I may have misunderstood, I thought you wanted to sell your wine country house and retire to Idyllwild. If you just want a cabin, that’s a leisure decision like an RV or a boat. Do what makes you happy if you have the means it’s likely a better decision than either a boat or an RV.
Climbers and day trippers will barely sustain a business. 2,000 hikers a year doesn’t compare to your current digs. In fact you are missing out on not turning your place into a B&B once the kids move to college.
Temecula gets 2.7 million tourists a year. Napa/Sonoma gets 3.5 mil tourists a year. But 2.000 people hiked a spot in Idylwild? You are standing on a pile of hundred dollar bills and thinking of moving to a pile of pennies. I’m in a tract home but you are on land within the vineyards, there is opportunity right under your nose. I get it, you are a bit eccentric, but don’t for a minute think lots of other people want to spend their weekends volunteering as fire scouts. Good for you. Nobody gets rich rescuing cats, but my wife thinks that would be a great life. Luckily she has me to encourage her to keep her day job and she can have that as a hobby if she wants as long as it doesn’t involve the house. But it’s not an investment or a vocation, it’s a hobby/charity/volunteer opportunity.
Let it be your hobby, but you didn’t find gold. So buy a weekend home if you like but head to head, Temecula real estate will beat Idyllwild real estate over time for lots of reasons. I still think Arrowhead/Big Bear represent a better investment because it gets year round tourism, Idyllwild practically closes when it snows, it doesn’t capitalize on it like the other areas.
