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Cowles Mountain (/koʊlz/, aʊlz properly ''KOHLZ'', commonly ''KOWLZ'') is a prominent
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...
located in the San Carlos neighborhood, within the city limits 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 State ...
. The summit is the highest point of the city of San Diego. It is protected within Mission Trails Regional Park.


History

The mountain is named after George A. Cowles, a rancher and businessperson in southwestern
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 ...
during the 1870s and 1880s.


San Diego State University

For many years Cowles Mountain was locally known as "S" Mountain. In 1931, 500 students from San Diego State College, now San Diego State University (SDSU), painted a letter "S" on the side of the mountain, after which it took on its popular name. In April 1942, during World War II, the local military ordered the S covered up for the sake of national security. After the war the painting tradition was resurrected. In the 1970s, the annual repainting tradition was ceased for environmental and
habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
protection, but had a brief resurgence in the late 1980s. The "S" has not been repainted for nearly three decades.


Mission Trails Regional Park

The entire mountain, with marked trails, is a protected area within Mission Trails Regional Park, which opened in 1972.


Trails

The main trail to the summit is a popular hiking destination taking hundreds of people per day to a 360-degree panorama of San Diego County. The hike to the top is long and an elevation change of about . This trail is on the corner of Golfcrest Drive and Navajo Road. A much-less-used but maintained trail begins near the intersection of Boulder Lake Avenue and Barker way. This trail meets the main trail near the summit. On March 25, 2013 the trails of Cowles were closed for maintenance. The trails were reopened in May 2013 after several improvements to water drainage and rock steps.


Geology

Cowles Mountain consists of Jurassic and early Cretaceous metavolcanic and shallow intrusive
igneous Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ''ignis'' meaning fire), or magmatic rock, is one of the three main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or ...
rocks that are resistant to erosion, and never covered by later
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...
and
Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
sedimentary overburden. Small plateaus on the south and east slopes are the remnants of an extensive terrestrial, near sea level erosional surface called the Poway Terrace that are now about in elevation. A prominent former seacliff on the west side rises above a now-dry wave-cut terrace, now mostly covered with suburban developments, at about in elevation.


References


External links

{{Commons category, Cowles Mountain, position=left Mountains of San Diego County, California Parks in San Diego San Diego State University Mountains of Southern California