Cleveland National Forest

Trailhead: I-8 east from San Diego to Buckman Springs Road. Drive south on Buckman Springs Road 3.6 miles to Corral Canyon Road. Turn right on Corral Canyon Road and drive 6.2 miles to the Four Corners Trailhead.

Trail Notes: Follow directional signs the numbers on the trail markers correspond with numbered paragraphs in this brochure. It will take you about 30 minutes to walk this half-mile trail. Please do not remove plants or flowers. Thank you for not smoking on the trail. Please return brochure to the brochure rack so others may enjoy it.

When visiting the Inaja Memorial Picnic Ground this trail guide will provide you with information about the trail. The trail is .5 miles in length and is a National Recreation Trail. The hike is an easy hike and is for use by hikers only. Please enjoy your trip and welcome to the Inaja Memorial Picnic Ground and National Recreation Trail. This Inaja memorial was dedicated on November 25, 1957 one year after the 43,611 acre Inaja Forest Fire of 1956. Eleven firefighters - two Forest Service personnel and nine from Viejas Honor Camp - lost their lives fighting this human-caused fire. The actual fire was approximately 5 miles to the southwest of picnic area. Funds and labor to construct the memorial was contributed by local Womens clubs, garden clubs, Citizens Forestry Study Group, honor camp inmates, Forest Service employees among others. The self-guided nature trail was constructed in 1962 and was designated a National Recreation Trail in 1980.

MARKER #1 - Vegetation along this trail is typical chaparral of the higher foothills and lower mountains of San Diego County. There are dozens of interesting and unique features on and along the trail. Take a closer look at the huge boulders that surround you, listen to the music of the songbirds, keep an eye open for animal tracks, and, by all means, enjoy nature.

MARKER #2 - The tree in front of you is a live oak (Quercus agrifolia). Live oaks are evergreen trees. Acorns were a standard food staple on the Diegueño Indian menu. First choice was the California black oak acorn of the higher mountains; second choice was the acorn of the live oak. The acorns were dried, shelled, leached, and ground into a coarse meal. The bark was used in tanning hides and as a dye.

MARKER #3 - Chaparro is the Spanish name for a small shrubby oak which grows in Spain. Chaparral means thicket of chaparros, or place where chaparros grow. Our scrub oak (Quercus acutidens), an example of which is now in front of you, is a common chaparral plant. Dieguño Indians used its acorns as a back-up food when black or live oak acorns were not available. Insects, deer, squirrels, and other animals eat the acorns, and deer browse on the young shoots.

MARKER #4 - As you approach the numbered post, look to your right. This evergreen shrub is blue wild lilac (Ceanothus leucodermis). Wild lilac grows on dry rocky slopes where it may occur in mixed chaparral such as here, or form thickets impenetrable to man. Although a thorny shrub, it is a favorite deer browse plant. Historically the crushed flowers or green fruit were used to make a lathery shampoo or hand soap. Now look at the large shrub behind the post. It is toyon, or Christmas berry (Heteromeles arbutifolia). This plant grows 5 to 15 feet tall, has deep green foliage, and produces white flowers in June. It has large clusters of bright red berries in late fall. Deer browse the stems and birds eat the berries.

MARKER #5 - This portion of the trail offers an excellent view to the northwest of the beautiful Santa Ysabel Valley. In 1795 Father Juan Mariner and Sergeant Pablo Grijalua led a Spanish exploring party into these mountains where they found friendly village of Elcuanam "place of twisted earth pushed up by growing vegetation." Mariner named this valley Santa Ysabel,"Spanish for Saint Elizabeth." The exploring party reported back to San Diego that this fertile valley would be an excellent location for a sub-mission, or asistencia. In the fall of 1818 an adobe chapel was erected near the site of the present church. If you look to the northeast corner of the valley, you can see the red tile roof of Mission Santa Ysabel.

In approximately 1834 the Mission property was granted to Jose Joaquin Ortega. Ortega grazed large numbers of sheep and cattle here. When General Kearny and Kit Carson led a small contingent of the American army across the desert during the Mexican-American War, they found food and provisions at Santa Ysabel. They camped here in 1846, before going on to San Pasqual where they met defeat at the hands of Mexican Lancers.

MARKER #6 - In front of you is a cluster of manzanita. Many kinds of manzanita are common in the chaparral plant community. The one seen along this trail is eastwood manzanita, a spreading shrub 2 to 6 feet high with white or pink flowers in February and March. It forms a broad, woody crown (or burl) at ground level and, if the tops are burned, new shoots grow from this burl. The manzanita (from the Spanish manzana, meaning "apple") refers to the tiny apple-shaped fruits used by Diegueño Indians and early settlers to make a cider-like drink. The fruits are used for making jelly. Diegueño Indians also ground the hard seeds into a meal. Birds and coyotes and deer eat the fruit.

MARKER #7 - Mountain blue curls (Trichostema parishii) is an aromatic shrub with dark blue flowers. When visited by hummingbirds, the arching stamens touch the birds' heads and pollen is carried from one flower to another. Don't miss the overlook just to you right from here you have a splendid view of the San Diego River Canyon. This steep canyon was the scene of the 1956 Inaja Fire which took the lives of eleven firefighters. Wildfire is an ever present occurrence - particularly in Southern California. We need to remember the eleven firefighters and the cost of uncontrolled fires.

As you walk the trail you may have noticed the evidence of past fires. Although man caused fires can be destructive and life-threatening, natural fires have always played an important role in chaparral plant communities. Fire is the tool that releases nutrients which are locked up in old vegetation. Today, however, it is not possible to allow fires to burn uncontrolled. Our present policy is to use fire under controlled conditions to achieve these ecological effects, while reducing the chance of uncontrolled wildfires. This management practice is referred to as prescribed burning.

MARKER #8 - The evergreen shrubs in front of you are chamise plants (Adenostoma fasciculatum). They are very important to fire ecology. Chamise burns fiercely and carries fire quickly to other vegetation. Fire usually burns only the top portion of this plant and leaves the root ball unharmed. Chamise is a sprouter and, within a short period after a fire, new growth will appear.

MARKER #9 - White sage (Salvia apiana) is the plant with gray leaves behind the post. Next to it on the right is a shrub with narrow, dark green leaves. This is flat-top buckwheat. Both of these plants are well known honey producers. Sage honey is white and delicate in flavor. Buckwheat honey is darker and stronger in flavor.

MARKER #10 - The granite rocks before you consist mainly of bodies of tonalite (quartz diorite) and granodiorite. They are typical of the granitic rocks of San Diego County. Mother Nature has dissolved boulders like these to form the soil that you see around you. Such soil is commonly referred to as decomposed granite.

You may have noticed gray, tan, green, or black splotches of growth on the many boulders along the trail. These are known as crustase lichens. A lichen is a curious double plant - a combination of an algae and a fungus. Neither can live without the other. The fungus provides moisture for the algae while the algae makes food for the fungus. This interdependence is called symbiosis.

MARKER #11 - Take a few minutes here to enjoy the view. From here, you can see the Volcan Mountains near Julian. Julian itself became famous in 1870 when gold was discovered. Highway 79 follows the general path of the original Julian Highway that interconnected with Santa Ysabel, a supply stop for miners on their way to and from San Diego to the gold mines.

Maps and Information: Forest and trail maps available at the Palomar Ranger District.