San Diego Country Estates, CA

San Diego Country Estates occupies the San Vicente Valley in inland San Diego County, beyond Poway with Ramona off to the northwest, roughly 38 miles northeast of downtown San Diego. It is a census-designated community of about 10,000 people with no city government of its own, and it reads as Ramona's rural neighbor more than a separate town. The valley's story runs long. Northern Ipai bands of the Kumeyaay lived here first, a priest from Mission San Diego gave it the name of Saint Vincent during the 1700s, and in 1846 it became part of a Mexican land grant that reached toward Barona. Developer Raymond A. Watt purchased the land in 1970 to build the community. Three years later the San Vicente Country Club hosted the Bobby Riggs and Margaret Court tennis match. That resort, now the San Vicente Golf Resort, is still the closest thing to a town center, with its course, guest rooms and The Oaks Grille. The other anchors are the community's international equestrian center and the Ramona Oaks recreation center. Housing is mainly single-family, much of it from the 1970s and later, spread over hills and the valley floor. The bigger draw for many is the land around it. Mount Gower County Preserve, on Gunn Stage Road, covers more than 1,500 acres with about eight miles of trail through chaparral, oak woodland and creekside sycamores, plus lookouts and an equestrian staging area. It shuts for August because of the heat. Cleveland National Forest lies within reach for longer outings. Getting anywhere means one of three roads. San Vicente Road runs toward the end of Highway 78 and Ramona's Main Street, Old Julian Highway connects to Highway 67, and Wildcat Canyon Road heads south past Barona. Ramona Unified runs the schools, with Barnett Elementary on the west side and James Dukes Elementary on the east. Remoteness is the honest cost. Every errand beyond a quick stop runs through Ramona, the commute to the coast is long, and the community has lived through two major wildfires, the Cedar Fire and the Witch Fire. Here a horse barn, a golf course and a trailhead can all sit within a few miles of the front door, and that mix is what separates San Diego Country Estates from the suburbs to the west.