San Jacinto Mountains

San Jacinto Peak ( SAN hə-SIN-toh, -⁠ jə-, -⁠ yə-; often designated Mount San Jacinto) is a 10,834 ft (3,302 m) peak in the San Jacinto Mountains, in Riverside County, California. Lying within Mount San Jacinto State Park it is the highest both in the range and the county, and serves as the southern border of the San Gorgonio Pass. Naturalist John Muir wrote of San Jacinto Peak, "The view from San Jacinto is the most sublime spectacle to be found anywhere on this earth!"San Jacinto Peak is one of the most topographically prominent peaks in the United States, and is ranked the sixth most prominent peak in the 48 contiguous states. According to John W. Robinson and Bruce D. Risher, authors of The San Jacintos, "No Southern California hiker worth his salt would miss climbing 'San Jack' at least once."Known for its spectacular north escarpment, the peak rises over 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above San Gorgonio Pass. It plays host to the famous Cactus to Clouds Trail.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Palm Springs Aerial Tramway in Palm Springs, California, is the largest rotating aerial tramway in the world. It was opened in September 1963 as a way of getting from the floor of the Coachella Valley to near the top of San Jacinto Peak and was constructed in rugged Chino Canyon. Before its construction, the only way to the top of the mountain was to hike hours from Idyllwild. The rotating cars were added in 2000.

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.

Snow Creek, also known as Snow Creek Village, is a small unincorporated community in Riverside County, California. It is located roughly northwest of Palm Springs, on the western edge of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, and roughly southeast of the San Gorgonio Pass. It is named after nearby Snow Creek.The community consists of less than 40 dwellings, with a single 2-mile road connecting it to California State Route 111.

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.

San Jacinto National Forest was established as the San Jacinto Forest Reserve by the United States General Land Office in California on February 22, 1897 with 740,000 acres (3,000 km2). After the transfer of federal forests to the U.S. Forest Service in 1905, it became a National Forest on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908 the entire forest was combined with Trabuco Canyon National Forest to establish Cleveland National Forest, and the name was discontinued.

The James San Jacinto Mountains Reserve, a unit of the University of California Natural Reserve System, is a 29-acre (120,000 m2) ecological reserve and biological field station located at an altitude of 5,200 feet (1,600 m) in a wilderness area of the San Jacinto Mountains near Lake Fulmor in Riverside County, California, United States.