San Pasqual Valley, historically spelt as San Pascual (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for " Saint Paschal"), is the northernmost community of the city of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. It is named for the

Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...

village of San Pasqual that was once located there. It is bordered on the north by the city of Escondido, on the east and west by unincorporated land within

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

, and on the south by the city of

Poway Poway () is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. The unincorporated community became a city on December 1, 1980. Poway's rural roots influenced its motto "The City in the Country". The city has a population of 49,701 as of 2 ...

and the community of

Rancho Bernardo Rancho Bernardo is a master-planned community in the northern hills of the city of San Diego, California. Geography The topography of Rancho Bernardo consists of canyons and rolling hills that have large bedrock outcroppings. The major floral bio ...

. San Pasqual Valley is home to the

San Diego Zoo Safari Park The San Diego Zoo Safari Park, originally named the San Diego Wild Animal Park until 2010, is an 1,800 acre (730 ha) zoo in the San Pasqual Valley area of San Diego, California, near Escondido. It is one of the largest tourist attractions in S ...

. State Highway 78 runs through the valley between Escondido and

Ramona ''Ramona'' is a 1884 American novel written by Helen Hunt Jackson. Set in Southern California after the Mexican–American War, it portrays the life of a mixed-race Scottish– Native American orphan girl, who suffers racial discrimination and ...

. The valley is part of the Santa Ysabel Creek watershed, which drains into the

San Dieguito River The San Dieguito River is a major river in Southern California, United States. Its headwaters rise on the southern slope of the Volcan Mountains in San Diego County and the river flows generally southwest for ,U.S. Geological Survey. National H ...

History

pre-Hispanic In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

times the Kumeyaay had lived for centuries in the San Pasqual Valley. Following the closing of the missions by the Mexican government in 1833, the Kumeyaay moved back to the San Pasqual Valley and the Kumeyaay pueblo of San Pasqual was established on November 16, 1835. The pueblo defended itself from

Quechan The Quechan (or Yuma) ( Quechan: ''Kwatsáan'' 'those who descended') are a Native American tribe who live on the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California just north of the Mexican border. Despite t ...

(or Yuman) incursions in the mid 1800s. The wagon road from

Warner's Ranch Warner's Ranch, near Warner Springs, California, was notable as a way station for large numbers of emigrants on the Southern Emigrant Trail from 1849 to 1861, as it was a stop on both the Gila River Trail and the Butterfield Overland Mail stag ...

to San Diego passed through San Pasqual Valley on its way between Santa Ysabel Asistencia and

Rancho Santa Maria de Los Peñasquitos Rancho Santa Maria de Los Peñasquitos was a Mexican land grant in present-day southwestern San Diego County, California given in 1823 to Francisco María Ruiz. The name means "Saint Mary of the Little Cliffs". It encompassed the present-day c ...

. In 1846, during the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...

, this road led to the

Battle of San Pasqual The Battle of San Pasqual, also spelled San Pascual, was a military encounter that occurred during the Mexican–American War in what is now the San Pasqual Valley community of the city of San Diego, California. The series of military skirmishes ...

being fought in the valley near the site of the Kumeyaay village of San Pasqual. On December 6 and December 7, 1846, the

Californios Californio (plural Californios) is a term used to designate a Hispanic Californian, especially those descended from Spanish and Mexican settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries. California's Spanish-speaking community has resided there sinc ...

, led by General Don Andrés Pico, fought

Stephen W. Kearny Stephen Watts Kearny (sometimes spelled Kearney) ( ) (August 30, 1794October 31, 1848) was one of the foremost antebellum frontier officers of the United States Army. He is remembered for his significant contributions in the Mexican–American Wa ...

's column of 140 U.S. Army troops as they descended from the

Santa Maria Valley The Santa Maria Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) which straddles the boundary of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties in California's multi-county Central Coast AVA. It was established on August 5, 1981, by the Alcohol an ...

into the valley near San Pasqual on their way from Warner's Ranch to San Diego. Subsequently, it was the road into San Diego County from the

Southern Emigrant Trail :''The Southern Emigrant Trail should not be confused with the Applegate Trail, which is part of the Northern Emigrant Trails.'' Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as the Gila Trail, the Kearny Trail, Southern Trail and the Butterfield Stage ...

. From 1857 to 1860 this same wagon road was part of the 125-mile stagecoach road for the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line between

Carrizo Creek Station Carrizo Creek Station, a former stage station of the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line and Butterfield Overland Mail, located in Imperial County, California just east of the San Diego County line. It lies within the boundaries of the Anza-Borrego De ...

and San Diego. San Pasqual village was a way station on that road 28 miles from Santa Ysabel and 16 miles from

. The Kumeyaay of San Pasqual were evicted from their land and homes in 1878 by San Diego County authorities. They have become known as the

San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians The San Pasqual Band of Diegueño Mission Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay people, In 1972, the

opened as the San Diego Wild animal park.

Climate

The San Pasqual Valley has a borderline

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

: ''Bsh'') and

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

( ''Csa'') with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. The

diurnal temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag is an important factor in diurnal temperature variation: peak da ...

is large throughout the year, with every month having an average diurnal temperature range of around . Winter nights in the San Pasqual Valley are much colder than elsewhere in San Diego, with the lowest temperatures being well below freezing most winters.

Places of interest

Much of the valley is part of the San Pasqual Valley Agricultural Preserve, and home to

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family ( Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for ...

, and

dairy farms A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a ...

. It includes the San Pasqual Valley AVA, an area designated an

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know about t ...

by the US

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and preve ...

. The valley experiences very hot days and ocean-cooled nights. The

, formerly named the San Diego Wild Animal Park, occupies in the valley. The San Pasqual and Clevenger Canyon Open Space Park is located at the eastern end of the valley. San Pasqual Academy, a first-in-the-nation residential education campus designed specifically for foster youth, serves as a placement option for dependents of the Juvenile Court, 12–17 years old, and Non-Minor Dependents (NMDs) up to age 19 years old. The residential area located in the mountains that border the valley, near the agricultural preserve, is officially named Rancho San Pasqual. Locals often refer to it as "Eagle Crest", the name of the 18-hole golf course that surrounds the neighborhood.

References

External links

Wine InstituteSan Pasqual and Clevenger Canyon Open Space ParkSan Pasqual Valley Open Space Conservation PlanThe history of the San Pasqual Trussells
{{Authority control Neighborhoods in San Diego Valleys of San Diego County, California San Antonio–San Diego Mail Line Stagecoach stops in the United States