Black Mountain Open Space Park is a city park in the suburbs of

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California.

Description

The park covers in the Black Mountain Ranch and

Rancho Peñasquitos Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...

area of northern San Diego. The park offers numerous trails for hiking and biking, and boasts a variety of native animal and plant species.

Plant species

Native plant species preserved in Black Mountain Open Space Park include both

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

and

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 ...

. Native to the east and north sides of the mountain, the chaparral community includes

manzanita Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus '' Arctostaphylos''. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from Southern British Columbia and Washington to O ...

, laurel sumac, lemonade berry, coffee berry, chamise,

toyon ''Heteromeles arbutifolia'' (, more commonly by Californian botanists), commonly known as toyon, is a perennial shrub native to Coastal California. It is the sole species in the genus ''Heteromeles''. Description Toyon typically grows from , r ...

, and California lilac. The coastal sage scrub, native to the south and west faces of the mountain, include Californian white sage and Californian black sage, California sagebrush,

California buckwheat ''Eriogonum fasciculatum'' is a species of wild buckwheat known by the common names California buckwheat and flat-topped buckwheat. Characterized by small, white and pink flower clusters that give off a cottony effect, this species grows vari ...

, and California sunflower.

Animal species

The Black Mountain Open Space Park is home to a wide variety of animal species. Mammals include

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...

, desert woodrat, and Pacific kangaroo rat, and many others. Among the more than 80 birds species that can be found in the park, rare birds like the California gnatcatcher, rufous-crowned sparrow, and

northern harrier The northern harrier (''Circus hudsonius''), also known as the marsh hawk or ring-tailed hawk, is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost United States, USA. The northern ...

reside in the area. Reptiles include the red diamond rattlesnake and amphibians include the Pacific chorus frog and slender salamander.

Black Mountain

Black Mountain is the central feature of Black Mountain Open Space Park, standing at 1,554 feet (474 m) tall. At its peak, Black Mountain is host to a handful of communication towers, including a retired AT&T microwave repeater tower and a Verizon wireless communication facility. Prior to European contact, the

Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the 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 Uni ...

lived on the mountain and referred to it as "Amat Kwanyil". The mountain is also an extinct volcano, having last erupted 118-125 million years ago. Black Mountain is a part of the Santiago Peak Volcanics, including

Cowles Mountain Cowles Mountain (/koʊlz/, /kaʊlz/ ; properly ''KOHLZ'', commonly ''KOWLZ'') is a prominent mountain in San Carlos, San Diego, California. The summit is the highest point of the city of San Diego. It is protected within Mission Trails Regional ...

, which are a group of volcanoes that originated as a chain of volcanic islands 150 million years ago.

Mine

Tucked away in the Black Mountain canyon is an abandoned arsenic mine, accessible via pathways branching off of the park's Miner's Ridge Loop trail. The mine was established in the 1920s by Escondido rancher, rodeo cowboy, and actor Frank Hopkins, due to the demand for white arsenic, a key ingredient in pesticides that attacked infesting

boll weevil The boll weevil (''Anthonomus grandis'') is a species of beetle in the family Curculionidae. The boll weevil feeds on cotton buds and flowers. Thought to be native to Central Mexico, it migrated into the United States from Mexico in the late 19 ...

s. As the boll weevil population shrank, the demand for white arsenic fell, causing the abandoning of the mine in 1927. According to a 1939 article, published in the Vista Press, Hopkins also used this mine to find

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. In 2016, the University of San Diego conducted soil sampling in the vicinity of the mine site. Some locations, including portions of the Miner's Ridge Loop trail revealed high levels of arsenic present. As of January 6, 2017 the San Diego City Attorney recommended closure of the lower sections of the trail pending further study. The Jas Arnold Trail for All People (located at the Miner's Ridge Loop parking lot), a handicapped accessible trail named in honor of the park's long serving Chair of the Citizen's Advisory Committee who passed in May 2016 remains open to the public. The Lilac Canyon Trail which connects this same parking lot to the Glider Port also remains open.

Hiking

The park is a popular hiking spot, offering numerous trails of varying length and difficulty. In June 2024, a hiker died on Black Mountain while hiking Nighthawk Trail.

Trails

*Lusardi Creek Loop Trail *East Rim Trail *Miner's Ridge Loop Trail **2.3 miles with 670 feet of climbing ** Accessible via Carmel Valley Rd. *Glider Point Trail *Nighthawk Trail ** Accessible via Hilltop Community Park *Little Black Loop Trail *South Point View Trail

References

External links

* * * * {{cite web , last=Pulver, first=Gary, title=Geology of Los Peñasquitos Canyon, Carmel Valley, and Black Mountain, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e7e5ee516dfff5fe6f11a33/t/5edd56f9f22fa321b4d3f4c1/1591564029625/FriendsPQ_Web_Geology.pdf, publisher=Friends of los Peñasquitos Canyon, date=June 2020 Parks in San Diego Municipal parks in California Urban public parks Regional parks in California