San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park was set aside to honor the soldiers who fought in the battle between the U.S. and Californio forces on December 6, 1846 in the midst of the Mexican-American War. The park is due for closure on July 2012; that’s what motivated me to explore this park one Saturday morning.
The park is located just east of the San Diego Wild Animal Park, at San Pasqual Valley Road, 8 miles east of Escondido on Highway 78. It overlooks the historic site of the bloodiest battle fought in California during the U.S.-Mexican War. Driving along highway 78 is nice because there are many beautiful sceneries of farms, vineyard and some ostrich farms. Along the way, you can find a farmer stall that sells local fruit, vegetables and ostrich eggs.
There weren’t many people when we came to the visitor center/museum.
The man who worked there was very nice and told us in details about the history of the battle.
Entering the museum you can read the history since the time when the native Indian still lived there until the battle of San Pasqual took placed.
Outside the museum, a big monument honoring Kit Carson and Edward F. Beale was standing high up, marking the start of the Nature Trail.
This 0.25-mile trail loop takes about 20 minutes round trip, which was easy for my kids. I suggest to wear long pants and closed shoes as the bushes can be prickly.
In the middle of the loop, near the top of the hill, you can see the beautiful scenery of lush and green san pasqual valley, surrounded by the hills. It was the place of San Pasqual battlefield.
The other trail, Battlefield Monument Trail, was closed because it wasn’t maintained and the bushes had grown and closed parts of the trail. People often got lost because of that.
Next to the visitor center, the San Diego Archaeological Center is dedicated to the curation of historic artifacts found in San Diego area. The building is next to the parking lot of the visitor center. You can walk to get there.
In the center, you can find some artifacts dated from hundreds to 10,000 years ago exhibited in the museum. Beside looking at the old artifacts, kids can also do some hands-on activites in the museum such as classification with beads and broken china, looking at stones with microscope and making your own bracelet and brooch.
Next to the center is the San Pasqual Old Indian Cemetery.
According to the park ranger, the biggest cross marked the place where Felicita was buried.
Felicita was the daughter of a Kumeyaay Chief named Pontho. She and her clan lived in the nearby San Pasqual Valley. Her Kumeyaay name was Hal-ah-wee. When she was 12, a priest from Mission San Diego de Alcala baptized her with the name Felicita, which in Spanish means “happy little one.” She and several of her family were in a San Pasqual village when the Californios and Americans fought the Battle of San Pasqual in December 1846 during the Mexican War. Felicita and her father assisted the American soldiers after the battle.
Leaving the park, we stopped for a few minutes at the Big Stone Monument, located in the park property.
To reach the monument, just drive west until you can see a big stone wall with a placate on it.
This monument was erected to remembering the 18 US soldiers that dies during the battle. These soldiers were actually buried on this site.
Don’t forget to stop at the local product stall to see this amazing Ostrich eggs. This stall sells fresh ostrich eggs and empty ones as well as fruits and vegetables that are grown locally in San Pasqual.
