US Forest Services in Riverside County

Just a quick update that I received from Jon King and his San Jacinto Trail Report. Want to see the full report? Click here and give him a follow.

Full fire restrictions are in place on Forest Service lands, as described here. All campfires anywhere in the San Jacinto mountains, including at all USFS campgrounds and yellow post sites, are now prohibited. The total fire ban has finally been extended to Riverside County lands starting 23rd August, including for example the Hurkey Creek campground (thanks to Dan Roberts for updates on the county situation).

The U.S. Forest Service ranger station in Idyllwild remains closed due to USFS coronavirus protocols. Apparently it is unlikely to reopen before October, but possibly much later. Hiking and camping permits are nevertheless required for USFS lands, and should be available at the kiosk outside the ranger station. The State Park ranger station reopened about six months ago.

WEATHER A few days of temperatures around (or even below!) seasonal for the first time in two months came to an end early this week. Daytime high temperatures will again be above average for August starting Wednesday 25th, with overnight low temperatures in particular being well above seasonal, before cooling again to about average in the first couple of days of September. As mentioned above, monsoonal rains are a possibility from 29th August to at least 2nd September. Fire risk remains severe.