Location: Riverside County, about 6 miles southeast of Idyllwild, 114 miles from Los Angeles

Maps

Auto Club: Riverside County, Los Angeles and Vicinity

Forest Service: San Bernardino National Forest, San Jacinto Wilderness

USGS Topo: Palm View Peak 7½, Idyllwild 7½

HPS: Route(s), waypoints and explanation of usage

Nearby Peaks: Apache Peak

Distance: 7 miles round trip on trail

Gain: 2300'

Time: 4-5 hours round trip

Rating: Class 1, moderate

Navigation: Easy

DRIVING ROUTE 1

• Take I-10 or SR 60 east to SR 79 in Beaumont.
• Take exit south to SR 79.
• Go south on SR 79 to the Ramona Expressway. Turn left (east).
• Go east and then southeast on the Ramona Expressway until it ends at SR 74. Turn left (east).
• Go east 15 miles on SR 74 to Mountain Center (junction with Idyllwild Highway - SR 243).
• Continue east on SR 74 for 7.0 miles to dirt Fobes Ranch Road (6S05) on the left (north) at a cattle guard. Turn left onto the dirt road. Note your odometer and go as follows:
• At 0.4 mile, fork. Go left.
• At 3.6 miles, fork. Go right.
• At 4.0 miles, Fobes Trailhead. Park here. There is room for about 5 cars.

HIKING ROUTE 1

• From the parking area (5200'), hike north up the Fobes Trail. The trail bypasses Fobes Ranch and meets the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) at Fobes Saddle (5960+) in 1 1/2 miles. This trail is shown correctly on the San Jacinto Wilderness map and is shown as a faint dotted red line on 1988 and later versions of the USGS Palm View Peak topo map.
• Turn left (north) on the PCT and follow it for a long mile to the trail's highest point northeast of the peak.
• Take the use trail on your left (west) to the ridgeline and continue south to the summit.

Note: Continuing straight on the PCT from the junction with the Spitler Peak use trail mentioned immediately above goes to the Apache-Spitler Saddle and then Apache Peak. Combining the peaks will add 3 miles and 1000' of gain to the round trip statistics.