North County is a region in the northern area of San Diego County, California. It is the second-most populous region in the county, with an estimated population of 869,322. North County is well known for its affluence, especially in Encinitas, Carlsbad, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, and Solana Beach, where house prices range, on average, above $1,000,000. Cities along the 78 freeway have more mixed incomes.
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is 2,000 acres (810 ha) of coastal state park located in the community of La Jolla, in San Diego, California, off North Torrey Pines Road. Although it is located within San Diego city limits, it remains one of the wildest stretches of land (8 km²) on the Southern California coast. It is bordered immediately on the south by Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course and on the north by the city of Del Mar. The reserve was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1977.
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving mainly forest and riparian areas in the watershed of the San Lorenzo River, including a grove of old-growth coast redwood. It is located in Santa Cruz County, primarily in the area between the cities of Santa Cruz and Scotts Valley, near the community of Felton and the University of California at Santa Cruz. The park includes a non-contiguous extension in the Fall Creek area north of Felton. The 4,623-acre (1,871 ha) park was established in 1953.
Topanga State Park is a California state park located in the Santa Monica Mountains, within Los Angeles County, California. It is part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
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 within the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.
Black Mountain Open Space Park is a city park located in the suburbs of San Diego, California.
Rancho Bernardo is a master-planned community in the northern hills of the city of San Diego, California.
The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument is a National Monument in southern California. It includes portions of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto mountain ranges, the northernmost ones of the Peninsular Ranges system. The national monument covers portions of Riverside County, west of the Coachella Valley, approximately 100 miles (160 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Rancho Santa Maria de Los Peñasquitos was a 8,486-acre (34.34 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day southwestern San Diego County, California given in 1823 to Francisco María Ruiz. The name means "Saint Mary of the Little Cliffs". It encompassed the present-day communities of Mira Mesa, Carmel Valley, and Rancho Peñasquitos in northern San Diego city, and was inland from the Torrey Pines State Natural Preserve bluffs.
Dudleya viscida is a rare succulent plant known by common name as the sticky liveforever, sticky dudleya or the San Juan stylophyllum. It is endemic to California, where it is found on rocky slopes. It is unique among the genus Dudleya in that it has sticky, fragrant leaves, a trait only shared with Dudleya anomala.
Olivenhain is a neighborhood in the city of Encinitas, California, located in the North County area of San Diego County. It is the easternmost community of Encinitas, bordering the western portion of Rancho Santa Fe.
The Elfin Forest Natural Area is a nature preserve protecting a unique plant community in Los Osos-Baywood Park, San Luis Obispo County, central California. It consists of prehistoric sand dunes, rising 150 feet (46 m) above southern Morro Bay, on the north of Los Osos-Baywood Park.
Lake Hodges is a lake and reservoir located within the city limits of San Diego, California. It is about 31 miles (50 km) north of Downtown San Diego, just north of the Rancho Bernardo community, and just south of the city's border with Escondido. When full, the reservoir has 1,234 acres (4.99 km2), a maximum water depth of 115 feet (35 m), and 27 miles (43 km) of shoreline. Lake Hodges has a total capacity of 30,251 acre-feet of water. Lake Hodges is owned by the city of San Diego, supplies water to the San Dieguito Water District and Santa Fe Irrigation District, and its mailing city address is Escondido.
San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve is one of the largest remaining coastal wetlands in San Diego County, California, United States.
San Diego National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in California. It is part of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
The California Chaparral Institute is a non-profit organization for the research and conservation of chaparral habitats in California. It is based in Escondido, Southern California.
There are 34 routes assigned to the "S" zone of the California Route Marker Program, which designates county routes in California. The "S" zone includes county highways in Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Barbara counties.
The Olivenhain Dam is a gravity dam near Escondido, California. The dam was constructed between 1998 and 2003 as part of San Diego's Emergency Storage Project with the primary purpose of water supply for municipal use. It does not sit on a river or stream but is supplied with water by a system of pumps and pipes. The dam is connected to Lake Hodges and the Second San Diego Aqueduct. It is constructed of roller-compacted concrete and is the first of its type in California.
