Crest, CA

Crest occupies a 1,600-foot ridge in the eastern reaches of San Diego County, with El Cajon spread out below to the west and Alpine farther east along Interstate 8. It is unincorporated, small and spread thin across granite slopes, and parts of it overlook the El Cajon Valley. The town grew out of two separate subdivisions, Suncrest and La Cresta. In the years before World War II, the old San Diego Sun newspaper promoted small lots up here as summer cabin sites, and enough buyers stayed on that the two halves eventually merged under one name. The Crest Community Association and the Crest Historical Society still keep that story alive, along with the July parade. Housing today mixes the very old with the fairly new. Century-old cabins sit near ordinary single-family homes and large estates, because wildfires in 1970 and 2003 cleared much of the hill and owners rebuilt in whatever style they wanted. Lot sizes swing widely too, from cabin parcels to several acres on a slope. Getting up and down shapes daily life. La Cresta Road descends west toward Granite Hills and Greenfield Drive, and on the eastern side Mountain View Road and Frances Drive drop steeply into Harbison Canyon, about 700 feet lower. Groceries and most errands are in El Cajon. Sycuan Market, out on Dehesa Road, is the closest place to fill the tank or grab a deli sandwich at any hour. The open land around the ridge is the real amenity. Crestridge Ecological Reserve, next door in Harbison Canyon, covers some 2,800 protected acres, with trails through oaks, creek bottoms and sage scrub, and chaparral slopes fill the views in between. Restaurants are almost absent on the ridge, so eating out usually means El Cajon. Two main roads serve the whole community, and that limit is felt any time one of them is slow. After dark, the valley's lights spread out below while the ridge stays quiet, which is the trade Crest has offered since its cabin days.