Day Hiking San Jacinto Peak via the Palm Springs Aerial Tram

Day hike to the summit of 10,804’ San Jacinto Peak, the highest point in Riverside County. We started our day at the Palm Springs Aerial Tram Valley Station. The short 10-minute ride on the Tram offers spectacular views of Palm Springs and the surrounding mountains during its steep ascent. The large tram cabin rotates slowly as you ascend. Adult tickets are $31 round-trip. The tram is typically closed in August for maintenance. https://pstramway.com/

Once at the 8,500’ Mountain Station we headed to the Long Valley Ranger Station to complete the free day use permit. From there the trail gradually ascends to the Round Valley Campground where we took a short break before the steep climb to Wellman Divide (named after avid hiker and one time mayor of Idyllwild, Wiliam Henry Wellman). This is also the junction with the trail coming up from Humber Park. In another 2.5 miles we reached the junction for the Peak Trail, stopping to check out the Shelter Hut before the approximately tenth of a mile scramble to the summit. Excellent views, unfortunately on the day we summited (7/15/2023) there was a brush fire (the Rabbit Fire) 20 miles west of the summit. We returned to the tram station via the same route. Hike totals: 10.5 miles, 2,580’ elevation gain.

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00:00 Palm Springs Aerial Tram
00:48 Heading to the Long Valley Ranger Station
01:11 Off to Round Valley
02:29 The Climb to Wellman Divide
03:06 Wellman Divide to Peak Trail Junction
03:49 Shelter Hut
04:11 Scramble to the Summit
04:54 Summit Views
05:16 Back at the Tram Station/Hike Stats
05:39 Thanks for Watching!