Palomar Mountain
Palomar Mountain is a mountain in the Peninsular Ranges in northern San Diego County. It is famous as the location of the Palomar Observatory and Hale Telescope, and known for the Palomar Mountain State Park.
History
The Spanish name "Palomar", in English meaning "pigeon roost," comes from Spanish colonial era in Alta California when Palomar Mountain was known as the home of Band-tailed Pigeons.[3]
During the 1890s, the human population was sufficient to support three public schools, and it was a popular summer resort for Southern California, with three hotels in operation part of the time, and a tent city in Doane Valley each summer.
Palomar Observatory
Palomar Mountain is most famous as being home since 1936 to the Palomar Observatory, and the giant Hale Telescope. The 200-inch telescope was the world's largest and most important telescope from 1949 until 1992. The observatory currently consists of three large telescopes.
Palomar Mountain State Park
Palomar Mountain is the location of Palomar Mountain State Park, a California State Park. There are campgrounds for vacationers, as well as a campground for local school children. The park averages 70,000 visitors annually. The campgrounds in the park were closed on October 2, 2011, due to the state budget cuts, and there are no plans to reopen them in the foreseeable future.[4] The park itself is one of 70 California State Parks scheduled to close due to budget cuts, and it is expected to be closed permanently in July 2012 to achieve part of the $11 million dollar budget reduction for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.[5][6]
High Point in the Palomar Mountain range is one of the highest peaks in San Diego County, at 6,140 feet (1,871 m), although Cuyapaipe Mountain in Laguna Mountains is slightly higher, at 6,378 feet (1,944 m), and they are dwarfed by the higher 11,500 feet (3,505 m) San Bernardino Mountains a relatively short distance north in San Bernardino County and Riverside County and the 14,500 feet (4,420 m) high Mount Whitney some 250 mi (402 km) further north. It is located roughly two miles east of the observatory, however, it is not accessible for the public from that direction (the observatory itself and adjacent land are private property and the road to High Point from the observatory is blocked by a permanently closed gate.) It may be reached via Palomar Divide Truck Trail or Oak Grove Truck Trail, dirt roads that start off highway 79 near Warner Springs, California. The trip is 13 miles one way with 3000' of elevation gain via Palomar Divide Truck Trail, or 7 miles one way with 3200' of elevation gain via Oak Grove Truck Trail.
At the base of Palomar Mountain on S6 is Oak Knoll Campground, formerly known as Palomar Gardens. Palomar Gardens was made somewhat famous by an earlier resident George Adamski. Adamski had an observatory at Palomar Gardens and photographed objects in the night sky that he claimed were UFOs. Adamski co-authored Flying Saucers Have Landed in 1953,[7] about his alien encounter experiences. The 1977 film The Crater Lake Monster had many scenes filmed on Palomar Mountain, including scenes shot at the summit restaurant, but not the scenes of the monster in a lake.[8]
Doane Valley, located within the State Park, is home to the Camp Palomar Outdoor School for 6th grade students in the San Diego Unified School District.[9]
Access
South Grade Road, the stretch of San Diego County Route S6 going from State Route 76 to the summit, is popular among motorcycle riders and sports car drivers due to its challenging nature [10] (over 20 hairpin turns over the distance of less than 7 mi (11 km)). According to fire department records, there have been 26 reported motorcycle injury accidents on the mountain in 2005. In 2004, the figure was 23. In 2003 there were 26.[10] The Luiseno Indian name for Palomar Mountain was "Paauw" and High Point was called "Wikyo."[11]
See also
References
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