Aerial Tramway closed through October 4 for annual maintenance
The cars are getting new interiors, the controls are being serviced, and state inspectors must sign off. Tentative reopening: October 5 at 10 a.m.
PALM SPRINGS: The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway closed September 8 for its annual maintenance period and is scheduled to reopen October 5 at 10 a.m., giving crews nearly a month to service the rotating cars that climb 8,516 feet to the Mountain Station.
This year's work includes cabin interior refurbishments, servicing of the Cabin 2 carriage assembly, controls maintenance and the state permit testing required before the cars can carry passengers again. The tramway operates under state oversight, and the annual inspection is not optional.
The closure falls in the shoulder season, after the summer heat has driven down visitation and before the winter crowds arrive. It is the one month of the year when the mountain goes quiet.
The closure is the tramway's annual physical: cabins, controls and state permits.
The tramway has run this annual cycle for decades. The cars climb 2.5 miles up Chino Canyon, rising from the desert floor to an elevation of 8,516 feet, where the temperature routinely runs 30 to 40 degrees cooler than the valley below. The system opened in 1963 and its rotating cars, the largest in the world, have carried more than 20 million riders since.
What reopens October 5
When the cars start turning again, they will carry hikers to the trail network around the Mountain Station, diners to the mountaintop restaurants, and sightseers to the valley views that have made the tramway one of the desert's signature attractions since 1963.
The Mountain Station sits at the edge of the Mount San Jacinto State Park wilderness, with more than 50 miles of hiking trails. For many visitors, the tramway is the only practical way to experience the alpine forest that rises directly above the desert, a ten-minute ride between two climates.
The maintenance closure is also a reminder of what the tramway is: a 1960s engineering marvel operating in one of the harshest environments in American tourism. The cables, towers and cars endure extreme heat, high winds and winter ice. The annual shutdown is the price of keeping a sixty-year-old machine safe, and the state inspectors who sign off each fall are the reason millions of riders have trusted it.
The reopening date is tentative, pending completion of the work and state sign-off. The Post will confirm the reopening when the tramway announces it, along with first-week details for hikers and sightseers planning their fall trips up the mountain. After a month of silence, the cars will be waiting, and the mountain will be ready.
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