Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

Spreading over 24,677 acres of land, Cyuamaca Rancho State Park has meadows, mountains, oak woodlands and grasslands.   Half of the park is classified as "wilderness" so no vehicles or bicycles are allowed.

Approximately a two hour drive southeast of Vista and over 5,000 ft elevation we are at the State Park.  At the bottom of a steep, winding descent, we find the visitors centre (only to be open on weekends; this is a weekday).   Bus loads of school children are here to experience outdoor, wilderness schooling camps.

We park at the Stonewall Mine site to begin a trek - Marc with his brand new "Yeti" Mt bike virgin ride!   

This area can be as steep of a climb as you can handle in no shade OR around the 6,512 feet Cuyamaca Peak with some shade.

But first, a little about the history of the area:

Village sites of the Kumeyaay Indians who occupied the Cuyamaca Mountains are located throughout the park.   Unfortunately, no sightings.

The Stonewall Mine

1869 gold was discovered near today's town of Julian; the most profitable of the mines was the Stonewall.  At its peak tom 1886 to 1891, the mine produced over 7,000 pounds of golf and employed 200 men.  

The town grew, having its own school, post office, grocery and even the ability to have long distance telephone calls.

In 1892 hard-rock mining had ended.  Governor Waterman passed away and the Banking Company of San Francisco acquired the property.  Mill tailings, discarded ore, were re-worked by means of a cyanide reduction process, meaning over $50,0000 was recovered.  All of this process was stopped by 1910.  Today there is a small museum and a fenced area where the original collapsed mine shaft still exists.

With a new Garmin GPS system, it takes awhile to find the trail head!   Found lots of trails where no bikes or horses are allowed.

A 2003 wildfire still shows its mark on the terrain.

Expecting to see Buffalo roaming any minute; or coyotes bounding through the grass!

The trails are dusty and rocky.  You pass from the Cuyamaca Mtn Range thru the adjacent other park; Anzo-Borrego Park lands.

Soapstone Ridge Trail

Horseback riders . . . . meet them at a cross roads where there are a couple of shade trees, a fence and a sign.   The sign indicated the paved road goes to a Conservation Camp.  

In 1986 the camp became an all female camp with a primary mission to provide Corrections and Rehabilitation inmate fire crews for fire suppression principally in the San Diego, Imperial, and Riverside county areas.   They also provide a work force for conservation projects and community service.

Interestingly, no sign of any building was seen along the entire upper and lower trails.

Julian

Julian is an official California Historical Landmark & District.  In the late 1800s gold was discovered just west of Julian.  Many rival towns sprouted up and while the miners were wrestling for gold, James Madison brought a wagon load of young apple trees up into the mountains.

Today, apples are a flourishing product and Julian became know for apple pies.

Today, Julian is a quaint mountain resort, with cooler temperatures and the town narrowly escaped destruction during the 2003 fire.

The Julian Pie Company uses apples from a farm of over 17,0000 apple trees.  Open since 1989.   We purchased the Caramel Apple Pie!  Yummmo!   They bake a variety of pies and some grocery outlets stalk their pies in the unbaked version so you can experience fresh!

Competition:   Mom's Pie House

This pie house was created in 1984 and when first opened, in the the old Julian Cafe building, the bakery was 10x22 feet and a seating for two!  Mom (mother of four) expanded the bakery  and the types of baked goods, honey, jams etc

Miner's Diner

Originally the first brick building in Julian the Levi and Co. owned the building.   Today, it is owned by Fred & Misty Dornon.  They plan to make the store and restaurant a Diner and Candy Mine.   The restaurant has great homemade burgers, crispy fries and tons of memorabilia.


License plates, pop bottles from all eras, old wooden pop bottle cartons for pepsi and coke, old malt powder cartons, a peewee herman doll, old gas pump, pinball machine .... its all there!

Back down the winding mountain road are these orchards along the way . . . most likely grapefruit in the San Pasqual Valley.

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