San Jacinto National Forest

Tahquitz Peak (pronounced , sometimes ) is a granite, 8,846-foot-tall (2,696 m) rock formation located on the high western slope of the San Jacinto mountain range in Riverside County, Southern California, United States, above the mountain town of Idyllwild. Tahquitz has a steep approach hike (approximately 800-foot elevation gain in a half mile), leading to a roughly 1000-foot face. Tahquitz, which can refer to both the rock outcrop and the outcrop's parent peak, is a popular hiking destination to the fire lookout station and the rock climbing area. The Yosemite Decimal System, widely used in North America to classify hiking and climbing routes, was developed into its modern form at Tahquitz Peak.

The 1948 Desert Hot Springs earthquake occurred on December 4 at 3:43 p.m. Pacific Standard Time with a moment magnitude of 6.4 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). The shock was felt from the central coast of California in the north, and to Baja California in the south, and came at a time when earthquake research in southern California resumed following the Second World War. It was one of two events in the 20th century that have occurred near a complex region of the southern San Andreas Fault system where it traverses the San Gorgonio Pass and the northern Coachella Valley. Damage was not severe, but some serious injuries occurred, and aftershocks continued until 1957.

Suicide Rock (once Suicide Peak) is a granite outcrop (7,510 feet (2,290 m)) near Idyllwild, California, which is popular with rock climbers. Over three hundred climbing routes have been described. It is located near Tahquitz Peak. According to legend, the name of Suicide Rock comes from a story of a Native American princess and her lover who, after being ordered to separate, instead committed suicide by jumping off the rock. It is speculated that this story originated as a derivative of Helen Hunt Jackson's Ramona story, in an attempt to boost tourism to this area in the late 19th century.

Yokoji Zen Mountain Center is a year-round Zen Buddhist training and retreat center located in the San Jacinto Mountains of Southern California. It is a 160 acres (65 hectares) of sacred Native American land and wilderness. Founded 1981 by Taizan Maezumi, Roshi as a summer retreat center for the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Charles Tenshin Fletcher, Roshi who received Dharma transmission from Taizan Maezumi in the White Plum Zen Lineage is the teacher and abbot. His successor, David Jokai Blackwell, serves as vice-abbot.When Yokoji Zen Mountain Center was founded, the formal name of the temple was Dounzan Yokoji. Doun refers to the honorary founder, Shiomi Doun, Roshi; Zan means mountain; and Yokoji means sunlight temple. Commonly the center was known by the name of Zen Mountain Center and in 2006 it returned to the lineage root name, Yokoji Zen Mountain Center to prevent confusion with other Zen centers. Yokoji Zen Mountain Center is open to people in all spiritual traditions and walks of life. The center has full-time residential training programs, as well as regularly scheduled silent meditation retreats (sesshin). Home practice is also supported by coming to the center for periods of intensive practice as well and local practice with one of the affiliated sitting groups. Affiliated sitting groups are located in: Los Angeles, California Pasadena, California Long Beach, California Boca Raton, Florida Mexico City, Mexico Liverpool, England Wellington, New Zealand Mendoza, ArgentinaThe buildings and grounds of the center were developed with ecological principles in concept and construction. It is an alternative power community and serves as the ecological model for the EarthWitness Foundation.

Mount San Jacinto State Park is in the San Jacinto Mountains, of the Peninsular Ranges system, in Riverside County, California, United States. A majority of the park is within the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. The park is near the Greater Los Angeles and San Diego metropolitan areas.

Lake Hemet is a water storage reservoir located in the San Jacinto Mountains in Mountain Center, Riverside County, California, with a capacity of 14,000 acre-feet (17,000,000 m3) of water. It was created in 1895 with the construction of Lake Hemet Dam. Originally built by a private company, today it is owned and operated by the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District (LHMWD).

Idyllwild, Pine Cove, and Fern Valley are three adjacent unincorporated communities in the San Jacinto Mountains in Riverside County, California, United States. Idyllwild has the largest population of the three. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Idyllwild–Pine Cove as a census-designated place (CDP). The CDP's population was 3,874 at the 2010 census, up from 3,504 as of the 2000 census. Idyllwild is adjacent to the Pacific Crest Trail."Mile-high Idyllwild" is a mountain resort about one mile (1600 m) in altitude. Idyllwild is flanked by two large rock formations, Tahquitz Peak and Suicide Rock (also known as Lily Rock), which are famous in Southern California rock-climbing circles. It offers no skiing, so "the Hill" has been minimally developed over the years and remains a center for hiking, mountain and rock climbing, mountain biking, and horseback riding.

The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Mountain Station, also known as Palm Springs Aerial Tramway Alpine Station, is a historic building located in Mount San Jacinto State Park near Idyllwild, California. The building is a fine example of a commercial building designed by Palm Springs architect E. Stewart Williams for the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It is located at an elevation of 8,516 feet (2,596 m), and its design is based on a Swiss chalet with large windows to take in views of the surrounding forests and the desert in the Coachella Valley below. The three-story structure follows a Y-plan with its main elevation to the north. The building's lower levels, which contains the tram's mechanical equipment and receives the tramway cars, are composed of reinforced concrete. The upper level is mostly composed of wood and glass. A concrete wrap-around viewing deck is found on the north and east elevations, and a wood staircase descends to the mountain hiking paths. The interior features a cocktail lounge, dining room, and fireplaces. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.

The Mountain Fire was a wildfire in July, 2013 in Mountain Center, Riverside County, California, about 100 miles east of Los Angeles. It burned primarily in the San Jacinto Mountains in the San Bernardino National Forest. It started on July 15, 2013 at 1:43 PM near the junction of Highway 243 and Highway 74. It burned for 16 days on steep slopes of timber and chaparral above Palm Springs. Heavy rainfall, up to 1.5 inches (3.8 cm), on July 21 helped bring the blaze under control. It was fully contained on July 30, 2013.Cal Fire investigators said the fire was caused by a failure of "some type of electrical equipment" on private property and was not related to utility company equipment. At the fire's peak there were 3,500 firefighters on the lines as well as 20 helicopters, 12 airplanes and 260 engines. The cost of fighting the fire was estimated at $25.8 million.

Mountain Center is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the San Jacinto Mountains, within western central Riverside County, California.

The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument is a National Monument in southern California. It includes portions of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountain ranges, the northernmost ones of the Peninsular Ranges system. The national monument covers portions of Riverside County, west of the Coachella Valley, approximately 100 miles (160 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles.

Lake Hemet Dam, located in Mountain Center, California, impounds the South Fork of the San Jacinto River and creates Lake Hemet. The dam and lake are surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest. The dam is operated by the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District, which supplies water to parts of the cities of Hemet and San Jacinto as well as the Garner Valley community of Mountain Center.