Cactus to Clouds
Palm Springs to Mt. San Jacinto · near Palm Springs · California Desert
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- expert
- Route type
- point-to-point
- Distance
- 21 miles
- Elevation gain
- 10,500 ft
- Time needed
- day · overnight
- Best season
- May & October ONLY (narrow safe window) · Summer is lethal; winter needs mountaineering skills
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- Yes
- How the permit works
- Free self-issue wilderness permit (Mt. San Jacinto State Park) for the upper section. Most descend via the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway (buy ticket). EXTREME DANGER: no water for miles, lethal desert heat — people have DIED here. Only attempt May or October in top shape.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 3 of 5
What is here
- Features
- One of America's hardest day hikes · 10,500ft of elevation gain · Desert floor to alpine summit · Palm Springs to 10,834-ft San Jacinto · Tram descent option
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Not permitted
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- Cactus to Clouds starts in Palm Springs and ideally ends with the Aerial Tramway ride down (buy a ticket in advance). ONLY attempt in May or October, only in top shape, only with 4+ liters of water and a pre-dawn start. The tram also allows a far easier alternative: ride up and hike San Jacinto's summit from the top (the featured Mt. San Jacinto entry). Respect this trail — it has killed the unprepared.
The guide
Cactus to Clouds is regularly ranked among the hardest day hikes in America — a brutal, magnificent ascent that gains nearly 10…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Cactus to Clouds — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.814, -116.679