Our Idyllwild Road trip

Celebrating colin’s birthday with a road trip

April 7th 2017 Our first family road trip

A friend told me about Idyllwild and it’s mountains, trails, and the town. But what really sold me was the dog friendly cabins! I ran the idea by Colin, and that same night I had booked us a weekend in one of Idyllwild Inns.

If you’d like to stay at the same cabin site as we did you can check out and reserve your cabin here

Kai had never gone on a trip with us, and since it wouldn’t be too long of a drive we thought this would be a great first one. A little advice, bring your pup’s dog bed when spending the night in a new place. Kai loved the cabin, but come night fall I could tell he was confused why we weren’t going home. It was a little hard settling him down with all the unfamiliar smells and noises of other animals outside. Luckily, I brought some towels from home and laid one down by our bed. Aside from that he had great time doing the trails with us and exploring the little town.

Idyllwild is only about two hours away from San Diego, and yet, the trails felt like we were transported to Colorado. We hiked the Ernie Maxwell trail and loved it. We were immersed in towering trees, enjoying the crisp mountain air at about 6,400 ft elevation. I was surprised to find along the trail, wild daffodils growing in little patches. 

trees so tall, you look up in wonder

We felt transported. With giant pine trees surrounding us, we couldn’t believe we were still in southern California.

I recommend heading to the trail early in the morning to avoid the crowds. We packed some sandwiches and ate our on a little spot overlooking the woods. As much as we wanted to, we couldn’t do the whole trail. Unfortunately, the elevation was starting to get to us and Kai, so about half way through we turned around and headed back to our truck. Being early April, the night’s were still pretty cold. So after a good hike nothing felt better than a hot shower and eating dinner in front of our cabin’s fireplace.

You can easily go for just a day trip. The town is charming, with several shops to explore and purchase goods. My favorite was a little chocolate shop called  El Buen Cacao. The owners are so sweet and friendly. If you go, try their Mexican hot chocolate and sit out on the patio. It was a great way to end our trip before making the drive back home. 

Idyllwild, we will be back again

Surrounded by the San Jacinto mountains, it’s a get-away gem.