Our Town

About Idyllwild

Idyllwild sits in Strawberry Valley at about 5,400 feet, on Highway 243 in the San Jacinto Mountains of Riverside County. Strawberry Creek runs through the middle of it, and Tahquitz Rock and Suicide Rock stand above it. Pine Cove sits farther up the same highway, and the census counts the two together as Idyllwild-Pine Cove. Around 4,200 people live in Idyllwild and Pine Cove year-round.

When people say Idyllwild town, they usually mean the village: a few blocks of shops, galleries and places to eat along North Circle Drive, just off Highway 243. The town is unincorporated, with no city hall and no elected council. That is how it came to have a dog for mayor. What it does have is traditions it keeps: a Fourth of July parade down North Circle Drive, a village tree lighting that has run for more than 60 years, and its own paper, the Town Crier, since 1946.

The San Bernardino National Forest surrounds us, and Mount San Jacinto State Park and the San Jacinto Wilderness rise above the village. So the trails start where the streets end. When you visit, we ask that you be mindful of our water and wildlife. It’s all we have.

About this guide

Idyllwild.com gives you the overview and the local tips: what the town is like, where to start and what’s worth the drive up the Hill. For anything that changes, like hours, permits and road conditions, each page points you to the source that keeps it current, whether that’s the ranger station, Caltrans or the business itself.