Network Offers Prime-Time Escape

Cuyamaca Rancho State Park has remained a pristine patch of wilderness in San Diego County’s back country.

Although a state highway bisects the park and is heavily traveled on weekends by those en route to or from the mountain town of Julian, the park’s 110-mile network of trails offers visitors an escape from crowds.

A variety of attractions are offered, including hiking, horseback riding, fishing in the lake, a gold mine, viewing natural history and Indian exhibits, picnicking among the pines and camping under the stars.

Outside the park boundaries are motels and B&B; lodgings, plus a variety of dining places.

Get to Rancho Cuyamaca State Park from Los Angeles by driving south on Interstate 5 to San Diego. Turn east on Interstate 8 to the California 79/Julian/Japatul Road turnoff.

California 79 leads north through the heart of the park. But if you’re going to explore it first on horseback, turn left at the Descanso sign onto Riverside Drive. Bear right where it becomes Viejas Boulevard (don’t turn onto Viejas Grade Road) and follow it to the only stable offering trail rides in Cuyamaca.

Holidays on Horseback, which organizes outings lasting from two hours to overnight, is run by Liz and Earl Hammond.

A two-hour ride heads across meadows and past oak trees to climb a mountain trail and cross the Sweetwater River. You’ll learn about the history of the area and its animals and plants, such as willow bush, which the Indians used as a natural aspirin. The ride costs $25 per person.

A four-hour outing, including a picnic lunch, costs $50. Rides lasting all day, as well as three-hour sunset rides with or without a barbecue also can be arranged.

One- and two-night horseback camping trips cost $250 to $350. For more information or reservations, call (619) 445-3997.

Continue north by car into the park on California 79 and look for the left turn into Green Valley Campground, the southernmost of Cuyamaca’s two developed camping areas. (There are others for groups and equestrians.) Each of the 81 sites has a table, wood stove and food locker, plus drinking water and hot showers nearby; no RV hookups.

Camping costs $12 per site on weekends and holidays, $10 on other days. For picnicking and day use, the fee is $4 per car, $3 on weekdays. The park office telephone is (619) 765-0755.

Two miles north, turn right to park headquarters and the Cuyamaca Indian Museum. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends and holidays and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

Baskets, pottery and other Indian relics are on display in the museum, which occupies an old stone ranch house. Opposite the front entrance is a self-guided interpretive trail that shows how the Kumeyaay Indians (called Dieguenos by the Spanish) lived a century ago.

Up the highway, just past the fire station, a roadside center offers information on various species of animals and trees. Among the trees are sugar, Jeffery, ponderosa and Coulter pines.

Nearby is the entrance to Paso Picacho, the park’s northern picnic area and campground, with 85 overnight sites. A self-guided nature trail begins from the picnic area.

Continue driving north to a side road that leads to the ruins of Stonewall Mine, which yielded $2 million in gold before it was abandoned in 1892, just 22 years after gold was discovered in the area. Follow the short path to an old prospector’s cabin that has a mining exhibit.

At the northern boundary of the 30,000-acre park, California 79 borders Lake Cuyamaca, a reservoir that is stocked with trout all year. There’s a $4 fee for fishing ($2 for ages 8 to 16); a California fishing license is required. Bait, tackle and rental boats are available.

Visitors with RVs can camp overnight at the lake for $12 with water and electrical hookups, $8 without.

Meals are served at Lakeland Resort overlooking the water, but drive a few miles north to Julian for a greater choice of restaurants. That former gold-mining town also has a wide range of lodgings, including dozens of B&Bs.; Contact the Julian Chamber of Commerce at (619) 765-1857.

South of the park along California 79 you can eat at the Descanso Station restaurant, which serves seafood specials on weekends and Greek dinners every Thursday night.

At Los Terrinitos Road turnoff is Cedar Creek Inn, a two-room B&B.; Call (619) 445-9605 for rates and reservations.

Other accommodations are six miles east off Interstate 8 in Pine Valley and about the same distance west in Alpine via the Willows Road/Alpine Boulevard exit. The most popular place to eat brunch and prime rib dinners on Sundays is the Alpine Inn.

Round trip from Los Angeles to Rancho Cuyamaca State Park is 298 miles.