Enjoying the View from Palomar Mountain in San Diego

Photo #1: The view from Palomar Mountain overlooking the Pauma Valley at sunset, San Diego County, California
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Enjoying the View from Palomar Mountain in San Diego

For better or worse, I was very good at not traveling during the height of the pandemic. That changed this spring when I drove my mom down to visit my sister and her kids in San Diego. During that week, I made a couple of overnight trips to do some photography. The first place I opted to check out was the view from Palomar Mountain in northern San Diego County. An astronomy buff since childhood, Palomar has always been a familiar name. At the time, its 200-inch reflecting telescope was famous for being the largest on the planet. Sadly, I didn’t get to visit the Palomar Observatory since it was closed to visitors because of the pandemic.

I was excited to get some asphalt under my tires; this was my first solo photo excursion in over a year. The first thing I did was conduct some preliminary research on the area. I stumbled across a dirt road that ascended to Palomar Mountain State Park. Known as the Nate Harrison Grade, this road gently rises past a few orchards in the Pauma Valley. Before long, asphalt gives way to a narrow dirt road that climbs quickly into the chaparral and scrub habitat. You’ll definitely find a few spots to pull over and enjoy the view over the valley. I found the (dry) road incredibly easy for my Toyota 4-Runner to handle. However, a lot of online research warns of mud and ruts near the top of the road. Smaller cars and non-4WD/AWD might have trouble navigating these, plus the road may be impassable during storms.

After that, I snaked my way up for a few more miles along the southwest-facing slopes and ridgelines. The road then begins to enter mixed oak and pine forest, so views become more obscured. Eventually, the road tops out and returns to asphalt at the terminus intersection of S7/State Park Road.

#2: Overlooking Pauma Valley & the Nate Harrison Grade dirt road , San Diego County, California
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#3: Overlooking the chaparral scrub habitat on the lower elevations of Palomar Mountain, San Diego County, California
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#4: Mountain Bluebird on a bush at Palomar Mountain, San Diego County, California
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Where is the Best View from Palomar Mountain?

A short uphill hike to the Boucher Hill Fire Lookout will offer the best view from Palomar Mountain looking west toward the coast. However, I was unable to hike at the time, so I decided to spend a few hours scouting out roadside vistas. For instance. I drove to the Palomar Observatory entrance gate by heading north on S6/South Grade Road. Unfortunately, there are no grand vistas here. However, near the observatory gate, you can get a decent view of the Fry Creek basin. There’s also a place on listed Google Maps simply called, The Lookout. It’s an unmarked pullout with a southwest view. Keep your eyes peeled for a microwave antenna dish on the side of the road which marks the turnout.

Similarly, heading down the S7/East Grade Road, there are several large pullouts with great views to the south/southwest. You’ll see the Pauma Valley and numerous distant peaks of the Peninsular Range. Since this is one of the main routes up to Palomar Mountain, most visitors will see these turnouts first. I came up from the road less traveled.  🙂

In addition, I also checked out the views further down East Grade Road. However, it wasn’t more than a few miles downhill before all of the best views were behind me. After that, continuing down toward  Highway 76 at Henshaw Lake, you’ll get a nice view overlooking bucolic ranchlands.

My Short Time on Palomar Mountain

On this particular day, there was a strong temperature inversion that was keeping a lot of atmospheric haze trapped in the lower elevations. The haze did obscure the view; however, I knew it would make for some interesting photographic conditions. For instance, most non-photographers think wind-scoured super-clear air offers the views. This is correct as far as distance vision goes, but those conditions result in rather colorless sunrises and sunsets. Conversely, a bit of dust and haze in the atmosphere helps to scatter and intensify the warm colors during sunset.

#5: View from Palomar Mountain overlooking the Pauma Valley at sunset, San Diego County, California
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#6: Atmospheric haze layer trapped by a temperature inversion seen from Palomar Mountain, San Diego County, California
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#7: Panorama view from Palomar Mountain at sunset, San Diego County, California
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If you’re planning on spending the night on Palomar Mountain, there are several State Park and Forest Service campgrounds, along with other local private lodges. It will likely be crowded during peak times of the year.

On my visit, I stayed at the Fry Creek NFS Campground. The night was crystal-clear with starry skies peeking through the tree canopy at my campsite. I fell asleep thinking about what it would be like to be an astronomer working at the observatory that night.

Since there were no grand vistas to the east/northeast near the top of the road, I planned to drive back to the Lake Henshaw Overlook for sunrise. However, that didn’t happen. After driving out of the campground before dawn under cloudless skies, I arrived at the first overlook greeted by an immense sea of clouds just below me.

I’m not too familiar with the San Diego climate; there were no storms forecast and just typical coastal fog in the mornings and evenings. For that reason, I assumed this must be fog. However, I was at just over 5,000′ elevation and the top of the clouds layer was only a few hundred feet below me and rising slowly. Therefore, there would be no great panoramic or dramatic view from Palomar Mountain on this morning.

#8: Dead trees and fog on Palomar Mountain, San Diego County, California
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#9: Dead trees in fog on Palomar Mountain, San Diego County, California
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#10: Dead trees, fog, and ridgelines at sunrise on Palomar Mountain, San Diego County, California
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#11: Gray Fox sitting next to chaparral scrub brush on Palomar Mountain, San Diego County, California
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#12: End of a White Rainbow (a.k.a. fogbow) on Palomar Mountain, San Diego County, California
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#13: Sunbeams in morning fog cloud layer moving up the slopes of Palomar Mountain at sunrise, San Diego County, California
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Above all, we shoot what we can, when we can. Therefore, I spent my time happily dancing along the edge of the clouds. It’s exactly these types of conditions — being on the edge of clearing fog, mist, or clouds — that is one of my favorite times to photograph. Everything seems to become so much more ethereal and intimate when photographing these edges of atmosphere, light, and subject.

After that, I headed back down into the clouds where I discovered this wasn’t fog. As evidenced by the raindrops falling on my windshield, a real live weather system had veered into the area. Just my luck… 🙂

In conclusion, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to look through these images. As always, I’d love to hear any of your thoughts, comments, or if you have a favorite image or two.

Cheers,

~ Gary.

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Gary Crabbe is an award-winning commercial and editorial outdoor travel photographer and author based out of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. He has seven published books on California to his credit, including “Photographing California; v1-North”, which won the prestigious 2013 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Medal Award as Best Regional title. His client and publication credits include the National Geographic Society, the New York Times, Forbes Magazine, TIME, The North Face, Subaru, L.L. Bean, Victoria’s Secret, Sunset Magazine, The Nature Conservancy, and many more. In 2018, The USPS selected a nearly-unprecedented seven of Gary’s photographs to become U.S. Postage ‘Forever’ Stamps as part of the O Beautiful collection. Gary is also a photography instructor and consultant, offering both public and private photo workshops, as well as being a professional Photo Editor and Content Creator.

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