Mount Soledad
Encyclopedia
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
in the city of San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The mountaintop is the site of the Mount Soledad cross, the subject of a continuing controversy
Mount Soledad cross controversy
The Mount Soledad cross is a -tall cross that was erected in 1954 on top of Mount Soledad in La Jolla, California....
over the involvement of religion in government.
Geography
The 822 feet (250.5 m) tall hilllies between Interstate 5
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 is the main Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Ocean coastline from Canada to Mexico . It serves some of the largest cities on the U.S...
to the east and the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
to the west. It is mostly within the community of La Jolla
La Jolla, San Diego, California
La Jolla is an affluent, hilly seaside resort community, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean in Southern California within the northern city limits of San Diego. La Jolla had the highest home prices in the nation in 2008 and 2009; the average price of a standardized...
where the northern and eastern slopes form a sharp escarpment
Escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevations.-Description and variants:...
along the Rose Canyon fault
Rose Canyon Fault
Rose Canyon Fault is a right-lateral strike-slip fault running in a north-south direction through San Diego. About 30 km in length it starts in the Mission Valley area and heads, past Mt. Soledad and La Jolla, into the Pacific ocean where it joins other faults, such as the Oceanside Fault...
. The community of Pacific Beach
Pacific Beach, San Diego, California
Pacific Beach is a neighborhood of San Diego, bounded by La Jolla to the north, Mission Beach and Mission Bay to the south, Interstate 5 to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. While largely populated by young people, surfers, and college students, the population is becoming older, more...
is on the gentler southern slope. There are several radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
transmitters located on the summit including television channels 8
KFMB-TV
KFMB-TV is the local CBS television affiliate in San Diego, California. Its studios are located on Engineer Road in the Kearny Mesa area of San Diego along with its sister radio stations, AM 760 and FM 100.7...
and 10
KGTV
KGTV, digital channel 10, is the ABC television affiliate in San Diego, California. The station can be seen on Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and AT&T U-verse on cable channel 10 in standard definition. Cox Communications and Time Warner Cable carry its high definition signal on cable...
, the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliates respectively. Commercial aircraft approaching San Diego from the direction of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
often use Mount Soledad as their point to start the downwind leg of their approach to San Diego International Airport
San Diego International Airport
San Diego International Airport , sometimes referred to as Lindbergh Field, is a public airport located northwest of the central business district of San Diego, California and from the Mexico – United States border at Tijuana, Mexico...
.
Land events
On October 3, 2007, one home on Soledad Mountain Road and one of the main roads up the mountain was destroyed by a major landslideLandslide
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rockfalls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments...
. Five houses were damaged, and over 20 others were evacuated. The city of San Diego had noticed water and gas main leaks since July, and cracks in the pavement since August, 2007.
Legend of Munchkin land
It is a common urban legendUrban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
that, in the 1930s, a group of little people who earned money in Hollywood appearing in movies such as The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, came to San Diego where they built miniature houses on Mount Soledad.
The legend gained support due to the fact several houses were built on steep slopes overlooking the Pacific and, as you drove or walked by, it was easy to believe, due to optical illusions created as you looked down at the houses from the road, that the doors and other features were smaller than normal. If you actually walked up to the houses it was easy to see they were normal sized. Most of the supposed "Munchkin Houses" have been remodeled and the effect is no longer present.
Last home of Dr. Seuss
Mount Soledad also holds the last home lived in by Dr. SeussDr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
. His widow, Audrey Geisel still resides atop Mt. Soledad in a lavish home that includes an observation tower that is referred to as the Seuss house by the locals.
In literature
Mount Soledad figures in a major location for San Diego-born writer Adam GnadeAdam Gnade
Adam Gnade is a San Diego, California-born American musician and author currently living on a farm in rural Kansas. In his bio he defines his music as "talking-songs", which he describes as mixing the spoken vocals of talking blues songs with country music, Appalachian folk, noise, psychedelic...
's 2011 novella, Hey Hey Lonesome.
Cycling on Mount Soledad
Because of the variety of long steady climbs, light traffic on most routes, and great views, Mount Soledad is a popular cyclingCycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
destination and area. There are numerous routes ranging from the relatively gradual, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) mile climb up Soledad Mountain Road on the southern slopes to the very steep and short, 1.25 miles (2 km), Hidden Valley Road to Via Capri route on the north side.
The routes up to the top of Mount Soledad going clockwise starting in Pacific Beach, are (note: the footnotes are links to Google maps showing the routes):
- Pacifica - Pico Street at Garnet Ave, Pico Street, Pacifica Drive (steep), Amity Street, Middleton Road, Middleton Way, Soledad Rancho Road, Soledad Mountain Road, La Jolla Scenic Drive South.
- Soledad Mountain Road - From Garnet Ave up Soledad Mountain Road to La Jolla Scenic Drive South.
- Soledad Road - Lamont Street, which becomes Soledad Road, to Soledad Mountain Road and La Jolla Scenic Drive South.
- Variation (Alta La Jolla Drive) - While going up Soledad Road, turn left at Alta La Jolla Drive, then right on Cardeno Drive and up to the top via La Jolla Scenic Drive.
- Cardeno Drive - Fanuel Street, which becomes Cardeno Drive, to La Jolla Scenic Drive South.
- Rutgers - From Candlelight Dr at Van Nuys, Vista Claridad, Rutgers Rd, to La Jolla Scenic Drive South.
- La Jolla Mesa - Mission Boulevard, which becomes La Jolla Mesa Drive, to La Jolla Scenic Drive South.
- La Jolla Rancho - Forward Street, Linda Rosa Ave, La Jolla Corona Drive, La Jolla Rancho Road, La Jolla Scenic Drive.
- Muirlands Vista - Nautilus Street, Muirlands Vista Way, Muirlands Drive, La Cumbre Drive, El Camino Teatro, La Jolla Scenic Drive South.
- Muirlands - West Muirlands Drive, briefly right on Nautilus, then Muirlands Drive, El Camino Teatro and La Jolla Scenic Drive South.
- Nautilus - Nautilus Street at Neptune Place to La Jolla Scenic Drive South.
- Valverde - Nautilus Street, Via Valverde, Caminito Valverde, Caminito Bassano West, Upper Hillside Drive, Via Casa Alta (steep grade), La Jolla Scenic Drive South.
- Upper Hillside - Exchange Place, Country Club Drive, Romero Drive, Brodieaa Way, Encilia Drive, Upper Hillside Drive (requires walk through side pedestrian gates to get around a short section of private road with locked gates across the road at each end), Via Casa Alta, La Jolla Scenic Drive South.
- Hillside - Hillside Drive at Torrey Pines Road to Via Siena and up Via Capri (very steep).
- Variation (paved path): Where Hillside becomes Via Siena, turn right to continue along the remaining short dead-end section of Hillside, where it becomes a paved path. At the end of the path it is easy to connect to Via Capri near the top.
- Variation (Soledad Ave) - Exchange Place, Soledad Ave, to Hillside Drive....
- Variation (historic bridge detour) - Exchange Place, Soledad Ave, Al Bahr Drive, Crespo Street, Castellana Road to Hillside Drive...
- Via Capri - Hidden Valley Road to Via Capri - very steep in sections.
History of the veterans' memorial
Mount Soledad is topped by a large concrete Latin cross, first built in 1913, and rebuilt twice. After it was challenged in court during the late 1980s, it was designated a Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
memorial. It became the center of a controversy, known around the world, over the display of religious symbols on government property. It was ruled unconstitutional in January 2011.
CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
says the case will "almost certainly" be appealed to the Supreme Court.
Restoration of the cross
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