Desert View Tower

Desert View Tower Visit the gift shop & enjoy ground level view for free. $7.50 adults/$3.50 children includes exploring Boulder Park and climbing to the top of the Tower.
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The Desert View Tower & Boulder Park (California Historical Monument #939) have a long history. The Tower has been a way station for travelers East and West for centuries, and you may find in the rocks many signs left of their passage (ask about the Yoni (yonee) for instance). The 1880's saw Easterners begin to move into the area and use these trails. Below, still visible is the old stage station

at Mountain Springs. The original road (barely visible) required an ox team to assist the wagons and coaches up the hill. Around 1900 saw the first road complete by the Tower. We have a picture of at least one of the opening days of the "new" road. Seems like all of San Diego came in their Model A's. The road continued down below at least partly on sections of the "Old Plank Road." The wood in the Tower was salvaged from the old road. The Desert Tower was built by the 1900 road builders. You can see sections of the old road below the Tower, broken by the Interstate highway in 1965. Usually the interstates stayed away from the older roads that had homes and businesses, but in this case the cut below the Tower is the only possible way through the pass, so they blasted right on through the old road to build the new interstate. Bert Vaughn of San Diego is credited as the developer of the "new" road and had the Tower built as "a monument ot the pioneers" in 1923. He had bought the whole town of Jacume (now Jacumba), which he believed was scheduled to become a border crossing. You can imagine what a big deal Jacumba would be now if he had been right! Vaughn also had much to do with the development of El Centro, including the Barbara Worth Hotel. He was a bigshot, indeed, out here, then. Vaughn somehow had title to this land (the Indians didn't count) and wages were cheap "a dollar a day and a jug of wine." Originally located where the freeway intersections the old road, below its permanent site, The Tower was built as an advertisement for his bar and became a roadside attraction because of the cooler temperatures and, of course, the spectacular view. The justly famous Boulder Park was created in 1933 by an unemployed engineer, out of work during the (last) depression, named Merle Ratcliff, who sculpted representations of mostly reptiles and fanciful animals out of the huge stone boulders. In 1947, Dennis Newman bought the Tower from the Vaughns. He added the round lower floor to the Tower in 1950, which made it much as you see it today. It is now the last functioning roadside attraction on the San Diego to Yuma corridor. Ben Schultz, a native San Diegan, first visited the Tower when he was four years old. He bought the Tower from Jane Knapp in 2002.

North west winds powered Full moon rising in the valley.
11/06/2025

North west winds powered Full moon rising in the valley.

Sunset in the Wind.
10/14/2025

Sunset in the Wind.

Chosen souls are, in My hand, lights which I cast into the darkness of the world and with which I illumine it. As stars ...
10/07/2025

Chosen souls are, in My hand, lights which I cast into the darkness of the world and with which I illumine it. As stars illumine the night, so chosen souls illumine the earth. And the more perfect a soul is, the stronger and the more far-reaching is the light shed by it. It can be hidden and unknown, even to those closest to it, and yet its holiness is reflected in souls even to the most distant extremities of the world.

Skyline Technology
10/04/2025

Skyline Technology

Bubble clouds passing without rain, more movies and the Corn Fullmoon glimpses.
09/10/2025

Bubble clouds passing without rain, more movies and the Corn Fullmoon glimpses.

The Rainbow Sunset blessing.
08/29/2025

The Rainbow Sunset blessing.

Thankful the fire near La Rumarosa is out!
07/06/2025

Thankful the fire near La Rumarosa is out!

This fire started 10 days ago and it is still burning south of the Highway 2 in Mexico near La Rumarosa. Hopefully it c...
06/27/2025

This fire started 10 days ago and it is still burning south of the Highway 2 in Mexico near La Rumarosa.
Hopefully it can get under control soon to protect the community of
La Rumarosa and its natural habitat of Pinion Pines. 🙏💧🌲

Sunday Reflection 🌞
06/15/2025

Sunday Reflection 🌞

Unfolding of the Flower Moon sunset and Full Moon light spectacular’s appearance.🥀
05/13/2025

Unfolding of the Flower Moon sunset and Full Moon light spectacular’s appearance.🥀

Morning light specials with current May blooms.
05/06/2025

Morning light specials with current May blooms.

Can you find the smiley face ?🌙
04/30/2025

Can you find the smiley face ?🌙

Address

Old Hig 80, In-Ko-Pah Park Road, Jacumba Hot Springs
Jacumba, CA
91934

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm
Saturday 8:30am - 5pm
Sunday 8:30am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+16199712845

Website

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