Cuyamaca Park Offers a Wild Time Close to Home

The Kumeya’ay Indians, 7,000 years before the Spanish came, called what is now Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, 40 miles east of San Diego, Ah-ha-Kwe-ah-mac (the place where it rains). But during September and October, it’s mostly blue skies. And people don’t abandon the place when the weather turns chilly.

The 24,623-acre park of pine and oak forests, rolling green meadows, mountains and streams, includes the second highest point in San Diego County--Cuyamaca Peak’s 6,512 feet. Just a little more than an hour’s drive from San Diego, the park is worlds apart from San Diego’s dry climate, coastal beaches and the inland’s chaparral-covered terrain.

On weekends, many San Diegans leave the city and take the winding road through the park to find hiking trails, picnic areas, wildlife, good fishing and campsites for overnight or weekend stays. The park also has several exhibits and an interpretive center.

On a sunny day, as many as 50 motor boats, row boats and canoes can be seen drifting around Lake Cuyamaca, which adjoins the state park. The lake, built in 1887 as a reservoir for San Diego, is 110 surface acres of water and holds five types of fish year-round.

Boats, Trout and Ducks

According to Lake Cuyamaca Recreation and Park District ranger Barbee Skinner, as many as 800 boats are rented on a weekend and more than 40,000 pounds of trout are stocked a year. The lake also features duck hunting during the waterfowl season.

Skinner said die-hard fishermen use the lake year-round.

“The colder and more miserable it is, the more those guys like it,” she said. “We’re the only lake I know of (in the county) that stays open 365 days a year.”

As domestic ducks and geese, demanding more bread crumbs, chase small children around the shore, parents relax by picnic tables in the shade.

Leslie Wilson and her mom came up for the day. They wanted some quiet time in the sun while their husbands fished. Wilson said they used to come up to Cuyamaca throughout her childhood and finally sold their house in Allied Gardens to move to the mountains. She, her husband and parents now reside in Boulevard, a 45-minute drive from Cuyamaca.

Rachel Santini of Chula Vista came to the lake with her family to celebrate her 10th birthday.

Her father, Bob Santini, said they started coming to the lake a few years ago and now it has become their special place for birthdays and other important occasions.

Lemon Grove resident Allan Caudillo and his friend Gene Bell come to the lake year-round. They usually start fishing at 6 a.m., bringing their own boat. While sitting back on lawn chairs, they bragged about the four-pound rainbow trout they had just caught.

“We just ate it,” Caudillo said. “Now, we’ll probably drink beer until we pass out and then drive back to our campsite.”

On a quiet evening, deer are sometimes found drinking from the marshy area of the lake. There have been herds of up to 35 southern mule deer in a meadow south of the lake, said chief park ranger Homer Townsend.

Besides deer, the park is home to coyotes, bobcats, gray foxes, raccoons and squirrels. Mountain lions have been sighted occasionally, and more than 150 species of birds have been identified.

John Achuff, an accountant from El Cajon, and his wife, Phyllis, recalled when they had come camping in the park a few days before New Year’s Day and started to cook some steaks. Before the couple knew it, some raccoons absconded with three of the pieces of meat, leaving them with one steak between them. They laugh about it now, Phyllis said, but at the time they were really hungry.

One of Cuyamaca’s most unusual attractions is two horse camps. Horse owners from all over come to camp under the trees and ride their horses on the many trails. Los Caballos has 16 sites that each come equipped with two corrals. The group equestrian camp, Los Vaqueros, can accommodate 80 people and 45 horses.

For Dave Zimmerman of Riverside, the mountains are a nice change from riding in the flatlands where he’s from.

“For horse people, this is like dying and going to heaven,” he said while eating lunch with his wife.

“It’s a good area to train for endurance riding (a 50- to 100-mile race),” said Janice Mills, who came with her horse, Aries, from Encinitas. “It’s harder for them to endure the altitude and mountainous terrain.”

Park aide Anne Ulm said folks should make reservations two months in advance because vacant sites are rare. Because of the weather, the horse camps close from November until May.

Campgrounds Paso Picacho and Green Valley rarely close during the winter but have had to shut down for a few days because of too much snow, Townsend said, adding that Cuyamaca can receive up to two feet of snow, and it snows as often as five times a year.

Green Valley, which has 81 sites, attracts campers and picnickers with its natural falls and pools. Amid the rocks and briers, little kids and their parents sun bathe, wade and play in the water.

“We come twice a year,” Phyllis Achuff said. “We used to camp here a lot, but with two little boys, it’s hard. We came for just the day, but it’s a nice change from going to the beach.”

Some campers stay in Green Valley for the water, but others prefer the Paso Picacho campground (85 sites) because it’s conveniently situated near the trails.

Two very color-coordinated hikers, 15-year-olds Jennifer Phillips and Kami Wible, who live in Tierrasanta, made the two-mile hike to the summit of Stonewall and were now kicking back, enjoying a game of cards.

Dirk Dessel and Christopher Frank, from the San Diego State University area, use the park to its fullest. When Dessel isn’t teaching a rock-climbing class on Stone Wall for Adventure 16 Wilderness Camping Outfitters, he comes with his friends to climb it for fun. He and Frank go mountain biking in the park in the summer and cross-country skiing during the winter.

“I usually just drive up for the day,” Dessel said. “It’s one of my favorite places to come because of the scenery and accessibility. I’ve seen turkey vultures, ring-tail cats and rattlesnakes.”

Steve Jackson of Mira Mesa comes up to the park to fish and to trail ride with his mountain bike.

“We only went two miles today,” he said. “But it was straight up. We’re now looking for a more diverse trail.”

The lightweight aluminum bikes have 18 gears and large tires for climbing, and riding them is a popular sport in the park.

“There are other places to ride in San Diego County,” Jackson said. “But nothing with this view. Here, you have the mountains and the water. It’s really a very beautiful place.”

The park also provides campfire programs and nature walks. However, these functions become less frequent during the winter months. According to Townsend, 600,000 people use the park each year. Compared to state parks at the beach, that is low, he said. However, parks that are similar to Cuyamaca don’t get as many users, Townsend said.

“On a big day in the park, we get a couple of hundred people coming through the museum,” he said.