Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center — Attraction in Palm Desert

This small, intimate visitor center is staffed by knowledgeable and friendly people, and has surprisingly helpful signage. As you enter, they have excellent signage that orients you to the region and the available activities. If you're unfamiliar with the desert, you'd be forgiven for thinking there isn't much going on. There really is, and a drive up the Palms to Pines Highway with stops along the way reveals an ever-changing landscape. We do this drive frequently as it takes you from the low desert to nearly 6,000 ft of elevation, with all of the attendant changes in flora and fauna. Our go-to stops along the way include the Coachella Valley Overlook, Hemet Lake, and the small town of Idyllwild which has a broad range of restaurants and shops. Our personal favorite is the Idyllwild Brewery.

The Visitor Center itself is a great way to get oriented to an interesting region. As I mentioned before, the staff are friendly and knowledgeable. The Visitor Center has been closed for a couple of years during the pandemic, and they're just getting their programming back up and running. We're definitely going to go back to learn more from the volunteers...

The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto National Monument,California, is a beautiful mountain range full of green pinyon,redwood and pinyon trees.Lots of wild life,a great modern mountain road,stops on the way for food and gas.Start at the visitors center in Palm Desert and take about a one hour scenic drive to the mountain resort town of Idylwild and return or continue on the loop to Banning and the I-10 freeway-head east to return to Palm Desert. Along the way is Lake Hemet and Hurkey Creek Lake for a nice stop over.Needless to say theres plenty of photo ops along the way! . . . #santarosaandsanjacintonationalmonument #santarosa #sanjacinto #highway246 #highway74 #highway243 #mountainroads #californiadeserts #palmdesert #idylwild #photography #bringyourcamera...

I went there early in the day during the week. The parking lot fills up fast, but there is still plenty of room for cars. The visitor center was closed, which meant one of the lots was blocked off and no restrooms.

Now for the positive, what a beautiful place. Tons of hiking and breathtaking views all around. Close enough to the city, but far enough away that you can really enjoy the environment and beauty of the park.

Also a great place to setup for a Parks on the Air ("POTA") activation, if you're a ham...