15 Fun Things To Do In Idyllwild, California (2024)
Want to know all the fun things to do in Idyllwild? We’ve got you covered with everything you need to know!
Idyllwild is a small mountain town in Southern California in-between Palm Springs and Temecula.
You’ll experience all the seasons here, so it’s a great getaway especially in the Fall and Winter where you can see the leaves change and experience cooler weather.
It’s a great place to reconnect with nature and slow down a bit.
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Fun Things To Do In Idyllwild
While Idyllwild is a great outdoor destination for local hiking trails and parks, this list will consist of everything you can do right in town.
Everything on this list is in walking distance of each other, so when you visit, you just have to park once and can explore in one place.
1. Start Your Day with Coffee from Black Mountain Coffee Roasting & Tasting Room
Choose from a variety of light roasts, medium roasts, dark roasts, and special blends.
We recommend trying the Rustic Cabin Blend, which is one of their special roasts.
It’s described as “our house blend, a great introduction to our coffee, ideal for any brew method from espresso to french press – coco, nutty, sweet, balanced”.
Their other coffees come from all over the world including Ethiopia, Colombia, Mexico, Vietnam, El Salvador, Brazil, Tanzania, and Honduras.
2. Browse Antique Shops
As you make your way up Circle Drive, there are a couple antique shops.
We love browsing antique shops wherever we travel because you never know what interesting things you’ll find.
Each destination tends to have certain items that are more common than others, so it’s fun to just have a look around.
3. Get Your Own Cowboy Hat From Wooley’s
On the other side of the street is a large gift shop you can’t miss, literally.
The entrance has a huge cowboy hat towering over the building.
You’ll find a variety of typical gift shop items as well as cowboy hats and outdoor wear.
We love to get a Christmas ornament at each place we visit and this is a great place for that too.
4. Take A Stroll Through Idyllwild Gardens
Idyllwild Gardens is a small plant nursery that feels like an escape to another world.
It’s beautifully designed with plants, flowers, and garden decor.
In the garden they also have a vintage 1969 renovated travel van that has been turned into a boutique shop.
It’s not quite as large as the famed Roger’s Gardens in Corona Del Mar, but it’s perfect for a small mountain town like Idyllwild.
5. Enjoy Lunch at Fratello’s
Fratello’s is a phenomenal Italian restaurant and pizzeria in the middle of town.
It’s the perfect lunch spot with a variety of paninis, calzones, pastas, and pizza.
The best dish here that you must try is the Capellini Primavera.
It comes with a variety of fresh vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, & a touch of marinara sauce.
For a pasta it’s pretty light, making it perfect for lunch.
Another great meal is the Italian Panini.
It comes with a selection of Italian cured meats, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, & vinaigrette.
6. Go Thrifting at Thrift Shop Community Church
Antique shopping and thrift shopping can be similar as they are both second hand items.
But thrift shops generally have more recently made/produced items and tend to be cheaper since the items don’t usually have much historical value.
This makes thrift shopping a much more affordable option usually and this one is no exception.
We found a variety of fully intact board games for only $2 each!
We’ve been buying up board games recently like different versions of Scene It and Trivial Pursuit because they’re just fun to play at home and test our knowledge of older games.
At this thrift shop we found a People Weekly Trivial Pursuit from 1984 and it was so fun to play even though it came out a decade before I was even born!
It’s interesting to see what’s still relevant and what isn’t.
We also found a Scene It Pop Culture board game and a road trip board game.
7. Learn About Idyllwild’s History at Idyllwild Area Historical Society Museum
This museum is mostly only open on weekends and admission is free!
It’s a small museum that has a variety of historical items and trinkets from Idyllwild throughout it’s history.
The outdoor grounds and gardens are open every day for visitors to enjoy.
8. Take Part in Wine Tasting at Middle Ridge Winery
When we visited Idyllwild, they were having an art and wine festival, so we got to try 8 different wines that they offer.
On a typical visit, you would do a wine tasting or flight where you would try 5 or 6 wines, each being a 1-2 oz pour, but I couldn’t find anything for certain about this particular location.
My absolute favorite wine that is a must try is their 2017 Tempranillo.
It has “aromas of red currants, Asian plum, dried flowers and a hint of tobacco, with smooth tannins and a medium long finish”.
9. Try Even More Wine at Idyll-Awhile Bistro
This wine bar and restaurant offers wine tasting for $26 for 4 wines and $33 for 6 wines.
You can choose from champagnes, sparkling wines, sweet white wines, light and zesty white wines, rich white wines, light red wines, medium bodied red wines, full bodied red wines, and port wines.
Most of their wines are from vineyards around California, though a handful come from places like South Africa, Italy, and France.
10. Browse a Variety of Teas from Merkaba Tea
This cute little tea house sells teas, herbs, and cultural/spiritual items from around the world.
They have virtually every type of tea from black tea, chai, green tea, oolong, white tea, matcha, rooibos, decaf teas, and blends.
There are seasonal blends too like the “cozy pumpkin patch” in the Fall.
11. Enjoy Nostalgic Sodas and Sweets From Idyllwild Soda Pop and Sweet Shop
This cute nostalgia shop has a variety of vintage sodas, sweets, and toys.
It’s fun to browse around and see which ones you completely forgot about and then try them to see if it’s as good as you remember.
You can also try new varieties you’ve never seen before.
12. Indulge in Ice Cream at Atomic Cow Creamery
Even though you’re up in the mountains, it can still get hot, even late into the Fall season.
An afternoon treat of some ice cream is a nice indulgence after you’ve been walking around all day.
You can get shakes, sundaes, floats, and sandwiches.
If you’re familiar with Palm Springs at all, you’ll know that Date Shakes are very popular and served pretty much everywhere there.
So if you’ve never tried a Date Shake, you can get one here!
13. Check Out The Vintage Shop Ephemera
This vintage pop culture shop is so immersive and worth browsing.
They have everything from vintage clothes to toys to music to accessories and more.
14. Catch a Game and Dinner at Idyllwild Brewpub
Idyllwild Brewpub is the perfect place to end your night in Idyllwild.
They have TVs throughout the restaurant, so if there’s a game you want to watch, all you have to do is ask!
We came here to watch a UCLA football game and got a great spot right in front of a TV on the back patio.
We started our dinner with an appetizer of fried cauliflower and a ginger agave cider from Sincere Cider.
I loved that they had more than one cider to choose from and the only option wasn’t just your typical Angry Orchard Cider.
As our night went on, we also split a burger with fries for dinner and finished off our meal with some beignets.
I don’t know the exact name of the burger, but it was essentially a Western Burger with bbq sauce and onion rings.
15. Attend the Art Alliance of Idyllwild Annual Art Walk and Wine Tasting
We happened to visit Idyllwild on the weekend they were hosting their annual Art Walk and Wine Tasting.
Tickets for this event were $45 per person at the door, which required being on a waitlist since it always sells out in advance.
Then from 2-5 pm we were able to do unlimited wine tastings at special places set up around town.
We sampled wines from all over California, much of which was from the nearby Temecula Valley wine region.
The 26th Annual Art Walk & Wine Tasting event will be held on Saturday, October 12, 2024.
Ticket sales open July 1, 2024.
Where To Stay In Idyllwild
Being a small mountain town, most of the lodging in Idyllwild is a combination of cabins, lodges, and campgrounds.
There are a couple standout lodges that you should try to book when staying here if you want to be right in town throughout your stay.
🍁 Idyllwild Inn
Each room at Idyllwild Inn is unique from it’s layout to it’s decor to it’s size.
Each room type sleeps anywhere from 2 people all the way up to 8 people.
Wifi and parking are included in your room charge and every room has a mountain view!
Think of this like a cozy inn or bed and breakfast type accommodation.
It’s not super fancy, but it’s still nice.
👉🏼 Click Here To Book Your Idyllwild Inn Stay Today!
🍁 The Grand Idyllwild Lodge
The Grand Idyllwild Lodge is a 5 star luxury mountain escape.
Rooms here sleep anywhere from 2-4 people and breakfast, wifi, and parking are both included.
Each room also has it’s own fireplace for staying cozy.
👉🏼 Click Here To Book Your Grand Idyllwild Lodge Stay Today!
More Mountain Escapes In Southern California
Idyllwild isn’t the only place in Southern California to enjoy a weekend getaway up in the mountains.
We have a couple others we like to visit about once a year or so that are certain to be a great time.
⛰ Big Bear Lake
You’ll have a vastly different experience in Big Bear if you visit in the Winter versus the Summer, but both offer so many things to do.
In the Winter you have skiing and snowboarding, while in the Summer you can go boating out on the lake.
Year round you can enjoy walking the village, playing escape rooms, and browsing the gift shops.
⛰ Julian
Julian is a small mountain town outside of San Diego.
It is a gold mining town that has kept it’s historic architecture and charm throughout the years.
Today it’s best known for it’s apples.
You can try a variety of homemade apple pies, apple ciders, and even apple pancakes while you’re here.
Conclusion: Fun Things To Do In Idyllwild
Idyllwild is the perfect mountain getaway in Southern California.
It’s only a couple hours away from the LA and Orange County areas and it’s easily accessible from areas like Temecula and Palm Springs.
The perfect time of year to visit is in the Fall to see the Fall foliage, which is somewhat rare in most areas of Southern California.
