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Palomar Divide Road
From Dirtopia, The Off-Road Encyclopedia
 Photo: Entrance to Palomar Divide Road | |
| Trail Information | |
| Other Names: | Palomar Road |
|---|---|
| Part of: | Cleveland National Forest |
| Trail Length: | 22.1 miles |
| Trail Time: | 3.5 hours |
| Terrain: | |
| Off-Road Use: | |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
| Geography | |
| County: | Riverside County, California |
| Nearest Cities: | Temecula, CA |
| Map Links: | Google Map |
| Satellite Map: | Google Satellite |
| Special Map: | |
| GPS Start: | N33 26.42 W116 51.38 |
| GPS End: | N33 19.86 W116 42.50 |
| Google Earth: | |
| Climate: | |
| Elevation: | 2,000 to 5,700 ft. |
From Los Angeles and San Diego, the Palomar Divide Road is a great trail to follow.
Drive on California 79 to the east of the Temecula Valley. Further down, as you continue to the east of Aguanga you take a detour. This can be mistaken as an entrance to a RV resort. This route however leads you to the southside right upto the Cleveland National Forest. You have to pass by private property in the course of this short accessway. The entrance is just North of the private property with the address of 34347 on the mailbox. As you move north of that mailbox you will see a small brown rectangular sign marked 9S07, which is the road designation of Palomar Divide Road.
Once there, the road ascends along a shelf road until you reach the High Point Lookout located at 6,140 feet on Mount Palomar. Go further and you can see Cottonwood Creek and Dameron valley on either side.
As you move to the High Point Lookout you find yourself surrounded by oak tress. To preserve this grove, vehicles are not allowed and you have to hike it up. You soon come to the gate of a tower. Access to this tower is restricted and you cannot climb right to the top. However, you do get a 360 degree view from this place and can even view the Pacific Ocean in the distance if the weather permits.
From the tower you can continue on the trail along the Palomar Divide which passes along the Palomar and Aguanga mountains. The trail is mainly chaparral and just towards the end you discover the remains of the Ware Mine. Nothing much to find except a stone building and some diggings. The trail ends soon as it continues downwards to join in with California 79. 12-19-09; There is now a locked gate approx 1.5 miles from hwy 79 on High Point Road.
Maps and GPS Coordinates
Palomar Divide Road Coordinates: 33.440333° -116.856333°
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
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- Find this location with Google Earth
