San Bernardino National Forest
Howdy folks! It is official, I took about an entire year off from updating this website! Partially due to the pandemic, partially because I lost focus, and partially because I just other things in life going on, BUT here we are! San Bernardino National Forest from our adventure in March of 2020. Wow that seems so long ago yet not so far away!
Banning Stagecoach KOA Journey.
This adventure starts off at our home base in Banning Stagecoach KOA Journey. This KOA set us up for a perfect location between the famous Joshua Tree National Park and the amazing San Bernardino National Forest. Not only that but we were in the middle of looking for a new diesel truck…so being close to civilization was definitely a plus.
Spots are tight in this RV park, not going to lie, but the location and good cell service made our remote work journey possible, so sometimes you just suck up different aspects that you don’t enjoy as much for an overall enjoyment factor haha. In this case, convenience was greater than comfort, but we still had all the amenities we needed, so it worked out well.
San Bernardino National Forest – Finding a permit
So the first thing we realized when driving to the place we wanted to hike…was that we technically needed a permit in order to do our hiking…even if the hiking we planned on doing was incredibly short. So the first leg of this journey was driving all the way to the town of Pine Cove, just to get the permit so we could backtrack to where we wanted to be.
FIRST TIP: PLAN AHEAD! Make sure you get your pass permit (before even hitting up this wilderness to not waste anytime getting those hiking feet a going). PERMIT -> (https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/sbnf/passes-permits/recreation/?cid=stelprd3821640)
After we got our permit, we actually headed back down the mountain in order to get back to our hiking location that we knew was Blaze (dog) friendly.
Our First Short And Awesome Hike (Lake Fulmor)
It is hard to believe this half a mile trail would make us fall in love with this area, but it absolutely did. We had just arrived as the fog was slowly lifting up for the day and it couldn’t have revealed a more beautiful sight. As the fog magically rolled away from the lake, views of nearby mountain peaks revealed themselves in the most majestic way. It really was breathtaking.
Not only is this trail dog friendly, but there are plenty of picnic areas to chill and just absorb nature. Take it all in. Take the time to get used to the higher elevation and prime yourselves for a longer hike or just a day chilling through the mountain town of Idyllwild.
Our 2nd hike attempt of the day was actually going to be at Mt San Jacinto State Park, but once we realized there was going to be an additional fee for another short hike…we kind of just screw it decided it was time for lunch in Idyllwild haha.
Checking Out Idyllwild and Grabbing Grub at Higher Grounds Coffee House
Idyllwild is just one of those towns you have to experience in order to understand how someone describes it. Someone may just say cozy, friendly, mountain town, but each “mountain town” we go to is always unique in its own ways just as much as the mountain it sits on top of is. The hipster yet old fashioned town has a bit to offer any folks wondering through the area no matter what your background. Take a minute to hit up some of the stores and enjoy the chainsaw sculptures doing their thing.
This is Where the Pictures End
So this is where the pictures ended for this trip because I was too focused on enjoying the adventure and not really documenting anymore. Well that isn’t true, you can see the rest of the adventure via the video attached at the top of this post…after all, we are a YouTube channel. With 100s of videos thus far.
On the way down the mountain top we made several stops to various little overlooks and small trails encompassing those overlooks which turned out to be pretty freaking awesome. Some of the fog was still lingering around but that just added to the dramatic views of the area. There are so many areas in this country that are so underrated and I think this is one of them. If you are in the area for Joshua Tree National Park, don’t let the nearby mountain ranges escape you, because they are totally worth it.
OTHER “NEARBY” ADVENTURES
Three Easy and Dog Friendly Hikes Around Phoenix, Arizona
NOTE FROM WRITER
If you enjoyed this blog post or the video to go along with it, feel free to share it with your friends. You can find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can also subscribe to our channel’s RSS feed via the subscribe button on the sidebar. If you have any questions or comments go ahead and leave them below and we will try our best to get back to you! Thanks for reading/watching!
Also be sure to check out Deanna’s food blog, The Harvest Skillet, when you get the chance! A lot of awesome and healthy recipes to use there!
Adventure On!
