Elevation
10,834 ft / 3,302 m
Prominence
8,284 ft / 2,524 m
Region
Highlights
- San Jacinto Peak is the highest peak of the San Jacinto Mountains.
- One of the "Three Saints," the highpoints of the three tallest mountain ranges in Southern California: San Jacinto Peak, Mount San Gorgonio (high point of the San Bernardino Mountains), and Mount San Antonio (high point of the San Gabriel Mountains).
- One of the most prominent peaks in the US, ranked 6th among peaks in the 48 contiguous states.
- To the east, the peak towers over the city of Palm Springs; to the west, it borders the mountain community of Idyllwild.
- The steep escarpment of its north face climbs over 10,000 feet in 7 miles, one of the largest gains in elevation over such a small horizontal distance in the contiguous US.
- The most popular route starts with a ride on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway from Valley Station at 2,643 feet near Palm Springs up to Mountain Station at 8,516 feet.
- Another route is hike the Marion Mountain Trail from the nearby mountain town of Idyllwild.
- The Cactus to Clouds trail involves an arduous climbs of over 10,000 feet from the Palm Springs Art Museum to the summit.
- Mountaineers tackle the mountain's steep north face from the town of Snow Creek. This route is a challenging mountaineering route that gains nearly 10,000 feet in less than 7 miles and involves hiking over rough terrain, climbing or scrambling on steep rock and long, sustained snow climbing with crampons and ice axe.
Latest summits
"First Cactus to Clouds with 100 Peaks Section.
This monster hike is totally doable with enough water, the right weather, and a very aggressive alpine start. We hit the trail at 2:30pm.
The notorious Skyline trail was in far better shape, and offered better views than I imagined. An absolutely worthy hike on its own." - JustinB, May 5, 2018
"I started at the Ramon trailhead at 3:12am. I made it to Flat Rock at 7:24am, Grubb's Notch at 8:46am, Wellman's Divide at 10:40am; the peak at 11:39. On the descent, I made the short detour to Miller Peak, which I'd never climbed before, then made it down to the tram station at about 3pm. " - HikerMark, Nov 4, 2017
"This was certainly the place to be with the extreme heat southern California was experiencing. Thank goodness we had checked the weather forecast because we had crazy WIND, RAIN, CLOUDS, and it was just down right chilly most of the hike. We LOVED IT because when we had left San Diego at 5:30 a.m. it was already 87 F! The only problem… there was absolutely no VIEW! HA!! WE were socked in the fog and clouds pretty much from Round Valley on up. Guess we will have to do it again sometime on a nice clear day! This was a fantastic hike and honestly we were not in a hurry to get back to San Diego." - yosinalissebeck, Sep 3, 2017
"3/5. Crowds from the tram and other trails were a shock after seeing no one in the previous few hours while cross country. Great views from the summit; I had forgotten how awesome San Jacinto is." - edg, Jul 29, 2017
"Fun hike to the San Jacinto summit from the tram. If you want to give it a try, I have hike directions on my site here:
https://hikingguy.com/hiking-trails/best-la-hikes/palm-springs-aerial-tramway-hike-to-mt-san-jacinto/" - HikingGuy, May 5, 2017
Photos
Awards
Challenges
Nearest peaks
About peakery awards
Log successful summits on peakery to earn awards:
Peak Badges: Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.
First Ascent Award: Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.
King of the Mountain Award: Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!
Summit Steward: Summit a peak at least 5 times to become one of its Summit Stewards. As Steward of a peak, you’re encouraged to keep that peak’s info up-to-date on peakery and spread goodwill on your future climbs up the peak.