San Dieguito River Park
Visitor/Interpretive Centers

The San Dieguito River Park is very large - 55 miles long as the crow flies, with a planning boundary that covers 94,000 acres. To tell the story of the natural and cultural resources of the San Dieguito River Valley, three visitor/interpretive centers are planned for the San Dieguito River Park.

The three proposed visitor/interpretive centers are:

Western Gateway: San Dieguito Lagoon Center. Concept Designs have been approved by the JPA Board, and a site south of Via de la Valle and east of San Andres has been selected. Funding is being sought. For more information, click here.

Central Gateway: Pioneer Farming History Center in San Pasqual Valley. Students at the New School of Architecture prepared conceptual drawings for a site adjacent to the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmhouse. This material will be uploaded in the future.

Eastern Gateway: Backcountry Interpretive Center at Santa Ysabel. A site has been selected on the east side of Hwy 79 in Santa Ysabel, north of the post office. The County of San Diego Parks Department will take the lead on this project, pending identification of funding.

NEW INFO: The Santa Ysabel General Store, a historic 1884 building, was purchased by Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) in December 2011, and will be partially shared/leased with other non-profit groups such as the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy, San Diego River Park Foundation, Volcan Mountain Foundation and Wildlife Research Institute in order to introduce these groups to the public and offer interpretation of the back country's natural and cultural resources.


Above: The General Store as it looked in 2011. Below: As it looked in 1905.

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