Mt. San Jacinto State Park On List To Close

[hikehigh]

I imagine none of those numbers include revenue from the Forest Adventure Pass Tax. Do the feds get to miss spend all of that money or does the state get to blow some also?

[Nick-SJM]

The Adventure Pass is for Federal agencies only. The State Park does not get any.
When the possible closure was first discussed back in January, the State Parks stated they would maintain a low level "caretaker" staff. They would issue citations for individuals coming into the closed part of the State Park. It is possible that some parts of a State Park could stay open, such as the drive in campgrounds on the Idyllwild side. My guess is that all of the wilderness would be closed. Who knows if any of this will happen. We know that the games of politics and budgeting can go any direction.

[Nick-SJM]

The Adventure Pass is for Federal agencies only. The State Park does not get any.
When the possible closure was first discussed back in January, the State Parks stated they would maintain a low level "caretaker" staff. They would issue citations for individuals coming into the closed part of the State Park. It is possible that some parts of a State Park could stay open, such as the drive in campgrounds on the Idyllwild side. My guess is that all of the wilderness would be closed. Who knows if any of this will happen. We know that the games of politics and budgeting can go any direction.

[Mike P]

This is all the more reason that Mt San Jacinto State Park should become part of the San Bernardino National Forest!

[Nick-SJM]

It's unlikely that the State Park would be turned over to the Forest Service. However, for discussion, the State Park wilderness is definitely more heavily monitored than the National Forest. There is almost never a paid Forest Service employee in the wilderness. The guys and gals you see in uniforms in the National Forest are volunteers. The Forest Service volunteers are instructed to not provide medical assistance, medical evacuation, rescues or searches. They do have radios to summon help. Often that help takes a long time to get there. The Forest Service volunteers are great ambassadors for the Forest.

The State Park has paid staff and volunteers who are highly trained in providing medical assistance, medical evacuation, rescues and searches. They respond to over a hundred of these emergencies every year. This State Park is unique in that the tram is in the Palm Springs resort area and carries visitors who are not mountain knowledgeable into a wilderess setting with no effort and dumps them off at 8500 feet elevation. Many of these people get into trouble. Not everyone has the level of ability of the participants of this message board. As a member of RMRU, I can assure you that I don't want to get called out on every broken ankle or case of AMS in the State Park area, even if word did get out.

[Walker Sky Ranch]

From what I know, the closure just includes the State Park camping ground in Idyllwild, not on top of the mountain. That was described in an earlier statement from the government. I will see if I can find it.

[asabat]

A closure of the full park would mean a closure of the Pacific Crest Trail over the mountain. While most, but not all, northbounders are past this point, there will be southbounders coming through in late summer. It sure can't be encouraging to hike 2,400 miles and be told you can't continue the last few miles because the trail is "closed."

[WOLFDOG]

Does this mean dogs can hike in too without getting caught? Snoopy would be very happy

[phydeux]

Does this mean dogs can hike in too without getting caught? Snoopy would be very happy

If that happens I'd start carrying pepper spray. After being bitten twice I'll never again trust a dog owner to control their dog; if it's off-leash and it comes at me, its going to get sprayed before it has a chance to bite me.

[Pup]

Does this mean dogs can hike in too without getting caught? Snoopy would be very happy

If that happens I'd start carrying pepper spray. After being bitten twice I'll never again trust a dog owner to control their dog; if it's off-leash and it comes at me, its going to get sprayed before it has a chance to bite me.

Funny, I feel like biting you myself right now...