I love this place. Whenever I go to gramma's to do housework for her, I either go here or…read moreIdyllwild. I especially love this place on windy and rainy days. The high trail gets pretty sketchy and makes for a good time.
For anyone wanting to know where this place gets its name, here goes. The local native tribes had a battle that ended here. One tribe made it to the waterfall and couldn't go anywhere. The other tribe held the high ground and slaughtered them. Google it.
Anyway, parking sucks. There are a couple places off the side of the road to park. Other than that, you'll have to take your vehicle down a small hill and park in a dirt lot. Said dirt lot is a place where people like to run OHV's, and their trucks. There are some elevation changes and jumps.
This used to be a loop until someone removed the rope from the highest section of the waterfall. The one at the lower half is still there. When the ropes were there, it was about a 5 mile loop.the trail doesn't end at the decent from the ridge to the waterfall. You can take the trail back another 12+ miles. It opens up to some Wild West looking shit, and then a bunch of huge boulders.
The high trail is the fun part. It's pretty sketchy without high winds or rain. I prefer to come here with wind, and or rain, for a better time. The width of the high trail is about a foot, to 18 inches. At some spots, it may be unclear If you're not very experienced. At other spots there is no trail, so you'll have to stretch your legs pretty far, or make a short hop. There are plenty of rocks to get a foothold or handhold on, but be careful; some of it fragments quite easily.
People also go shooting here, but usually well past the loop, and they don't aim at the trails. This place is not monitored by park rangers, so if you need anything, you'll need to call San Jacinto Sheriffs. Since it's not regulated, you can camp without permits.
Have fun, be safe, watch for snakes, weird locals, keep an eye out for falling rocks, and yell down below if you happen to dislodge some rocks from the high trail. This is a good local playground; enjoy it and keep it clean.