Mt. San Jacinto Outdoor Recreation

Hello, i am doing san g. for the first time this saturday and was wondering what the best route would be from riverside?

RIVERSIDE, CA
1. Starting in RIVERSIDE, CA on UNIVERSITY AVE go toward ORANGE ST go 0.3 mi 0.3 mi
2. Turn LEFT on MULBERRY ST go 0.1 mi 0.3 mi
3. Take ramp onto CA-91 E go 1.3 mi 1.6 mi
4. Continue on I-215 N go 5.5 mi 7.1 mi
5. Take the REDLANDS exit onto I-10 E go 7.8 mi 14.9 mi
6. Take the UNIVERSITY STREET exit go 0.3 mi 15.1 mi
7. Bear RIGHT on N UNIVERSITY ST go < 0.1 mi 15.2 mi
8. Turn LEFT on E CITRUS AVE go 2.6 mi 17.8 mi
9. Turn LEFT on CRAFTON AVE go 1 mi 18.8 mi
10. Turn RIGHT on CA-38 go 10.5 mi 29.3 mi
11. Bear RIGHT on VALLEY OF THE FALLS DR go 1.5 mi 30.8 mi
12. Bear LEFT on ORCHARD LN go 0.3 mi 31 mi
13. Continue on VALLEY OF THE FALLS DR go 1 mi 32 mi
14. Arrive at the center of FOREST FALLS, CA go < 0.1 mi 32 mi
FOREST FALLS, CA

But you have to keep driving up to the end of the road where the parking lot is.
http://mapper.acme.com/
Look at where "A" is on that map.

As FIGHT ON mentioned, Vivian Trailhead parking is at the end of the road. You just need to pay attention to which fork on Hwy 38 to turn at, so you drive up the correct valley. Trailhead parking is shared with a picnic area frequented by flatlanders.

thank you both very very much, i appreciate it.

Super easy,
Just head to Forest Falls. Once you have turned off the highway follow the road to the end. Hopefully you already have a permit. VC permits go fast I believe that I have one for this weekend. I will call the rangers to give up my permit because of a possible stress fracture in my leg and I'm taking my kid to Disneyland. Woo hoo Make sure to take plenty of water it will be dry a bone up there. Can't wait to read a trip report. Have fun

WP wrote:Super easy,
Just head to Forest Falls. Once you have turned off the highway follow the road to the end. Hopefully you already have a permit. VC permits go fast I believe that I have one for this weekend. I will call the rangers to give up my permit because of a possible stress fracture in my leg and I'm taking my kid to Disneyland. Woo hoo Make sure to take plenty of water it will be dry a bone up there. Can't wait to read a trip report. Have fun

Thank you for the offer, i actually have a permit. Sorry to hear about your fracture. Have a great time at Disneyland, i will expect a trip report as well..

Trip report?
How was VC trail?
My kid and I had a blast at Disneyland. Just me and my 15yr. old. Got to take those good days when you can get them. My only regret was not wearing my camelback. I could have brought plenty water and some much heathier food. All in all fun!

Glad to hear you had a good time.

San G. FINALLY! what a great hike, long day though. we did not hustle up the mountain, there were three of us, we talked the whole way up and enjoyed the new scenery so we were in no rush. We did it in 12 hours, started at 8am ended at 8pm. Although i think we could have done it in 8-10 hours. We couldn't of asked for a more beautiful day. One of our stopps was a little more than half way up, we stopped there to eat some lunch and i was stung by a bee. This was the first time i have ever been stung, i couldn't believe it, the bee crawled up my shorts and stung me "there." i was afraid i might go into shock but that wasn't the case...thank god! When we hit 10,500 feet we felt light headed, was kinda cool to experience what its like up there. That went away as we got closer to the top. Then out of no where Ranger Paul appears and asks me for my pass....wtf??? i couldn't believe they really check, but they do and i had it. i actually only had one for two people and there were three of us, he was cool about it though. Then we finally reached the top, there was only a small marker showing how high we were, thought it would be bigger. We were up there for a while enjoying it all. on the way down i just wanted to be done. i became spoiled from skyline and taking the tram down, i have to recondition myself. it was a great day though it really was. i plan on doing it again july 19th.
There were a lot of campers up there, i will be trying that as well august 16th, will be a first time camping....very excited about it.
:")

Hi Tina. Great job. The San G wilderness is quite different from San J, huh? You might like to try out different trails as well.

South Fork is my favorite, and it's a lot cooler. You can do the "lollipop" going up SF to Dollar Lake Saddle to San G, then back down to Dry Lake and back out on SF again.

You can also take Forsee up to the ridge and then go across to the peak - the ridge is all above 10k, so it's cool and beautiful. Round trip is about 31 miles, so you might consider that as a backpacking trip.

Another fun way to go is up the San Bernardino Peak trail out of Angelus Oaks. This is very nice also, and you can hit the 9 peaks. Out and back is about 36 miles, but the whole ridge is fairly level, so it's a ton of fun out exploring, with most of your climbing in the first 7 miles or so.

I especially like Anderson Flat and Shields Flat (as you go across the ridge). They're huge, level expanses right on the ridge, and it seems like you could hold a football game right in the middle of them, up there in the mountains. Fascinating in their own way.

In any case, hope you have some fun up there.

z

Regarding going from Angelus Oaks, you can also do this as a traverse, halving the mileage. You start on the San Bernardino Pk Trail as Zip mentioned, but instead of completely retracing your steps after you summit San G, you drop down the Vivian Creek Trail to Forest Falls. Of course you'd have to have a car shuttle arranged for this.

You can also go up the Momyer Creek Trail, hit many of the points Zip mentioned, summit San G, and then drop down the Vivian Creek Trail. The two trailheads are about 2 miles apart, so a car shuttle isn't really necessary.

There are four primary routes up San G
-South Fork via Dry Lake
-South Fork via Dollar Lake
-Vivian Creek Trail
-Fish Creek Trail
Plus variations via/from
-Momyer Creek Trail
-Forsee Creek Ridge Trail
-Forsee Creek Basin Trail (via Johns Meadow)
-San Bernardino Peak Trail
-Aspen Grove
-Lost Creek Trail via Grinnell Mtn.

Whichever route you take, the SG wilderness is one of the best hike spots in S Calif (I rate the the SG wilderness and the SJ wilderness as the two best hiking areas in all of S Calif).

Good stuff!

HJ