Elmalı has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa),[5] with hot, dry summers, and chilly, moderately wet, somewhat snowy winters.

[6] There are 60 neighbourhoods in Elmalı District:[8] Excavations, by Machteld Mellink from Bryn Mawr College, of the burial mounds of Semahöyük and Müren have shown signs of copper production dating back to 2500 BC.

It remained a key mountain stronghold in the Ottoman period and through the early years of the Turkish republic, but has declined as recent generations have left the dry mountainside for jobs on the coast or in Turkey's major cities.

Few tourists come to Elmalı although the town is beginning to attract visitors thanks to its rich traditional architecture and beautiful mountain surroundings; these people are either day-trippers or passing through en route to the Mediterranean coast, but do bring important income to the area.

Also some residents of the coastal towns such as Finike, Fethiye or Kaş have holiday homes in Elmalı, a retreat from the summer heat on the coast.

(Elmalı Hazinesi) is the name commonly given in Turkey to an important find of antique treasure; 1,900 silver coins (including 1,100 from Lycia and 14 extremely rare decadrachms) from the Delian League.

The hoard was reassembled by William Koch with the advice of the numismatists Jeffry Spier and Jonathan Kagan, and a symposium was held to publish and exploit the information gained.