The view from San Jacinto is the most sublime spectacle to be found anywhere on this earth! – John Muir
Time: ~9 hours
Difficulty: Strenuous
Elevation gain: 4,689 ft
Dogs: No
When to go: June-October
This hike is the fifth in my Six-Pack of Peaks series of training hikes that I originally used to train for the hiking the John Muir Trail.
There are several routes up San Jacinto. Most people take the Palm Springs Aerial Tram up from the desert floor and begin their journey in Long Valley. It’s a route I’ve taken many times before, and I was itching for something different and a more challenging.
The Marion Mountain trail fit the bill perfectly.
The Marion Mountain route begins a few miles north of Idyllwild. It’s the shortest route up Mt. San Jacinto. It’s also steep, relentlessly climbing over 4,600 feet in just 5.7 miles.
As you can see here in this Google Earth image, the trail climbs almost continuously, with a short breather at Little Round Valley before the final ascent to the saddle and the summit.
I felt great on the hike, though. First of all, unlike my last big hike I hydrated and slept well the night before. But the other reason was the scenery. Almost the entire hike is under the cover of pine forest that was bursting with wildflowers and dozens of little snow-fed rivulets. The visual feast kept our minds busy.
And though I planned this hike many weeks in advance, it turns out the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. One pair of hikers I met on the trail told me they had been up this trail just a couple weeks earlier and had to turn back at Little Round Valley because of the heavy snow. Only those with crampons were making it to the summit.
On this weekend, the snow had mostly melted, though we still saw patches such as this one feeding the many seasonal creeks.
Not far below the junction to the summit lies Little Round Valley. It has a beautiful alpine meadow and a number of primitive campsites. None were occupied on this particular weekend, and I’ve heard that bugs are a real issue here. There is, however, a chemical toilet (we marveled at how they got it up there!) and it’s worth taking a short break here to enjoy the view and rest before the final climb.
We regrouped at the junction with the trail coming up from the tram, and made the short hike up to the stone hut and on to the summit.
The hut contains four bunks and a place to deposit any extra supplies you might want to share, should others need them in an emergency. As the sign on the door reminds you, be sure to leave the hut in better condition than when you arrived.
Beyond the hut it’s a boulder scramble to the summit, which on this particular day had a crowd of people. Joan and I literally had to wait in line for the obligatory “here we are at the top” photo.
We ate lunch, took photos, and gave thanks that we didn’t take the trail from the tram — it was obvious that was how most of the people up here came. To return down the mountain we simply retraced our steps. The long descent was greatly aided by trekking poles. Finally back at the trailhead, we drove a couple miles back to Idyllwild for dinner at the local Mexican restaurant, Arriba’s — good food, reasonable prices and hiker-friendly patios. Highly recommended.
A few tips for anyone planning this hike. First, allow sufficient time to get to the trailhead. This place is not freeway-close by any measure. It took us a full two hours to get there from Orange County. Add your driving time to the hiking time, and you’ve pretty nearly filled your day. Second, if you’re meeting your hiking partners, plan to meet at the Ranger Station in Idyllwild, then caravan to the trailhead outside of town. It’s easy to find the Ranger Station; but not so easy to find the trailhead.
Trail Map and Elevation Profile
Photo Gallery
Click any image for a larger version.
Additional Mt. San Jacinto Resources
- GPS user? Download the GPX file (right-click and save as)
- View the trail in Google Earth
- The Marion Mountain trailhead can be reached off of CA 243 a few miles north of Idyllwild. There are signs indicating where to turn for the Fern Basin and Marion Mountain campgrounds. The trailhead begins on road 4S71 between the campgrounds. Trailhead parking on Google Maps. You must display an Adventure Pass in your car.
- Self-service permits are required for day hikes, obtainable at the Ranger Station in Idyllwild at 25905 State Highway 243
Idyllwild Weather Forecast
| Today | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|
 Clear 107°/85° | Clear 112°/85° | Clear 113°/82° | Clear 106°/81° |
A special thanks to my hiking companions Leslie, John R and Joan!
Title photo credit: Chuck Coker
Great report Jeff! Looks like a real “climb”. You all covered a lot of vertical feet in this one. Glad to hear that the snow was gone from the summit. We ran into the same dilemma a few weeks ago on a hike here in Las Vegas. I am sure this trek elevated your conditioning even more. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Tim! Next one this Saturday is San Gorgonio — the biggest yet — with over 5,000 vertical feet gained. Then we settle into maintenance mode as we finish packing food and other last minute details for the JMT. 26 days and counting…
Nice report. Looks like they replaced the summit sign since I last went there. Camping at Little Round Valley will get you to the summit early and you’ll have it to yourself.
I never saw a chemical toilet at LRV, it must be new!
Good show. Good luck on San G.
Yes, the sign looked very new. Didn’t find (or even look for) the summit log! Somehow that slipped my mind.
San G will be fun… looking forward to a good night’s sleep tonight in preparation for a LONG day tomorrow.
Nice hike! I’ve only ever done this hike using the tram. Of course – I’ve also always had my kids with me. Last time I did San Jac (last spring) the summit register was in the hut.
Doing San G? It’s been *years* since I was last up there. Have fun!
Thanks, Glenn! I’ve only done this via the tram as well (until this hike). It was a good hike though, and cheaper than the tram, too!
San G was great: http://socalhiker.net/2010/07/san-gorgonio-via-vivian-creek/
Hi Jeff,
San Jacinto ranks near the top of my list of favorite peaks. What would you say are your top favorites?
I would agree… San Jacinto is my favorite of the SoCal peaks. It has the sub-alpine meadows, forest, great views, and “feels” more like a summit at the top than most of the others. A great way to spend the day.
In spite of the impression you might get from my most recent trail guides, I’m not primarily a peak bagger. But I have bagged a few, and my all-time favorite was Banner Peak in the Minarets, above Thousand Island Lake. I hiked around the “back” side (west face), up a glacier, along a precarious ridge to the final boulder scramble to the top. Sitting at the edge my feet dangling thousands of feet above the lake was an amazing experience.
We’ll be camping at Thousand Island Lake in a couple weeks as part of our thru-hike of the John Muir Trail. We won’t have time for a side trip to Banner Peak, but someday I’d like to go back, and maybe climb it’s twin Mt. Ritter as well.
Wow. That sounds amazing! I’m definitely going to be checking out Banner on my TOPO’s when I get home tonight! Hope you have a blast on the JMT! Can’t wait to hear all about it! I’d like to do that trail myself someday.
Hi Jeff,
I am planning to summit via this route next week, and while I don’t expect you to have current conditions, I was wondering about water sources. The gal at the ranger station seemed a bit confused when I asked, and said I needed to pack all my water in (saying Round Valley was the only reliable water source on the mountain), but the maps and your trail report show seasonal creeks. Any idea if those would be flowing this time of year, or if there is another reliable source of water along this route?
Thanks for any info you might have…
J-G
J-G, at this time of the year, I would agree with the ranger. The seasonal creeks run in the spring or after rain. This time of year they would be mostly dry.
There may be some water trickling through Little Round Valley, but to be safe, I wouldn’t count on it.
On the flip side, there is usually some bottles of water in the hut near the top of San Jacinto. Again, probably not wise to count on that, but good to know in case of emergency.
Have a great hike! Let me know how it goes.
Jeff,
Thank you for the info; we backpacked the route and it was great. For anyone rolling up in the near future, in between the Seven Pines Trail junction and Little Round Valley, there were no fewer than five water sources, in the form of springs, flowing nicely. I did not expect you to have that current level of info, but I did expect that the rangers would. No biggie, we packed in what we needed, but just sayin’…
Thanks again,
J-G
That is good to know, Jean-Guille. Thanks for the update!
I’m thinking of backpacking at Round Valley
I get conflicting reports of water there.
Some websites say no water, water but needs filter or tap water for drinking.
Does anyone know what the truth is?
Also, what type of pit toilets?
I traveled in the far east and pit toilets are basically squat toilets. Is that the same at Round Valley.
thanks
I would check with the ranger station. You’re referring to Round Valley, not Little Round Valley, right? If so, the last time I camped in Round Valley, there was actually a faucet for water. The rangers can confirm.
Round Valley is on east side of San Jacinto, closer to the tram, and also tends to have a little more water than Little Round Valley on the west side.
As for toilets, there may be some chemical toilets, either porta-potty style or something a little more permanent, but most of them are pretty nasty. You’d be smart to bring a trowel, find a secluded spot, and dig a hole at least 6 inches deep to bury your poop.
Jeff,
This is a great summary of the hike. I just did it yesterday along with 10 others from my son’s Boy Scout troop as our last training hike before doing Mount Whitney (starting from Cottonwood Lake). Yesterday was very hot and although we started at 6am, it was in the 80’s at the peak and in the 90’s on the way down. We had some slow pokes in our group which, along with our 40 lb packs we carried, made for a 12 hour round trip. It was the most difficult hike I have ever done in one day – even beyond the 18 mile Half Dome round trip I did two years ago. Cheers,
Jeff
Hi,
I really enjoyed reading this post. I am contemplating doing this hike on the first weekend of March. Would this be too early in the year to attempt? I am not sure what the snow levels are like. Thank you for any information.
Blaine, thanks for stopping by and commenting!
March is often very snowy and would normally require snowshoes, crampons, or other specialized gear. Last year I went snowshoeing up at San Jacinto (not to the summit). I’m hoping to go again this year to the summit, and hopefully IN snow.
Of course, so far this year we’ve had very little precipitation, so it may not be a “typical” year.
I would suggest calling the ranger station for the latest conditions.
great post, i want to head up there this weekend, is the trail open this month?
It’s likely open, but icy. I chatted with a guy who went up the other side a couple weeks ago and he said there were light patches of snow, but it was very icy.
So you may want to bring some traction devices and trekking poles for sure.
I would also give the ranger station a call first. They usually have a pretty good idea of conditions. Note that they almost always try to talk people out of going in less than ideal conditions.
Hi Jeff: Thanks for the excellent post. We are planning to hike on March 29th this year. One of the sites said the Marion Mtn road is closed November to May. Is that true? We don’t care if we can’t reach the summit as long as we can at least do a portion…Thanks!
Good point! The 243 is generally open (barring recent snow), but I’m not sure about Marion Mtn. Road. You could potentially hike in from the 243.
I would give the Idyllwild Ranger Station a call to confirm. Their number is (909) 382-2921. They are closed today for the President’s Day holiday. Let us know what you discover.
This is such a great thread.
Hector, how was it?
I am just a kid from warm Texas so I don’t own any of the gear I think I would need. i really want to do it thought. if you know of any places for equipment rental.
If that does not work then I would be happy with a Mountain Bike trail too if anyone knows of anything. Thanks again.
Blaine
So we’re planning to hike here on June… How steep is it if you compare it to Mt. Baldy?
Depends on which route at Baldy. This hike is much steeper than Devil’s Backbone @ Baldy, but maybe not much steeper if you go up the Bowl.
We’re contemplating doing Mt San Jacinto soon. I’m a weekender, not pro by any standards and no equipment. We did the Sittons Peak trail last weekend. It took us about 4.5 hours, there and back without poles, but had water to spare (even in that heat)! I saw there are a couple ways to do this peak, which would you recommend as a follow-on to Sittons? Thanks in advance :).
Jeff, I am wondering if you have the stats on distance if we were to do it the way many other do for a first time via the tram. where can I get info on that way. I want it to still be challenging but want info on the trailhead, distance, elevation gain, etc. any tips or reccommendations??
Jeff, where are the directions to this trail head…planning on doing this hike early September this year with some friends..
Ahhhh, I am sorry, love your website, it is sooo great… I found it just now..near the bottom. Thanks for the great helpful info!!!
Thinking about showing up late next Wednesday and backpacking the route. Do you think the refuge will be busy mid week?
Mistake worth noting since this could confuse some people: Saddle Junction is NOT on this trail. I think what’s described as SJ is the junction with the route to the peak and the trail coming up from the tram and Humber Park in Idyllwild. Saddle Junction is actually where five trails meet including the trail from Humber Park (Devils Slide) and is about five miles south of where the Marion Mountain trail meets the peak trail.
Good catch, Jim. You are absolutely correct. I’ve updated the post to avoid confusion. It’s a junction, near (but not at) the saddle between San Jacinto and Jean Peak. But it’s not Saddle Junction — which is a specific location at the top of Devil’s Slide.
Why not take the Cactus to clouds trail? It’s much longer and much much harder.
I just hiked up San Jacinto from Deer Springs trail, here is my trail report:
http://www.cattywampur.com/2016/05/08/san-jacinto-deer-spring-trail/
Thank you so much for sharing these amazing hiking trails. Questions, I don’t know how to download your GPX files to my desktop, do I need a special software for that? Ultimately I would like to transfer it to you Garmin Fenix watch. I think it would be very cool to use my watch as I fellow your trail.
Thanks and let the hiking gods be with you.
Thank for all of the great information. I’m planning to hike San Jacinto next week as one of the 6-pack peak challenges but was wanting to take the tram up. Does this route completely “count” for a person completing the challenge… or do I need to start in Idyliwild?
Thanks!
Debbie
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for the write-up.
I just loaded the GPX into GaiaGPS, and it looks chunky, like low sampling rate. Maybe I did something wrong? Or does the file really look like that?
Without all of the curves, the actual track might be significantly longer. I’m seeing long zig-zags, so maybe I did something wrong.
Just hiked Jacinto this past Saturday. It’s definitely longer than 11.4 miles. Per my GPS and pedometer, it was 14 miles. I started in Marion campground and took the same route on the map and it still took 9 hours, but my total miles was 14. My pedometer said I walked 38,000 steps. When I did Mount Wilson, I also took 38,000 steps and that was 14 miles.
It was hard is some places. Lots of rocks. Makes the descend really slow.
Hiked Jacinto this weekend. What an amazing view from the peak. Felt much longer than posted signage. Took around 8 hours. Just as an update. The marion mountain road to the trail head is now paved! No need for any type of special vehicle or caution.
Just did this one yesterday. It was definitely my favorite so far of the Six Pack of Peaks. Gorgeous scenery along the trail and amazing views at the top! The bugs were driving me crazy the first mile and a half (at 7am) but seemed gone by the time we were headed back. The way down definitely seemed longer than going up. My garmin watch logged 12.4 miles by the time I reached my car.
I had a question about permits, do you need a permit for both SJ state park and SB National Forest or just 1 permit for both? Planning on doing this hike Nov. 5. THanks and i love SoCal Hiker!
Hi! First, thank you for all the information available here, that is great. It actually makes me wanna go up there.. It seems like most people go up during Spring / Summer. What about in February? Is it possible? Or will the snow get me lost on my way up or down?
I was thinking about going up early morning to catch the sunrise. Or maybe sunset. I have been doing trail running for a little while and although I don’t have snow shoes, I have decent crampons on my shoes.
Thank you for any tip you could share!
Thom
Great site. This is my most favorite place on Earth. Had an unbelievable hike of a lifetime when I was young with a buddy of mine. Not ready to share as I’m just starting to talk about it. Would you have any advice? Would you go public if you were me? Either way thank you for your contribution. It’s very much appreciated.
-Joe
March 2017 peak update. Hiked on Sunday 19th March. There was ground snow immediately at the Aerial Tramway summit. Ranger scared us inexperienced snow hikers from going to the summit “deep snow, intermittent avalanches…” so we just went across to Wellman Divide. There were people going to the peak and several groups coming down from camping out the night before. Hiking in snow that was several feet deep in places was a new experience, luckily we had invested in micro-spikes and that made the whole hike experience enjoyable, finding the trails is guess work based on other hikers tracks. In many places there were different snow tracks to chose from and i would recommend having the map on GPS- we used that as a decision maker on several occasions. Guessing the temperature was around 50ºF and hikers ranged from shorts and t-shirts (not me) to fully wrapped up – we were somewhere in between.
Jeff – thanks for all your guides, certainly helped us plan our way.
My group and I have completed 4 of the 6 and are planning this next peak. To have it count as part of the challenge, does it matter where you start the trail at? Does it need to be from Marion Route or can it be from the tram?
Hey Jeff-
You usually recommend a map to purchase that covers the trail, at least in the Six Pack guides. Is there a certain map you would recommend for San Jacinto? I’m planning on hiking this in about a month.
Thanks!
Hey Shark! I like the Tom Harrison maps. They are water-resistant, durable and include junction-to-junction mileage. Here’s a link to the one for the Mount San Jacinto area.