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Pacific Crest Trail

Whitewater Preserve (Palm Springs Area)

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Whitewater Preserve (Palm Springs Area)
February 12th – 14th, 2024 (2 nights)

Located only about 20 minutes northwest of Palm Springs, Whitewater Preserve (2,851 acres) is situated in a beautiful canyon with spectacular views of the mountains and Whitewater River.  This preserve is just one of many throughout the State of California managed by the Wildlands Conservancy.  Whitewater’s campground, park, and Visitor Center and Ranger station were built on the foundation of the historic Whitewater Trout Hatchery (which closed in 2006).

We probably never would have heard about this place had it not been for our friends Colleen and Perry.  They roll their Oliver travel trailer out of their home base in Ontario, Canada every Fall and often make Palm Springs and its surrounds their winter basecamp.  Once they discovered Whitewater Preserve, they told us we had to come and visit.  So, we organized a two day trip to meet and explore Whitewater Preserve and its trails.  There are no fees at this private preserve and camping is free (call to make reservations (760) 325-7222).  There is a large grass field for tent campers and a parking lot for trailers (and day use).  They have a 20 foot trailer length limit, but the rangers were flexible with our friends’ 24’ Oliver trailer (they were able to park across multiple parking spaces lengthwise between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m.).  The park is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  (free admission).  Camping is also free ($0/night).  We chose to stay two nights.

This preserve doesn’t seem very well known and there were not many people here during the week.  The winter weather was perfect (pleasant days in the high 60’s/low 70’s and cool nights in the high 30’s).  We and our friends were the only campers the first night.  A car camper and a van camper shared the large parking lot with us on the second night.  There are water spigots (potable water) in the campground, but no electricity, sewer, or trash services.  Numerous trails originate or are very close to the campground and offer spectacular hikes.  Some of the trails follow the river and others climb high onto ridgelines overlooking the valley.  One of the trails leads to the Pacific Crest Trail.  There are also nice meandering paths along some of the ponds within the park.  The park puts on many scheduled events, including the morning ornithology tour we went on.  A biologist led the bird watching group and took us all on a long trail walk, pointing out and naming different birds along the way.  There are many species of birds at which to gaze.  We noticed the binoculars of choice among this bird group were those produced by Swarovski Optics.

The sky became pitch black soon after the sun set behind the mountains.  The stars came alive and we could hear a symphony of sounds produced by the frogs and other animals along the river.  This is one of the special treats offered to campers who are allowed to stay in the park after it closes to the general public at 5 p.m.   There are also plenty of other animals that might be roaming the campground!  The area is also home to bighorn sheep, California black bears, coyotes, mule deer, raccoons, roadrunners, mountain lions, bobcats, and coyotes.

After spending the first day hiking around Whitewater Preserve, we joined our friends in Palm Springs to enjoy some of what this iconic city has to offer.  We did a very special hike at Tahquitz Canyon.  On the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation, visitors (for a $15 fee) can enjoy a self-guided hike up a scenic canyon to a seasonal 60-foot waterfall (swimming is allowed).  The path also features rock pictographs made long ago by indigenous peoples.  After the moderate two mile hike, we had a great lunch at Low Desert Modern Mexican restaurant.  We ended our day in Palm Springs before returning to Whitewater Preserve visiting the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum ($10/person).  This museum is dedicated to showcasing the culture of the Agua Caliente People.  There are some very interesting presentations which feature projection systems to create a very immersive experience (highly recommended).

Although this was only a short two night stay, Whitewater Preserve was just what we needed to rejuvenate our souls after being in the city for the past several months (a lengthy time for us).  John Muir once wrote:  “I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”

 

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly. 

Idyllwild

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Idyllwild
April 17th – 20th, 2023 (3 nights)

Idyllwild is a small mountain town located high up (elevation 5,300 feet) in the San Jacinto Mountains (above Palm Springs) about two hours’ drive from San Diego.  The town is known for outdoor activities, art galleries and quaint shops.  The town hosts a variety of cultural events, including the Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema (March) and the Jazz in the Pines music festival (July).  For hiking, the best time to visit is spring and fall as the temperatures are moderate and pleasant.  Summer can be hot and crowded and winter can bring lots of snow (making certain trails inaccessible).  A few weeks before our visit, the campground and town area was covered in snow (heaviest snow fall in decades)!  We were lucky that the weather warmed up and the snow cleared by the time we arrived (for the most part)!   For those without trailers, consider staying at the historic Idyllwild Inn (est. 1904) right in the center of town.  This hotel gets good reviews and is reasonably priced.

We chose to stay at Idyllwild Campground (Mt. San Jacinto State Park) which is right in town and an easy eight minute walk to all the shops and restaurants.  The other main campground (Stone Creek), which is about a ten minute drive from town, doesn’t open until May 1st.  We found that even though Idyllwild Campground is close to town and adjacent to the main road (Hwy 243), it was relatively quiet during our mid-week visit.  The 28 campsites are well spaced apart and three (01, 02, 26 @$45/night) have full hookups and three have electric hookups (04, 05, 06 @ $35/night).  The tent campsites are $25/night.  There are water spigots throughout the campground (and flush toilets), but no dump station (other than the sewer hookups at the campsites that have full hookups).  We found Verizon mobile phone service to be very good.  There is a PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) campsite section that accommodates many of the PCT hikers that pass through the area and need a place to set up tent for a night or two.  We saw many of these hikers in the campground!

We reserved site 02 with full hookups (which allowed us to leave our solar panels at home and travel with an empty Fresh tank).  The maximum trailer length listed for the campground is 24 feet, although we saw some spaces that possibly could accommodate much longer trailers (e.g. our friend’s campsite, 04, looked like it could fit a 30 foot trailer along with a tow vehicle).  We met another couple who fit their 27’ Class A motorhome in campsite 26.  So, if you stay within the 24’ maximum, there shouldn’t be any issues fitting into the campsites.  However, one thing we did notice though is that the angle between the road and the campsites isn’t correct if following the direction of the signs, making backing in almost impossible.  So, we drove into the empty campsite opposite ours to make backing into our campsite easier and our friends (with their longer RPOD) could only get into their site by driving the opposite direction of the implied traffic route.  Though, some of the campsites are pull through.

The weather during our stay was ideal for hiking and shopping, with sunny cool days (in the high 50’s) and chilly nights (30’s).  We rarely saw any bugs as well with the cool temperatures.  We brought our new, small, lightweight, electric, ceramic space heater and we left it running all night long every night and it worked great (quietly keeping our Scamp as warm as we wanted and saving from having to use our propane).  We very much enjoyed hiking the trails with our friends Phil and Claudia on this trip.  Many popular hiking trails include:  Devil’s Slide Trail (2.5-mile), Ernie Maxwell Trail (5.2-mile), Suicide Rock Trail (6-mile), Mount San Jacinto Peak Trail (10.6-mile), and South Ridge Trail (7.6-mile).  We could not complete the Ernie Maxwell Trail because the river was running too hard to cross.  We instead hiked a portion of the Deer Springs Trail which is very scenic.  Make sure to get a free Wilderness Permit at the campground ranger station before going on any of these trails (one copy immediately goes into the permit box and the hiker submits the white copy when they return — this allows the rangers to see who didn’t make it back safely at the end of the day and send out a search party).  One day we drove over to the closed Stone Creek Campground to hike Saw Mills Flats Trail (1.7 miles).  We made it about halfway before getting stopped by very heavy snow on the trail (hip deep).

In addition to hiking and enjoying the campground, we also had fun strolling through town.  There are a number of fun shops selling all sorts of tourist novelties (e.g. tshirts, cups, etc.) as well as some good places to eat.  We purchased t-shirts and local blueberry jam.  One morning, I spotted the mayor of Idyllwild (Mayor Max) and his assistant (Assistant Mayor Meadow), both golden retrievers, along with their handler in front of one of the local donut shops, Donuts and More!  The handler let me sit down with them and hug both.  To learn about the history of Idyllwild dog mayors visit here.   We had great burgers for lunch at The Lumber Mill Bar & Grill.

Idyllwild is a fantastic place to relax and rejuvenate for a few days or even a week.  Breathing in the fresh mountain air and smelling the pines are great ways to de-stress and reinvigorate oneself!  And, being able to stay at the campground amongst giant trees … well, we hope it stays idyll and wild!

Disclaimer:  You will get the same great Amazon price by clicking on the links here compared to buying directly on Amazon, but by buying here you will also be supporting the continuation of this website as we get a small commission from each sale.  These are products and procedures we use for our own Scamp that we selected and developed from our own research and experiences.  However, we do not endorse any specific product and cannot guarantee that the products we use are exemplary and the procedures we use are complete, accurate, detail the correct recommended procedures, or apply to your model small travel trailer.  It’s always best to double check with your manufacturer or operation manuals to ensure you are doing everything correctly.