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Pine Valley – San Diego's best-kept secret

In lieu of a supermarket, hike along the ceanothus to interstate's tallest bridge, when the Laguna Fire came close, fall foliage at different elevations

Trail riding group at San Diego Horse Trail Riding.
Trail riding group at San Diego Horse Trail Riding.
  • Among the pines in Pine Valley

  • As someone who has primarily lived in suburbia, I find myself escaping to small-town USA when I am in need of a change in scenery. Most San Diegans head to Julian, Palomar, or Cleveland National Forest for a quick getaway. We San Diegans seem to be especially fond of quiet mountain villages. Speaking of which: Pine Valley is San Diego’s best-kept secret.
  • By Elizabeth Orient, March 10, 2019
  • Best of 2001: Best Country General Store

  • Al Atallah's Pine Valley Store
  • 28820 Old Highway 80, Pine Valley
  • 619-473-8723
  • Talk to the old folks, and they lament the loss of the old general stores, where you knew Al and Al knew you, and he had just about anything you needed, or he'd get it for you. Well, they're not all gone. Six years ago Al Atallah took over a deli-pizza-gift shop in Pine Valley, ditched the gift shop, and "jam-packed it with stuff people out here actually need."
  • Dec. 27, 2001
  • Hike under a 400-foot-high bridge

  • Starting from the spacious Pine Creek Trailhead outside Pine Valley, the Secret Canyon Trail weaves and bobs its way along the canyon of Pine Valley Creek, finally emerging some 15 miles later at Horsethief Canyon, near Barrett Lake. Just 2 miles down this trail, you can experience an ant's eye view of the surrealistically lofty Pine Valley bridge, built in the mid-1970s over the deep gorge of Pine Valley Creek.
  • By Jerry Schad, May 11, 2000
1970 Laguna fire - shot taken from Country Crest Drive, El Cajon. “We had trained for a fire coming down Kitchen Creek as much as you could train. But as far as training on anything like the Laguna Fire — no way."
  • Red sky

  • I remember the Laguna Fire. I was eight years old. We lived in a three-bedroom wood-frame house on Valley View Trail in Pine Valley. My father was the chief of the Pine Valley Volunteer Fire Department. Every Thursday evening at 7:00, the big siren in the middle of town would wail, and men from around the valley would pour into the tiny firehouse for the department’s weekly meeting.
  • By Leslie Ryland, Feb. 12, 1998
  • Best of 2003: Best Local Fall Foliage

  • Take the SUV, not the sedan, and drive east on I-8 to the Highway 79 exit. Go north on 79 toward Julian, then take Old Highway 80 toward Pine Valley. Just before town, take a left onto Pine Creek Road. About a mile up the road, you'll pass the "End County Maintained Road" sign.
  • Dec. 25, 2003
“Remember the big barbecue after the Laguna Fire?”
  • We didn't have a street address in Pine Valley

  • I took my children on a trip to my past. Friday after Thanksgiving, I herded Rebecca, Angela, Johnny, and Ben into our van. Lucy, who had awakened with a fever, stayed at home with my husband Jack. As we drove away from our home in San Marcos a little after 10, Rebecca asked from the far backseat, “Where exactly is Pine Valley?”
  • By Anne Albright, Dec. 12, 2002 .
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Trail riding group at San Diego Horse Trail Riding.
Trail riding group at San Diego Horse Trail Riding.
  • Among the pines in Pine Valley

  • As someone who has primarily lived in suburbia, I find myself escaping to small-town USA when I am in need of a change in scenery. Most San Diegans head to Julian, Palomar, or Cleveland National Forest for a quick getaway. We San Diegans seem to be especially fond of quiet mountain villages. Speaking of which: Pine Valley is San Diego’s best-kept secret.
  • By Elizabeth Orient, March 10, 2019
  • Best of 2001: Best Country General Store

  • Al Atallah's Pine Valley Store
  • 28820 Old Highway 80, Pine Valley
  • 619-473-8723
  • Talk to the old folks, and they lament the loss of the old general stores, where you knew Al and Al knew you, and he had just about anything you needed, or he'd get it for you. Well, they're not all gone. Six years ago Al Atallah took over a deli-pizza-gift shop in Pine Valley, ditched the gift shop, and "jam-packed it with stuff people out here actually need."
  • Dec. 27, 2001
  • Hike under a 400-foot-high bridge

  • Starting from the spacious Pine Creek Trailhead outside Pine Valley, the Secret Canyon Trail weaves and bobs its way along the canyon of Pine Valley Creek, finally emerging some 15 miles later at Horsethief Canyon, near Barrett Lake. Just 2 miles down this trail, you can experience an ant's eye view of the surrealistically lofty Pine Valley bridge, built in the mid-1970s over the deep gorge of Pine Valley Creek.
  • By Jerry Schad, May 11, 2000
1970 Laguna fire - shot taken from Country Crest Drive, El Cajon. “We had trained for a fire coming down Kitchen Creek as much as you could train. But as far as training on anything like the Laguna Fire — no way."
  • Red sky

  • I remember the Laguna Fire. I was eight years old. We lived in a three-bedroom wood-frame house on Valley View Trail in Pine Valley. My father was the chief of the Pine Valley Volunteer Fire Department. Every Thursday evening at 7:00, the big siren in the middle of town would wail, and men from around the valley would pour into the tiny firehouse for the department’s weekly meeting.
  • By Leslie Ryland, Feb. 12, 1998
  • Best of 2003: Best Local Fall Foliage

  • Take the SUV, not the sedan, and drive east on I-8 to the Highway 79 exit. Go north on 79 toward Julian, then take Old Highway 80 toward Pine Valley. Just before town, take a left onto Pine Creek Road. About a mile up the road, you'll pass the "End County Maintained Road" sign.
  • Dec. 25, 2003
“Remember the big barbecue after the Laguna Fire?”
  • We didn't have a street address in Pine Valley

  • I took my children on a trip to my past. Friday after Thanksgiving, I herded Rebecca, Angela, Johnny, and Ben into our van. Lucy, who had awakened with a fever, stayed at home with my husband Jack. As we drove away from our home in San Marcos a little after 10, Rebecca asked from the far backseat, “Where exactly is Pine Valley?”
  • By Anne Albright, Dec. 12, 2002 .
  • Sponsored
    Sponsored
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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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