Idyllwild-Pine Cove, California

Idyllwild-Pine Cove, California

Idyllwild, Pine Cove, and Fern Valley are three adjacent communities, of which Idyllwild is the largest, located in the San Jacinto Mountains in Riverside County, California, United States. "Mile-high Idyllwild" is a popular southern California mountain resort about one mile (1.6 km) in altitude. Idyllwild is flanked by two large rocks, Tahquitz Peak (with nearby Lily Rock) and Suicide Rock, which are famous in Southern California rock climbing circles. One of Idyllwild's attractions is that it offers all four seasons, yet in snowy winter is only an hour's drive down to the warm desert on the Pines to Palms Scenic Byway. Another advantage—to many—is that it offers no lake for speedboats and no downhill skiing, thus the hill has been minimally developed over the years and remains a center for hiking, mountain and rock climbing, and horseback riding. Idyllwild also has a fine cultural scene, which includes a music and arts school formerly affiliated with the University of Southern California and an annual musical festival called Idyllwild Jazz in the Pines every August. The Idyllwild community also generally includes the hamlets of Mountain Center and Garner Valley, though individual residents embrace this association to varying degrees.

Idyllwild, Pine Cove, and Fern Valley are not incorporated municipalities. In order to provide statistical information for them, the United States Census Bureau has defined Idyllwild-Pine Cove as a single census-designated place (CDP). The statistical information applies to the entire CDP, although local views of the community vary somewhat from the definition of the CDP. The population of the CDP was 3,874 at the 2010 census, up from 3,504 as of the 2000 census.