Jamul, Jamul, CA

Jamul spreads across the hills and valleys east of Rancho San Diego in unincorporated San Diego County, where homes sit on an acre or more and the nearest neighbor might be a pasture away. Granite boulders and chaparral ridges fill the gaps between driveways. Homes here are mostly ranch houses and custom builds on large parcels, many with room for a barn and a few animals. Horse keeping is welcome, and the County's plan for the area treats keeping animals on lots of an acre or larger as part of the character it wants to protect. There is no sewer system, so houses run on septic, and only the northwest corner gets piped imported water. Streetlights are rare on purpose, which keeps the night sky dark. For the outdoors, the trailhead for McGinty Mountain sits just off Jamul Drive at the community's edge. It is a steep climb of about 2,200 feet to a ridge of red soil and rare plants that the national wildlife refuge helps protect. On the Rancho San Diego side, Steele Canyon County Park has tennis and basketball courts, a playground and a shaded picnic pavilion. Food here clusters along Campo Road, the local name for Highway 94. Brody's Burgers & Beer is a family-owned spot known for its Western and mushroom Swiss burgers, onion rings and beer on tap. Filippi's Pizza Grotto, just up the road, handles the garlic bread, lasagna and meatball sandwich crowd. Bigger errands mean heading downhill. The nearest full supermarkets are the Albertsons and Ralphs on Jamacha Road in Rancho San Diego, and Highway 94 carries commuters west through Spring Valley toward downtown San Diego. Highway 94 is also the one main way in and out. It carries casino traffic to the resort just past the eastern community line, so a slow morning on 94 slows everyone. Land and quiet are what Jamul offers, and the payoff shows after dark, when the ridges go black and the stars fill in.