Camping Capers in Cuyamaca

For a transplanted Easterner, nothing hits home so much as a landscape soaked in green. Not that I’m not an admirer of our state’s golden hills and brown deserts. But every once in a while the need for green becomes acute. Satisfying it usually requires a plane ride or a long drive north.

That is, until last May, when I discovered Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. For two days, my friend Gina and I hiked and camped among the sweeping valleys and occasional lakes of the Laguna Mountains, east of San Diego. We couldn’t believe we were in Southern California. Much less developed and less crowded than Big Bear, it’s a similar 2 1/2-hour drive from Los Angeles.

We barnstormed south on I-5 one Saturday morning. At Oceanside, we headed east on Route 78 for 40 miles until the dull brown hills of coastal San Diego County rose in elevation and the land suddenly, magically, turned lush and green. Horse farms and rolling prairies surrounded us until we cruised into Santa Ysabel, a pinprick of a town whose one star attraction in our book was Dudley’s Bakery. Its date nut bread was noteworthy, if a little doughy, but its molasses fruit bars were worthy of a prize.

From Santa Ysabel, we continued into pine- and oak-forested mountains reaching 5,000 feet. Four miles south we hit Wynola, where a skeleton on a Harley in a window of a barn caught our attention. We’re not bikers, but the funky sight compelled us to stop and check out Motorcycle Springs U.S.A., a coffeehouse and motorcycle club rolled into one. The inside had the inviting feeling of an old wood barn with chairs, tables and motorcycles lying around. The coffee they serve is the best in the valley.

Three miles farther we moseyed into Julian, an old gold mining town turned mini-tourist trap. Not our cup of coffee except for Julian Drug Store’s vintage 1920s soda fountain (the ice cream floats with sarsaparilla are definitely worth sampling) and the Old Julian Book House, which had a a surprisingly diverse selection of used books in creative categories.

As we drove on, we marveled at the way the landscape continued to change every few miles, with green hills giving way to expansive, Wyoming-like plains, until we hit small Cuyamaca Lake. The lake’s dark blue waters and the setting of piney mountain ridges reminded me of childhood summers spent at camp in upstate New York. Although we stopped here only long enough to get information at the store, it’s a place we hope to return to, for locals later told me it’s a good fishing spot; bass, catfish, bluegill and crappie are plentiful, and boats, canoes and rods can be rented for reasonable rates.

We pressed on, through an Impressionist expanse of land splashed with mustard-hued flowers and into Cuyamaca Rancho State Park’s Green Valley Falls campground, one of two at the park.

Most of the campground was made up of sites laid out one on top of the other, without much privacy. Even worse, it was fully booked. We didn’t have reservations, but Lady Luck was with us. Two families hadn’t shown up, and the kindly ranger gave us the better of two spots--in fact, the best spot in the campground, site 76. Set apart from the others, with a leafy tree shading the tent area, it featured a concrete campfire enclosure, all atop a 40-foot bluff overlooking a stream where willows and oaks arched over the water--a Monet painting. Showers and restrooms were only a two-minute walk away. A great deal for only $16 a night.

We set up camp, grabbed our folded chairs and scampered down the bluff. We spent the last sunlight hours listening to the trickle of the stream and reading Dickens and Kipling, faintly hearing but not seeing the numerous families camped nearby. Site 76 was dreamy. If you come and can’t get it, ask for one of the adjacent sites, 77 or 78; I recommend calling for reservations, especially in summer when the park often fills up weeks ahead.

That evening we drove the 14 miles back into Julian and dined at Romano’s, which served generous portions of Italian food at a nice price (dinners $9.50 to $15, including salad and pasta).

When we returned to the park, the campground was silent and briskly cool (low 50s). A ranger told me that spring and fall are the best seasons to visit, since daytime temperatures are warm and the crowds are gone. In winter, well, the area typically gets dustings of snow from December to March.

The next morning I woke up earlier than Gina because I’d booked a ride with Holidays on Horseback, five miles to the south in Descanso. Upon arrival I found the proprietor, a warm, accommodating woman who relished any chance to lighten the day with humor. My group’s guide was cut from the same cloth. Singing old trail songs, she led me and my two riding mates, a mother and her son, on a trail leading north into the state park. For two hours our sturdy horses passed oak-dotted pastures, willowy streams and hills covered with manzanita and desert sage, all for $45.

Back at camp I reunited with Gina and we drove to the park’s other campground, Pasa Picachio, the jumping-off point for the park’s more spectacular hikes.

Cuyamaca Peak, the area’s highest (6,512 feet), offers views to the Pacific--but that weekend, as is typical, haze and light fog obscured the coast.

Rangers advised us that the 5,730-foot Stonewall Mountain, with tree-lined slopes and a rocky peak, was a shorter hike and just as nice. So on we went, trekking 2 1/2 miles up Stonewall on a gradually rising path. On the way we passed couples, families with small children, and a few seniors.

At the top, we took in a view more breathtaking than we had expected. To the north lay Cuyamaca Lake and its green valleys. To the west, south and east were endless forested ridges and grassy plains. The panoramic view seemed to inspire romance, for we glimpsed several couples arm in arm, and one drinking champagne. We sat by ourselves against a boulder just under the peak, enjoying our lunch of deli sandwiches purchased in the hamlet of Cuyamaca, and cracking open books to read for an hour in the windy but warm (80-degree) weather.

By midafternoon we had headed back down and started for home. We decided to take a different road to the coast: Route 79, which joins Route 78 between Julian and Santa Ysabel and heads north before running into I-15. We passed Lake Henshaw, set in a flat expanse of land dotted with cows, and continued 30 miles to Mission San Antonio de Pala. Built in 1810, this modest mission was supposed to be one in an inland chain, a project that never materialized. Nevertheless, it’s still a working church that serves the Pala Indians, on whose reservation it is located. Mass is said every Sunday, and visitors are welcome every day except Tuesday.

Arriving in the late afternoon, we had missed Mass, but the doors were open. So we slipped inside to spend a quiet quarter hour in the simple, whitewashed chapel, which we had all to ourselves. a soothing end to a soothing weekend.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Budget for Two

Gas: $40.00

Camping, 1 night, Rancho Cuyamaca State Park: $16.00

Dinner, Romano’s: $30.76

Horseback riding: $45.00

Dudley’s Bakery: $5.48

Deli lunch: $10.08

FINAL TAB: $147.32

California State Reservations Center, tel. (800) 444-7275, Internet https://www.cal-parks.ca.gov. Holidays on Horseback, Mizpah Lane, Descanso, tel. (619) 445-3997.