Idyllwild and the High San Jacintos
Smith, Robert B. III / Idyllwild Area Historical Society
Southern California's hidden treasure lies in the San Jacinto Mountains. Capped by the last 10, 000-foot peaks on the way to Mexico, these mountains have enriched human lives for centuries. Discovered by loggers in 1876, partially stripped of their trees during California's first population boom in the 1880s, then protected by federal edict in 1897, these mountains attracted a special breed of settler. The uncommon village of Idyllwild was cre...