Palomar Mountain

Palomar Mountain
Palomar Mountain

View of the Palomar Observatory located near the High Point summit of the Palomar Mountain range.
Elevation 6,142 ft (1,872 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence 2,856 ft (871 m) [2]
Location
Location San Diego County, California
Range Peninsular Ranges
Coordinates 33°21′49″N 116°50′11″W / 33.363483514°N 116.836394236°W / 33.363483514; -116.836394236Coordinates: 33°21′49″N 116°50′11″W / 33.363483514°N 116.836394236°W / 33.363483514; -116.836394236[1]
Topo map USGS Palomar Observatory
Climbing
Easiest route Road

Palomar Mountain is a mountain in the Peninsular Ranges in northern San Diego County. It is famous as the location of the Palomar Observatory and Hale Telescope, and known for the Palomar Mountain State Park.

Contents

History

The Spanish name "Palomar", in English meaning "pigeon roost," comes from Spanish colonial era in Alta California when Palomar Mountain was known as the home of Band-tailed Pigeons.[3]

During the 1890s, the human population was sufficient to support three public schools, and it was a popular summer resort for Southern California, with three hotels in operation part of the time, and a tent city in Doane Valley each summer.

Palomar Observatory

Palomar Mountain is most famous as being home since 1936 to the Palomar Observatory, and the giant Hale Telescope. The 200-inch telescope was the world's largest and most important telescope from 1949 until 1992. The observatory currently consists of three large telescopes.

Palomar Mountain State Park

Palomar Mountain is the location of Palomar Mountain State Park, a California State Park. There are campgrounds for vacationers, as well as a campground for local school children. The park averages 70,000 visitors annually. The campgrounds in the park were closed on October 2, 2011, due to the state budget cuts, and there are no plans to reopen them in the foreseeable future.[4] The park itself is one of 70 California State Parks scheduled to close due to budget cuts, and it is expected to be closed permanently in July 2012 to achieve part of the $11 million dollar budget reduction for the 2011/2012 fiscal year.[5][6]

High Point in the Palomar Mountain range is one of the highest peaks in San Diego County, at 6,140 feet (1,871 m), although it is still dwarfed by the higher 11,500 feet (3,505 m) San Bernardino Mountains a relatively short distance north in San Bernardino County and Riverside County and the 14,500 feet (4,420 m) high Mount Whitney some 250 mi (402 km) further north. It is located roughly two miles east of the observatory and it is accessible via a dirt road.

At the base of Palomar Mountain on S6 is Oak Knoll Campground, formerly known as Palomar Gardens. Palomar Gardens was made somewhat famous by an earlier resident George Adamski. Adamski had an observatory at Palomar Gardens and photographed objects in the night sky that he claimed were UFOs. Adamski co-authored Flying Saucers Have Landed in 1953,[7] about his alien encounter experiences. The 1977 film The Crater Lake Monster had many scenes filmed on Palomar Mountain, including scenes shot at the summit restaurant, but not the scenes of the monster in a lake.[8]

Doane Valley, located within the State Park, is home to the Camp Palomar Outdoor School for 6th grade students in the San Diego Unified School District.[9]

Access

South Grade Road, the stretch of San Diego County Route S6 going from State Route 76 to the summit, is popular among motorcycle riders and sports car drivers due to its challenging nature [10] (over 20 hairpin turns over the distance of less than 7 mi (11 km)). According to fire department records, there have been 26 reported motorcycle injury accidents on the mountain in 2005. In 2004, the figure was 23. In 2003 there were 26.[10] The Luiseno Indian name for Palomar Mountain was "Paauw" and High Point was called "Wikyo."[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Palomar". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=DX5064. Retrieved 2009-08-03. 
  2. ^ "Palomar Mountain, California". Peakbagger.com. http://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=1452. Retrieved 2009-08-07. 
  3. ^ Wood, Catherine M. (1937). Palomar from teepee to telescope. San Diego: Frye & Smith. http://www.peterbrueggeman.com/palomarhistory/wood.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-31. 
  4. ^ "Palomar Mountain campgrounds close for good". http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/oct/03/palomar-mountain-state-campgrounds-close-good/. 
  5. ^ "Palomar Mountain State Park – chins up, powering on". http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/oct/15/palomar-mountain-state-park-chins-up-powering-on/. 
  6. ^ "California State Park Closures Announced". Roughin.It. http://roughin.it/2011/05/california-state-park-closures-announced/. Retrieved 25 May 2011. 
  7. ^ Leslie, Desmond; George Adamski (1953). Flying saucers have landed. New York: British Book Centre. ISBN 0854351809. 
  8. ^ "The Crater Lake Monster". Crown International Pictures. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075888/. Retrieved 2009-09-23. 
  9. ^ "Camp Palomar Outdoor School – Directions". San Diego Unified School District. http://www.sandi.net/204510112512039907/blank/browse.asp?A=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&C=56179. Retrieved 2009-08-07. 
  10. ^ a b J. Harry Jones (September 25, 2005). "Twists, turns, trouble". The San Diego Union-Tribune. http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20050925-9999-2m25moto.html. Retrieved 2010-01-28. 
  11. ^ Sparkman, Philip Stedman (1908). The Culture of the Luiseño Indians. Berkeley: University of California Press. http://www.peterbrueggeman.com/palomarhistory/sparkman_luiseno.pdf. Retrieved 2009-09-27. 

Sources

External links


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  • Palomar Mountain — [pal′ə mär΄] [Sp, lit., dovecote] mountain in SW Calif., near San Diego: site of an astronomical observatory: 6,140 ft (1,871 m): formerly, and now popularly, Mount Palomar …   English World dictionary

  • Palomar Mountain Range — Geobox|Range name=Palomar Mountain Range image size= image caption= country=United States state=California| state1= parent= | border= length imperial= length orientation=North South highest=Palomar Mountain highest elevation imperial=6140 highest …   Wikipedia

  • Palomar Mountain — geographical name see Palomar, Mount …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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  • Palomar — is the name of:Places* several places in North San Diego County, California, including: ** Palomar College ** Palomar Mountain *** the Palomar Observatory (located on said mountain) * El Palomar, Buenos Aires, a city forming part of Greater… …   Wikipedia

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  • Palomar Testbed Interferometer — 33.356388888889 116.8657Koordinaten: 33° 21′ 23″ N, 116° 51′ 54″ W …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Palomar-Observatorium — 33.356388888889 116.865 Koordinaten: 33° 21′ 23″ N, 116° 51′ 54″ W …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Palomar Observatory — an astronomical observatory situated on Palomar Mountain in S California, having a 200 in. (508 cm) reflecting telescope and a 48 in. (122 cm) Schmidt telescope. Also called Palomar Mountain Observatory. * * * Astronomical observatory on Mount… …   Universalium

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