The Mountain Empire is a

rural area In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

in southeastern

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...

. The Mountain Empire subregion consists of the backcountry communities in southeastern San Diego County. The area is also sometimes considered part of the East County region of San Diego County.

Geography

The Mountain Empire occupies the largely hilly, rugged terrain of the Laguna Mountains and foothills between Interstate 8 and the

Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...

east of Otay Mountain and west of Imperial County. Communities located just north of Interstate 8, such as Descanso, Guatay and Pine Valley, are generally included within the region, while those further north, such as Julian, are not. The

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

has its southern terminus on the Mexican border near Campo. Portions of the Mountain Empire are located in the Descanso Ranger District of the

Cleveland National Forest Cleveland National Forest is a National forest (United States), U.S. national forest in Southern California that encompasses 460,000 acres/ of inland Montane ecosystems, montane regions. It is approximately 60 miles from the Pacific Ocean, withi ...

California State Route 94 State Route 94 (SR 94) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that is long. The western portion, known as the Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway, begins at Interstate 5 (California), Interstate 5 (I-5) in downtown San Diego and co ...

and Interstate 8 are the primary highways through the region. Historic U.S. Route 80 also passes through the Mountain Empire, as does the now disused

San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway The San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway is a short-line American railroad founded in 1932 as the successor to the San Diego and Arizona Railway (SD&A), which was founded in 1906 by entrepreneur John D. Spreckels. Dubbed "The Impossible Railr ...

. Natural features in the region include Mount Laguna at in elevation, eastern Barrett Lake reservoir, Campo Creek,

Carrizo Gorge Carrizo Gorge is a gorge in the Jacumba Mountains in San Diego County, California. Its mouth is at an elevation of , where it widens out to become Carrizo Canyon, northeast of Palm Grove. Its head is located in the Jacumba Mountains, north of Ro ...

, Cottonwood Creek, Miller Creek, and Pine Valley Creek.

Communities

Census-designated places

Populations are as of the 2020 census: * Campo - 2,955 * Pine Valley - 1,645 * Descanso - 1,499 * Potrero - 648 * Jacumba Hot Springs - 540 *

Boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway or wide road in a commercial district. In Europe, boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former ...

- 359 * Mount Laguna - 74

Other unincorporated communities

* Bankhead Springs * Boulder Oaks * Buckman Springs * Dulzura * Guatay * Manzanita *

Tecate Tecate () is a city in Tecate Municipality, Baja California. It is across the Mexico–United States border, Mexico–US border from Tecate, California. As of 2019, the city had a population of 108,860 inhabitants, while the metropolitan area ha ...

* Tierra del Sol

Indian reservations

Federally recognized tribes and bands of the

Kumeyaay people 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 ...

have

Indian reservation An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

s with communities in the Mountain Empire region and southern Laguna Mountains. They include (populations as of 2020 census): *

Campo Indian Reservation The Campo Indian Reservation is home to the Campo Band of Diegueño Mission Indians, also known as the Campo Kumeyaay Nation, a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay people in the southern Laguna Mountains, in eastern San Diego County, Califo ...

- 398 * Manzanita Band of Diegueño Mission Indians - 101 * La Posta Band of Diegueño Mission Indians - 50 * Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians - 5 The San Diego County Sheriff's Office provides patrol and law enforcement services to the Mountain Empire region.

Education

The region is served by the Mountain Empire Unified School District, which consists of six elementary schools and Mountain Empire High School. The Mountain Empire Unified School District is geographically the largest school district in California, occupying over .Aryan, Hala Ali
"Mountain Empire district has 5 running for 2 seats"
San Diego Union-Tribune. 21 October 2004.

Media

The Mountain Empire is served by countywide publications such as the ''

San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'' and the ''

San Diego Reader The ''San Diego Reader'' is an alternative press newspaper in San Diego County, California. Published weekly since October 1972, the ''Reader'' is distributed free on Wednesday and Thursday via street boxes and cooperating retail outlets. Hi ...

''. Regionally, it is served by ''East County Magazine''.

References

External links

Mountain Empire Subregional PlanBack Country Messenger websiteEast County Magazine website
{{California * . Cuyamaca Mountains Laguna Mountains