Whale Mountain
Whale Mountain rises to 911 m in California. Cuyamaca Peak stands 1,979 m to the southeast, 13 miles off. The nearest named place is Witch Creek Mountain, a peak 2.1 miles away.
The story
Whale Mountain is a 3,043-foot (928 m), summit in the northwestern Cuyamaca Mountains in San Diego County, California. It is located between Ramona and Santa Ysabel, near Ballena Valley. Ballena takes its name from the mountain, ballena being Spanish for "whale". The Spanish name was the equivalent of the Ipai word ipank which also means "whale", and which was their name for the mountain. Whale Mountain is known for being desert-like and containing many desert plants and animals, such as cacti.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q16903185, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 911 m
How to reach it
Named places within 25 miles
- Witch Creek Mountain: 2.1 mi
- Dye Mountain: 4.0 mi
- Mount Gower: 4.1 mi
- Corral Mountain: 4.1 mi
- Barona Mesa: 6.2 mi
- Mount Gower Open Space Preserve: 4.0 mi
- Arena Community Park: 4.9 mi
- Ramona Oaks Park: 5.0 mi
- Gun Stage park: 5.6 mi
- Ramona Community Park: 5.7 mi
- Black Mountain Spring: 6.6 mi
- Indian Head Spring: 7.7 mi
- Anahuac Spring: 8.5 mi
- Skunk Spring: 8.6 mi
- Iron Spring: 9.2 mi
- Eagle Mine: 9.5 mi
- Volcan Mountain Air Beacon: 10.7 mi
- Warlock Mine: 11.2 mi
- Moteros: 12.5 mi
- COVID climb: 12.9 mi
- Julian Jail: 9.2 mi
- Blackfoot Fort: 10.6 mi
- Ernie Pantoja Memorial: 11.9 mi
- Butterfield Stage Station: 13.0 mi
- Battlefield Historical Monument: 13.3 mi
- Shadow Wall: 12.7 mi
- 2-Second Tier: 12.7 mi
- Main Wall: 12.7 mi
- 4-Tier West: 12.8 mi
- TOE: 12.9 mi
- Guy R. Woodward Museum: 6.3 mi
- Classic Rotors Museum: 9.1 mi
- Julian Pioneer Museum: 9.1 mi
- Barona Museum: 10.7 mi
- Cuyamaca Rancho Park Museum and Area Headquarters: 15.4 mi
- Barnett Ranch County Preserve: 8.1 mi
- Ramona Grasslands Preserve: 11.1 mi
- Blue Sky Ecological Reserve: 15.2 mi
- Goodan Ranch Sycamore Canyon County Preserve: 15.7 mi
- Meadowbrook Ecological Reserve: 19.5 mi
- Picnic Table: 6.4 mi
- Ray Love Picnic Area: 17.4 mi
- El Arroyo Picnic Area: 17.4 mi
- Tree Lake Picnic Area No. 3: 17.5 mi
- Pioneer Mail Picnic Area: 19.2 mi
- Hubbell Gateway: 9.6 mi
- Blessed Mother: 15.9 mi
- Muffler Man: 18.7 mi
- Grande Step Totem: 19.0 mi
- Saint Gregory the Great: 21.0 mi
- Mildred Falls: 5.0 mi
- Cedar Creek Falls: 6.2 mi
- Washtub Falls: 6.9 mi
- Three Sisters Waterfalls: 8.2 mi
- Lower Barker Valley Falls: 17.5 mi
- Coleman City: 6.8 mi
- Branson City: 8.3 mi
- Eastwood: 8.7 mi
- Banner: 12.4 mi
- Stratton: 12.6 mi
- Bonsai Pavillion: 13.8 mi
- Stuart Alan Whitmore Memorial Garden: 17.1 mi
- Abraxas Garden: 18.8 mi
- Circle Garden: 19.7 mi
- Cara Knott Memorial Garden: 22.0 mi
- Warner Hot Spring: 16.3 mi
- Broken Ankle Bend: 18.0 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 15.0 miles of Whale Mountain. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cuyamaca Peak | SE 135° | 1,979 m | 12.6 mi |
| North Peak | ESE 115° | 1,826 m | 11.2 mi |
| Middle Peak | SE 125° | 1,795 m | 11.4 mi |
| Japacha Peak | SE 136° | 1,771 m | 13.5 mi |
| Stonewall Peak | SE 126° | 1,707 m | 13.5 mi |
| Little Stonewall Peak | ESE 124° | 1,584 m | 13.7 mi |
| West Mesa | SE 133° | 1,463 m | 14.3 mi |
| Santa Ysabel Peak | NE 44° | 1,454 m | 8.4 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 06:52 | 18:26 | 18:59 |
| June solstice | 05:39 | 19:23 | 20:00 |
| September equinox | 06:36 | 18:13 | 18:45 |
| December solstice | 06:47 | 16:07 | 16:45 |
Local time (America/Los_Angeles).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: year-round.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 51 | 52 | 54 | 57 | 62 | 68 | 73 | 75 | 71 | 64 | 56 | 51 |
| Precip in | 3.1 | 3.7 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 2.1 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Ramona AP, 9 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidata- USGS Geographic Names Information System feature 274455 — Whale Mountain, San Diego County, California.
OpenStreetMap element node/358802434
Day trips start here
Take the scenic way to Whale Mountain.
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