This article is written like a travel guide rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject.(February 2021) |
Lucerne Valley | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 34°26′38″N116°58′1″W / 34.44389°N 116.96694°W | |
Country | USA |
State | California |
County | San Bernardino |
Government | |
• Managed by | County of San Bernardino, 5th District |
Area | |
• Total | 105.590 sq mi (273.477 km2) |
• Land | 105.590 sq mi (273.477 km2) |
• Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) 0% |
Elevation | 2,953 ft (900 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 5,811 |
• Density | 55/sq mi (21/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
ZIP code | 92356 |
Area codes | 442/760 |
GNIS Feature IDs | 272271; 2627937 |
Website | lucernevalley |
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lucerne Valley, California; U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lucerne Valley, California |
Lucerne Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) and valley landform in the southern Mojave Desert, in western San Bernardino County, California. [3]
The geographic valley is defined by the surrounding Granite Mountains, Ord Mountains, and San Bernardino Mountains.
Lucerne Valley lies east of the Victor Valley, whose population nexus includes Victorville, Apple Valley, Adelanto and Hesperia. It is 19 miles (31 km) east of Apple Valley, and 20 miles (32 km) north of Big Bear Lake. Distant surrounding communities include Yucca Valley which lies 45 miles (72 km) east via State Route 247/Old Woman Springs Road, and Barstow, which is 26 miles (42 km) north via State Route 247/Barstow Road.
The transportation nexus of Lucerne Valley is where State Route 247 and State Route 18 are connected by Old Woman Springs and Barstow Roads. The two highways do not have a direct junction.
In San Bernardino County, Lucerne Valley's area is also identified as County Service Area (CSA) 29. While Lucerne Valley's "town limit" signs are within two miles of each other, the County Service Area Limits are much larger: in the west to Joshua Road (unpaved road east of Milpas Rd. on Hwy. 18), to the north at the 4,000 feet (1,200 m) height of Ord Mountain on Highway 247, to the south at the entrance to Cushenbury Canyon on Highway 18, and at Old Woman Springs Ranch as the eastern boundary. [4] On June 11, 2013, Lucerne Valley and Johnson Valley were merged under the same Municipal Advisory Council, which serves as an advisory reporting agency to the County of San Bernardino District Supervisor concerning the region. [5] On August 14, 2013, Johnson Valley was sworn into the same Municipal Advisory Council as Lucerne Valley. [6] CSA 29's borders, however, remain unchanged from the move.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 105.6 square miles (273.5 km2), all of it land.
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Lucerne Valley has a semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps. [7]
The 2010 United States Census [8] reported that Lucerne Valley had a population of 5,811. The population density was 55 persons per square mile (21.2/km2). The racial makeup of Lucerne Valley was 4,507 (77.6%) White (66.8% Non-Hispanic White), [9] 170 (2.9%) African American, 106 (1.8%) Native American, 90 (1.5%) Asian, 0 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 676 (11.6%) from other races, and 262 (4.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,447 persons (24.9%).
The census reported that 5,780 people (99.5% of the population) lived in households, 31 (0.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and zero (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 2,176 households, out of which 685 (31.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 954 (43.8%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 280 (12.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 157 (7.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 146 (6.7%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 14 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. Sole individuals occupied 632 households (29.0%) and 255 (11.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66. There were 1,391 families (63.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.28.
The population was spread out, with 1,424 people (24.5%) under the age of 18, 452 people (7.8%) aged 18 to 24, 1,214 people (20.9%) aged 25 to 44, 1,780 people (30.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 941 people (16.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 105.4 males.
There were 2,949 housing units at an average density of 27.9 per square mile (10.8/km2), of which 1,454 (66.8%) were owner-occupied, and 722 (33.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 9.0%. Three thousand eight hundred people (65.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,980 people (34.1%) lived in rental housing units.
According to the 2010 United States Census, Lucerne Valley had a median household income of $30,142, with 18.4% of the population living below the federal poverty line. [9]
The majority of Lucerne Valley's zoning consists of Rural Residential, Resource Conservation and Residential zones.
Industrial zoning is predominantly in the southern border of the community on the north-facing slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains. [10]
The commercial zoning corridor is primarily on State Route 18, with outlying businesses within a mile of the eastern half of the Old Woman Springs/Barstow Road junction. Commercial development is focused on mixed-use development, with storefronts facing the highway and a private residence on the same property behind the business on the same lot. Traditional retail construction has been restrained in the latter half of the 20th century to keep the rural character of the town intact, [10] but in September 2015 a Dollar General store [11] opened as the first franchise grocery retail to enter town limits.
All residential zones are classified as Rural, Single or Medium density. Most housing developments are tract-based and were completed prior to the 1990s. No further tract-based construction projects have been built in 20 years, with most new construction done individually on privately owned lots. [10] An attempt to construct a golf course and install utilities for residential/commercial zones called "Rancho Lucerne" [12] began grading north of the high school site before embezzlement charges filed against the financier caused the project to shut down in 2001, leaving the site abandoned and desert habitat destroyed. [13] [14]
The majority of projects planned for the town are to transfer local resources for statewide use. Projects include solar power plants (all state power plants are required to sell generated energy to CalISO as a common carrier arrangement) as well as water for both direct use by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) and wells used for cooling solar plants. In 2012, LADWP cancelled an attempt to install a two mile wide water and power corridor in the southern half of the town. [15]
Electricity service for the entire town is provided by Southern California Edison. Gas pipeline, water districts and trash service vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. A county landfill is present in the northeast on Camp Rock Rd.
Lucerne Valley Unified School District operates three school campuses run by Lucerne Valley Unified School District. [16] Lucerne Valley Elementary School, built in 1952, serves grades K–5. Lucerne Valley Middle School was built in 1986 and formerly served grades 6–8. Lucerne Valley High School was built in 1992 and serve grades 6–12 after merging the portables from the prior middle school site onto the campus in 1998. [17] The high school's first graduating class was in 1995. The school district office, community day school, and Mountain View High School have moved into the former Lucerne Valley Middle School site in the 2000s.
The Lucerne Valley Unified School District has had difficulty in recent years with financial issues, [18] [19] and lower than average test scores compared to San Bernardino County schools,. [20] [21] The school district reported a student population of fewer than 800 pupils as of September 2015. [22]
San Bernardino County requires cities and towns to be incorporated. As Lucerne Valley is an unincorporated community in the county, services and local government responsibilities in Lucerne Valley are operated by the state and county. [4] San Bernardino County operates a sheriff's substation and a full-time staffed county fire station in town limits for fire and ambulance service. The same fire station serves as the CSA 29 field office, which operates a parks and recreation department to maintain the town parks, county facilities including a community center, senior center, the county library, an ATSC TV translator tower, and a public cemetery. Cal Fire also has a separate fire station east of the town between Lucerne Valley and Johnson Valley.
California Highway Patrol provides traffic enforcement and investigation from the Victorville office. Local emergencies are dispatched from the Adelanto Sheriff Office.
Mitsubishi Cement operates the Cushenbury plant in Lucerne Valley. [23]
The dry lakes and mountainous terrain surrounding the town have been used in television, film, and photography, including movies such as Stagecoach (1939) and The Hills Have Eyes (1977). [24] On September 24–25, 2016, The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime shot an episode at Rabbit Dry Lake outside Lucerne Valley town limits. [25]
Parks in the Lucerne Valley include: [31]
San Bernardino County, officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181,654, making it the fifth-most populous county in California and the 14th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is San Bernardino.
Apple Valley is an incorporated town in the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County, in the U.S. state of California. Its population was 75,791 as of the 2020 United States Census. The town is east of and adjoining to the neighboring cities of Victorville and Hesperia, 35 miles (56 km) south of Barstow, and 49 miles (79 km) north of San Bernardino through the Cajon Pass. It was incorporated on November 14, 1988, and is one of the 22 incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in their names instead of "city".
Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. Located in the Inland Empire region of California, the population was 25,415 at the 2020 census. Barstow is an important crossroads for the Inland Empire and home to Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow.
Hesperia is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is located 35 miles (56 km) north of downtown San Bernardino in Victor Valley and surrounded by the Mojave Desert. Because of its relatively high elevation and the unique and moderate weather patterns of the region, Hesperia is part of what is locally called the High Desert. The name "Hesperia" means "western land". The 2019 census report estimates that the city has a population of 95,750.
Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810.
Yucca Valley is an incorporated town in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 20,700 as of the 2010 census. Yucca Valley lies 20 miles (32 km) north of Palm Springs, and 103 miles (166 km) east of Los Angeles. Bordered to the south by the Joshua Tree National Park and to the west by the San Bernardino Mountains, the town of Yucca Valley is located in the Mojave Desert at roughly 3,300 feet (1,000 m) above sea level.
The Mojave River is an intermittent river in the eastern San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Most of its flow is underground, while its surface channels remain dry most of the time, except for the headwaters and several bedrock gorges in the lower reaches.
State Route 247 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. The road passes through the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, connecting SR 62 in Yucca Valley to Interstate 15 (I-15) in Barstow. SR 247 was designated by the California State Legislature in 1969; the county roads along that route were given to the state in 1972.
Bagdad is a ghost town in the Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California.
Yermo is an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California. It is 13 miles (21 km) east of Barstow on Interstate 15, just south of the Calico Mountains. Its population was an estimated 1,750 in 2009.
Oro Grande is an unincorporated community in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County, California, United States. It lies on the city boundary of Victorville and Adelanto. It is at 3,000 feet (910 m) elevation in Victor Valley north of the San Bernardino mountain range. It is located on old Route 66 near Interstate 15 between Victorville and Barstow. The ZIP code is 92368 and the community is inside area codes 442 and 760. Less than 1,000 residents live in the unincorporated area.
Newberry Springs is an unincorporated community in the western Mojave Desert of Southern California, located at the foot of the Newberry Mountains in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Newberry Spring is a spring that in the 19th century supplied water to the local Santa Fe Railway and originally was a camping place. The population at the 2000 census was 2,895.
Helendale or Silver Lakes is an unincorporated community and census-designated place located in the Victor Valley of the Mojave Desert, within San Bernardino County, California.
Johnson Valley is a small unincorporated community in San Bernardino County in Southern California between Victor Valley and Morongo Basin areas of the High Desert region of California. It is north of Highway 247 in the Mojave Desert, and north by northwest of Yucca Valley. It is bordered by the San Bernardino Mountains to the south, Lucerne Valley to the west, and Landers to the east.
The Mojave Road, also known as Old Government Road, is a historic route and present day dirt road across what is now the Mojave National Preserve in the Mojave Desert in the United States. This rough road stretched 147 miles (237 km) from Beale's Crossing, to Fork of the Road location along the north bank of the Mojave River where the old Mojave Road split off from the route of the Old Spanish Trail/Mormon Road.
High Desert is a vernacular region with non-discrete boundaries covering areas of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California. The region encompasses various terrain with elevations generally between 2,000 and 4,000 ft above sea level, and is located just north of the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and Little San Bernardino Mountains.
Chimney Rock was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.737) on June 6, 1960. It is located near Lucerne Valley, California in the mountains north of the Rabbit Springs Dry Lake and California State Route 18 near the Rabbit Springs Road junction. It is the site of the last battle between immigrant settlers and a Native American tribe in the Mojave Desert. Conflicts between Indians and white settlers over the rich lands of the San Bernardino Mountains ended in the battle at Chimney Rock on February 16, 1867. The Indians defended themselves against the settlers, but in the end retreated into the desert. An historical marker is beside Highway 18, next to the welcome sign on the town's western border.