Idyllwild Ranger Station

These guys lived up to the standard you’d expect from our parks.
They seemed truly interested and informed, provided useful suggestions, and had even recently taken a similar trip themselves.
Always appreciated.

These guys were super friendly and helpful when I stopped by to get my permit for Devils’ Slide, and the whole process took about 2 minutes. Saw two friendly volunteer rangers in Humber Park and on the trail as well.

We came into the Ranger Station twice this past weekend. On day 1 we were looking for campsites. All the 1^st come, 1^st serve sites were full, so I asked the ranger if they had any recommendations for other sites to try. They were very helpful, and they gave me two maps for yellow post campsites (if you don’t know what a yellow post campsite is and you are an avid camper, look into it!) and suggested heading a few miles down to Hurkey Park, Lake Hemet or Thomas Mountain area.
On day 2, which was a Sunday, we went to the ranger station to pick up some day permits for hiking around the area. The station opens at 8 am, and there was already a line forming. We were hiking Devils Slide Trail and needed a permit for it. I didn’t realize during summer months, they only hand out 30 permits per day! Good thing we got there early! You can also pick up an adventure pass here as well!
They’ve also got a little souvenir gift shop section in here. We picked up cute Smokey the Bear t-​shirts and patches!
Rangers were helpful!

I hiked San Jacinto. Station was closed (have various hours). Grabbed and filled out our free permits. Hiked from Humber Park which was up the street. Just have your permit though we didn’t see any of them other than in town.

So this ranger station is a bit of a struggle to find. There’s 2 ranger stations in the small town of Idyllwild and the good thing is that they’re not too far apart from each other.
If you’re going hiking/​backpacking/​staying the night, you’ll need to get a permit. I’m not sure if they charge for day hikes, but I know that if you plan to do an over-​nighter (as I did), they’ll charge $ 5/​person.
This is a really small ranger station and they sell some various supplies, books, and maps. The workers there were patient with us and also helpful. This is also a great pit-​stop before going to your trail if you need a bathroom break. There’s a handful of pretty clean stalls down the road after you pull into the station.

The rangers just enjoy their lives there, providing zero service. The park is nice, but ¼ way up the hill you meet the guy with mustache demanding a free permit. We had to walk back down, drive to the station, fill up a useless piece of paper and then drive back to hike. They could not explain to us why we needed that permit. They just did not know. Then, no rangers were protecting the Humber Park hike, while some idiots threw rocks from the top.

The Idyllwild Ranger Station is a must visit in Idyllwild! Why? Because you need a hiking permit for trails. Just do it so you don’t have to hang your head in shame or feign ignorance when you get stopped on a trail. Plus, these rangers are friendly, knowledgable, and ready to help you fill out aforementioned permit.
One star off for failure to warn about extreme weather. The hubby and I visited the ranger station before going up devil’s slide and then encountered two rangers on the trail. Neither rangers mentioned the sh*t storm of weather we were about to encounter. They may not have known about the crazy storm, but after a mile run down the mountain in freezing, pelting hail I have to blame someone.