Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center

Andy Knight

This small, intimate visitor center is staffed by knowledgeable and friendly people, and has surprisingly helpful signage. As you enter, they have excellent signage that orients you to the region and the available activities. If you're unfamiliar with the desert, you'd be forgiven for thinking there isn't much going on. There really is, and a drive up the Palms to Pines Highway with stops along the way reveals an ever-changing landscape. We do this drive frequently as it takes you from the low desert to nearly 6,000 ft of elevation, with all of the attendant changes in flora and fauna. Our go-to stops along the way include the Coachella Valley Overlook, Hemet Lake, and the small town of Idyllwild which has a broad range of restaurants and shops. Our personal favorite is the Idyllwild Brewery. The Visitor Center itself is a great way to get oriented to an interesting region. As I mentioned before, the staff are friendly and knowledgeable. The Visitor Center has been closed for a couple of years during the pandemic, and they're just getting their programming back up and running. We're definitely going to go back to learn more from the volunteers and docents.

Yonkers Channel

Just a 15 minute drive from the resort we stayed at Palm Desert, our guide says there is a .5 mile, 1.5 or 2.5 mile hiking path. We did the 1.5 mile hike. It is recommend for ages 14 and older, but I took my 10 year old daughter and she was fine and could have hiked longer. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone younger than that, as there is an incline with uneven paths that might not be easy for toddlers to go. Nice experience for someone who lives in NorCal suburbs.

Wayne Salvatti

The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Monument,California, is a beautiful mountain range full of green pinyon,redwood and pinyon trees.Lots of wild life,a great modern mountain road,stops on the way for food and gas.Start at the visitors center in Palm Desert and take about a one hour scenic drive to the mountain resort town of Idylwild and return or continue on the loop to Banning and the I-10 freeway-head east to return to Palm Desert. Along the way is Lake Hemet and Hurkey Creek Lake for a nice stop over.Needless to say theres plenty of photo ops along the way! . . . #santarosaandsanjacintonationalmonument #santarosa #sanjacinto #highway246 #highway74 #highway243 #mountainroads #californiadeserts #palmdesert #idylwild #photography #bringyourcamera #takesomepictures

Dan Lipa

We went for a beautiful morning 5k run. The flowers weren't quite blooming yet but the views were absolutely fabulous. The beginning of the trail is quite sandy which makes for a little harder hiking, but it solidifies after about a mile.