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Quiet Creek Inn
26345 Delano Drive
PO Box 240
Idyllwild, CA 92549
(800) 450-6110
(951) 659-6110
Info@QuietCreekInn.com
Books on Hiking and History - Idyllwild and the San Jacinto Mountains
Content Introduction The Great Outdoors Activities: General List of Things to Do in Idyllwild Hiking Biking Rock Climbing Fishing Entertainment Restaurants Art Shopping Yoga Day Trips Idyllwild Event, Conference, Retreat & Education Facilities, Organizations & Institutions Idyllwild Lodging Idyllwild Real Estate Idyllwild History & Culture Local Links Media Links
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“Idyllwild has more interesting characters per square inch than any place I’ve ever been,” as one well-traveled person was overhead saying. There are indeed many interesting “characters” in Idyllwild but there is also plenty of things to see and do. Whether you come to Idyllwild for the mountain nature experience or to shop and dine, most visitors leave feeling refreshed and renewed. Things to do in Idyllwild include everything from relaxing creek side to hiking the peaks, from fine dining to fun shopping, and from holiday parades to art and music events. While Idyllwild has been listed in John Villani’s, The 100 Best Art Towns in America: A Guide to Galleries, Museums, Festivals, Lodging and Dining, Fourth Edition, the town has also been written about because of the grandeur of it’s views and the serene beauty of the surrounding wilderness: “Naturalist John Muir, upon watching the sunrise from the summit, is said to have exclaimed, ‘The view from San Jacinto is the most sublime spectacle to be found anywhere on this earth!’ Since then, countless others have experienced the same inspiration. The vista is utterly magnificent, extending over hundreds of square miles of mountain, foothill, valley, and desert. On the southwestern horizon, beyond row after row of misty-purple ranges, is the glimmering Pacific. Northwest, the gray hogback of San Gorgonio rises grandly across the trough of San Gorgonio Pass. Eastward sprawls the drab tawniness of the Colorado Desert and it’s wrinkled hills. Southeast lies the shining platter of the Salton Sea, and beyond, in the distant haze, is Mexico. What gives the panorama a final touch of grandeur is the great north rampart, plunging in jagged cliffs and castellated ridges to Coachella Valley, nearly two miles below.” |
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According to Harvey Monroe, University of California botanist, “There is probably no place in North America where the alpine and Sonoran floras are in such proximity as they are on San Jacinto Mountain…”. Excerpts from The San Jacintos, John W. Robinson and Bruce D. Risher, (Big Santa Anita Historical Society, 1993), Pp 191 & 197. This excellent book is available at the Idyllwild Nature Center, and some local gift shops, and offers a wonderful overview of the history and development of the “mountain country from Banning to Borrego Valley”.
The truth is, one doesn’t have to climb the nearly 11,000 foot San Jacinto peak to experience wonderful views. Most trails into the State Park or National Wildnerness area offer wonderful southerly, westerly and northerly views even at the beginning stages of a climb. The peaks, such as San Jacinto and Tahquitz, offer the added bonus of views to the east to the desert communities and the Salton Sea. Books on Hiking and History - Idyllwild and the San Jacinto Mountains |
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The Great Outdoors
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 Photo Courtesy of Mark Hespenheide, copyright 1997-2006Photo available at Quiet Creek Living Room Gallery |
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Idyllwild Lodging on Strawberry Creek
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Above Photo Courtesy of Mark
Hespenheide
Copyright © 2006 Quiet Creek Inn. All rights reserved. |
