Permits needed for SJ State Park?

[Oneatatime]

To continue our PCT section hiking, we're taking the tram up & then hike over to Saddle Junction. Do we need any kind of permits to hike through the state park?

[asabat]

Yes, and even for the USFS wilderness area on San Jacinto. If you are day hiking, you only need one from the first jurisdiction you will enter (state park or national forest). If camping, you need one from whatever jurisdiction you will be camping in.

The USFS and state park offices are almost across the street from each other in Idyllwild.

[Oneatatime]

Do you know if the Forest Service has an office in Palm Springs? We're going out to PS & not Idyllwild, over to Saddle Junction & down the PCT to I-10. Also, are there any water sources on the PCT on the N end of Fuller Ridge? The 2.5 mile RT to Black Mtn Grp camp doesn't sound too appealing.

[Llamahiker]

Try this link for water info. http://www.4jeffrey.net/pct/

[Hikin_Jim]

You don't have to go into the office for a permit. You can do everything via mail. Check out the websites for the USFS San Jacinto Ranger District and the San Jacinto State Park website. If you're camping outside of the state and federal wilderness boundaries or dayhiking, you can get a same day permit at the State Park Ranger Station at the top of the tram. I'm not aware of any day use permit quotas if they're picked up at the Ranger Station at the top of the tram, but I'd double check my memory by calling the Ranger Station.

Don't know of any water at the N end of Fuller Ridge. There's typically water at little round valley, but you'd have to carry that a long way. That 4jeffery link that was posted previously is a good one. If there's a drop of water to be found, that link will have at least some info on it.

[Oneatatime]

Thanks for your advice. Looks like we will be going through Idyllwild now; 1) to get permits, and more importantly 2) to cache some water at the Fuller Ridge parking area. The maps I have show a parking area/trailhead on the N end & I think it makes more sense to cached than to haul it all from Tahquitz Valley, or even Deer Springs.