The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Scenic Snow Creek in Riverside County has long history
The north escarpment of Mt. San Jacinto is one of the most breathtaking bits of scenery in Riverside County.
Rising to nearly 11,000 feet from the desert floor, the large, imposing mountain has been the backdrop to many pictures, postcards, movies and other scenes for well over 100 years.
The primary waterway coming off of that northern escarpment is Snow Creek, named appropriately because it is fed by snow runoff from the mountain.
In the earliest days of American settlement, several people applied for water rights from Snow Creek due to the fact that the creek, in its various forms, would run nearly all year long — a great asset on the edge of the desert. Early newspaper accounts tell of various amounts of water being claimed by local ranchers, and even some farmers. Whether many of these claims and their subsequent ranches/ farms panned out is anyone’s guess, but probably some did for a while.
One of the biggest projects to be proposed in the area came in 1914. At that time, investors were eyeing the greater Whitewater region for a massive cement plant. Cement was needed in increasing amounts for the population surge being seen in Southern California and a plant with a capacity of 5,000 sacks per day was being considered.
Along with the cement plant came the need for electricity, and two major power plants were also proposed at the time.
One was a 3,000-horsepower facility along the Whitewater River, and the other being a 2,000-horsepower facility at the base of Snow Creek.
Apparently the concept of a cement plant took hold enough to warrant the establishment of a post office in 1914. Originally to be called Whitewater after the ranch and train station nearby, when the application was approved in Washington, the name had been changed to Snowcreek (as one word). For whatever reason, by 1918, the cement and electric plant projects had apparently been abandoned, as the post office was shut down at that time.
Over the years, people have maintained various homes in the region. This is very evident in the development of what is today Snow Creek Village, the small enclave of houses at the base of Snow Creek. Started in the 1930s, it is a small dot of a few dozen houses in an otherwise protected area.
In later years, the Desert Water Agency procured most, if not all, of the water from Snow Creek for use in Palm Springs and Snow Creek Village. Today, one can hike a little ways along the creek as part of the Pacific Crest Trail, but that veers off towards Fuller Ridge as it goes up the mountain. Unfortunately, the falls — once a very popular hiking place in the early years — is now off limits to any kind of hiking.
Still, the beauty of Snow Creek, the falls on it, and Mt. San Jacinto’s northern escarpment is available and worth taking a closer look.