A Day Trip to Idyllwild, CA

We started our day at the Idyllwild Nature Center.  The Center has a small museum, some live quail, helpful staff with maps and advice, as well as restrooms.  It was well worth a visit.  There are several short hikes and some are strenuous.  We took the Nature Trail, first.  There are numbered points of interest and a guide.  Then, we just wandered on some trails and then visited the viewpoint.  One of the most interesting features of the area are bedrock mortars that the Cahuilla used to grind acorns into meal.  There were lots of birds in the tree tops.  It was a very pretty area.

We went to lunch in the center of town at La Casita.  The food was great.  There is much activity in the town.  I was surprised.  There are several restaurants, shops, coffee places and a small park.  We picked up a pound of locally roasted coffee at Black Mountain Coffee Roaster and also tasted wine at Middle Ridge Winery.

One of the benefits of SoCal is that a thirty-minute drive can transport you to completely different scenery and weather.  We came through Temecula.  There is a point where a right turn takes you into the deserts of Palm Springs and a left takes you into the mountains of Idyllwild.  We were there for a few hours, but it definitely felt like a mini-vacation.

                                                            Wildflowers

                                                Mortars

                                                        Giant pinecone

                                                Pork tamale lunch

                                                        In the center of town