurant and cafe and plenty of restrooms. temperatures are pretty cool even in the summer. at night it can get hold.
there are definite items to take in your hike here but the most important of all is your camera. there are so many photo ops you can spend days here and feel like you've only scratched the surface of possibilities.
no pets allowed. the address to the park shows idyllwild, however i recommend entering through palm springs through the aerial tramway. it's the easiest and most accessible: http://www.pstramway.c...
not to mention most beautiful. also, make sure you check the website for permits and other pertinent weather information.
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This is quite a haul from L.A. - the easiest access is a few miles from Palm Springs - but here is a list of reasons why you should go anyway.
1) You get to take an honest-to-God aerial tram to the beginning of the trail. This means going about 6,000 feet straight upward in about 5 minutes. Granted, if you happen to have a particular fear of plunging to a fiery grave on the desert floor, you might not like this. But otherwise it's awesome.
2) It's good to remind yourself sometimes that there are parts of southern California that aren't palm trees and concrete. The wilderness park at the top of the tramway is breathtakingly pretty.
3) The highest peak in the area (Mt. San Jacinto, 10,834') is a 5-mile hike from the tram. If you haven't felt like a god (or goddess) in a while, looking almost 11,000 feet down at the desert while your feet are on the ground will remedy that quickly. Casino Morongo looks very, very tiny from up here.
4) If you're in Palm Springs in the winter doing the significant-other-weekend-getaway thing, go to dinner at the restaurant at the top of the tram. It's apparently nice, and the panorama is unbelievable. Though remember that you're at 8,700 feet when you start drinking.
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