Hollenbeck Canyon Wildlife Area is located near Jamul and Dulzura in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The former cattle ranch was designated a wildlife area in 2001, and forms a

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, habitat corridor, or green corridor is an area of habitat connecting wildlife populations separated by human activities or structures (such as roads, development, or logging). This allows an exchange of individuals between ...

between

Otay Mountain Wilderness The Otay Mountain Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area located in San Diego County, California, 12 miles east of the city of Otay Mesa and just north of the Mexican border. Some parts of the wilderness area rise quickly from sea level, reaching ...

and Jamul Mountains under the protection of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The approximately 6,100-acre area is open to the public for activities including hunting, equestrian use, hiking, mountain-biking, and (hunting) dog training.

History

The Hollenbeck Canyon Wildlife Area was once part of a Mexican land grant given in 1831 to

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with the land named as Rancho Jamul. When Mexico yielded California to the US after the Mexican-American War, the land became occupied by the Burton Family, but they lost their title at the end of the 1850s. Rancho Jamul was occupied by several farmers until the 1890s when it was acquired by a San Diego entrepreneur, who then sold it to a former San Diego Mayor in 1916 and eventually sold it in 1929 to the Daley family, who used it as a truck farm and cattle ranch. In 2001, the land was acquired by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and designated as the Hollenbeck Canyon Wildlife Area in the same year. The CDFW acquired the land "to conserve, restore and protect declining sensitive species and their associated habitats in one of the largest blocks of contiguous land available in San Diego County. To provide compatible wildlife-dependent recreational opportunities to the public."

Ecology

The Hollenbeck Canyon Wildlife Area is home to many plant and animal species, including San Diego sedge (''Carex spissa''), sedge witch (Euphyes vestris harbisonii),

coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...

, and chaparral.

Activities

As of Dec. 2022,
CDFW Lands Pass
must be purchased to visit the Hollenbeck Canyon Wildlife Area. Officially designated hiking trails exist for visitors to hike, and dogs are permitted on a leash that is 10 feet or less in length. Mountain biking and horseback riding are permitted on established roads.

References

{{coord, 32, 41, 30, N, 116, 48, 46, W, type:landmark_region:US-CA_dim:5000, display=title Nature reserves in California California Department of Fish and Wildlife areas Protected areas of San Diego County, California