Bonsall, CA

Bonsall is an unincorporated community in the San Luis Rey River valley of northern San Diego County, strung along Highway 76 between Oceanside and Interstate 15. Camp Pendleton lies west, Vista south and Fallbrook up the grade northward, and the town fills the low ground and hillsides in between. The name has changed more than once. The area started as Mount Fairview, became Osgood in 1881 after a railroad engineer, and in 1890 took its current name from James A. Bonsall, a minister who lived in the area. Today it is one continuous spread of estate lots, farm parcels and horse properties, with no real line between one part and the next. Racing gives the town its reputation. Private breeding farms and two big training tracks operate here, and the valley has long readied racehorses for the summer season at Del Mar. Riding clubs keep long stretches of the river trail busy, and the county's trails plan treats horses as the main users on the south bank. The Lilac Fire burned about 4,100 acres around the community in December 2017. For a hike, Wilderness Gardens Preserve sits upriver toward Pala along the San Luis Rey floodplain. It opened in 1973 as the county's first nature preserve and closes on Wednesdays and through August for the heat. Closer in, the county has a larger San Luis Rey River Park planned along the valley floor. Mission Road and Highway 76 form the town center, with a shopping center and a handful of restaurants. Larger shopping means Oceanside or Vista, and Highway 76 moves traffic both toward the coast and out to the interstate. The Bonsall Unified School District runs its own elementary, middle and high schools. A drive is part of nearly everything, from groceries to the beach. The pay-off is a valley where a fenced pasture still sits beside many front doors.