Cuyamaca (

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 ...

: ''‘Ekwiiyemak'') is a region of eastern

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 ...

. It lies east of the Capitan Grande Reservation in the western

Laguna Mountains The Laguna Mountains are a mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges in eastern San Diego County, California. The mountains run in a northwest/southeast alignment for approximately . The mountains have long been inhabited by the indigenous Kumey ...

, north of Descanso and south of Julian. Named for the 1845

Rancho Cuyamaca Rancho Cuyamaca was a Mexican land grant in the Cuyamaca Mountains and Laguna Mountains, in present-day San Diego County, California, United States. It was given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to Agustín Olvera. The grant extended south of pr ...

Mexican land grant In Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California, ranchos were concessions and land grants made by the Spanish and Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an indu ...

, the region is now dominated by the

Cuyamaca Rancho State Park Cuyamaca Rancho State Park is a state park in inland San Diego County, California, United States, located east of the metropolitan area of San Diego, California, San Diego. The park is situated near the southernmost reaches of the Cleveland Nat ...

. Within the park is the prominent

Cuyamaca Peak Cuyamaca Peak is a mountain peak of the Cuyamaca Mountains range in San Diego County, California. Geography At , its summit is the second-highest point in San Diego County. Cuyamaca Peak is located roughly from the Pacific Ocean, within Cuyam ...

, the second-highest mountain in San Diego County at . The modern community of Cuyamaca is on the north side of the lake. It consists of the Cuyamaca Woods, Cuyamaca Resort, and North Peak areas. The name is a Spanish corruption of the

phrase "'Ekwiiyemak", which means, according to

Margaret Langdon Margaret Langdon (c. 1926 in Louvain, Belgium – October 25, 2005) was a US linguist who studied and documented many languages of the American Southwest and California, including Kumeyaay, Northern Diegueño ( Ipai), and Luiseño. Academic car ...

's translation, "Behind the clouds". It has also been translated as "the place where it rains", a reference to the region's higher average precipitation than San Diego County's low coastal areas. Cuyamaca is a popular

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

lending its name to streets, businesses and a

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

in the

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 ...

area.

History

During the Julian Gold Rush, a quartz gold mine; the Stonewall Mine, was found on the south side of what is now

Lake Cuyamaca Lake Cuyamaca, also called Cuyamaca Reservoir, is a reservoir, nature park and recreation area in the eastern Cuyamaca Mountains. It covers in East County, San Diego. Geography California State Route 79 wraps around three shores, and provides acc ...

. First a mining camp called Stonewall (1873–1876), then the mining company town of Stratton (1887–1888), renamed Cuyamaca City (1888–1906), at its peak had a population of 500 and served the Stonewall Mine. In 1906, the post office was closed and service moved to Descanso. The town was abandoned after mining operations ceased, and few traces of it exist. The site of the town now lies within

at . The modern community of Cuyamaca later developed on the north side of the lake. Before the

Cedar Fire The Cedar Fire was a massive, highly-destructive wildfire, which burned of land in San Diego County, California, during October and November 2003. The fire's rapid growth was driven by the Santa Ana winds, causing the fire to spread at a rat ...

of 2003, the community of Cuyamaca consisted of approximately 145 homes on a mountain (North Peak) north of the reservoir.

Cedar Fire

In October 2003, most of the Cuyamaca region was consumed by the

. Nearly in the state park and 120 homes in the community of Cuyamaca were incinerated. The fire also destroyed the Lakeland Resort,

Camp Fire A campfire is a fire at a campsite. Campfire or Camp Fire may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Campfire'' (James Blundell album) (2017) * ''Campfire'' (Kasey Chambers album) (2018) * ''Campfire'' (Rend Collective album) (2012) * "Camp ...

's Camp Wolahi and the former San Diego-Imperial Council, BSA's Camp Hual-Cu-Cuish .https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2003/10/31/julian-survives-cedar-fire-38-percent-contained-officials-say/ The historic Dyer Ranch house in the center of the state park, which functioned as a museum and the park headquarters, was also destroyed."California wildfires burn through 600,000 acres", CNN, October 29, 2003, retrieved August 30, 2007

Climate

References

External links

Photo of Lake CuyamacaCuyamaca Water DistrictNorth Peak Property Owner’s AssociationNorth Peak Mutual Water Company
{{authority control Geography of San Diego County, California East County (San Diego County) Ghost towns in California History of San Diego Kumeyaay Former settlements in San Diego County, California Populated places established in 1887