Overview 

East County has been described as “the home of the big country, with wide open spaces and a family-comes-first disposition.” With its lakes, mountains and spectacular changes of season, a typical garage will sport a pick-up truck, an SUV, a boat, two bikes and a dune buggy. Here you will find mountaintops with endless vistas and regional parks with hundreds of miles of trails. Sovereign Indian tribes have lived here for 10,000 years. And the beauty of the back country can be seen on bike or with pack. 

Although Interstate 8 starts in Ocean Beach, it weaves east through San Diego and El Centro and into Arizona. It is the perfect drive to see the East County. Starting in Mission Valley, you will venture up the hill to San Diego State University and then down past La Mesa and into the valley of El Cajon. Breathtaking hills surround you. Venture east and you will pass Indian casinos and go through horse country leading past Alpine and up into the pristine mountains, valleys and lakes of Pine Valley. Are we in Oregon? 

Go north on State Highway 79 and you will soon enter a series of serene little mountain towns near Lake Cuyamaca. Loop back onto what becomes Highway 67 and you will slowly enter civilization again. Ramona welcomes you with eighty-foot high eucalyptus trees. In Lakeside, country music and cowboy boots rule. And Santee boasts one of the few remaining drive-in movie theaters in the whole county. 

The East County retains an old style homespun feel under its huge sky. Progress can’t touch it! 

• La Mesa 

La Mesa is centrally located 12 miles east of Downtown. With its ranch style homes, mixed-use condos and plentiful hilltop home sites, this community strikes a balance between single and multi-family housing. The La Mesa Village sports dozens of small businesses with a home town, home-style feel. The exclusive Mt. Helix area has amazing views stretching 20 miles on a clear day. 

• Alpine 

Twenty years ago, Alpine was at the end of the earth. Today, driving Interstate 8 East toward the desert brings you to the site of the Viejas Indian Casino and Resort and the location boasts an intimate amphitheatre, 2000 slot machines, table games and a great little shopping center. 

Here in the hills toward the mountains, you will find working farms, gentlemen farmers and thirty-mile views to the ocean. Alpine is rural, it’s rich and it gets a little closer every day. 

• Lemon Grove, Spring Valley 

The communities of Lemon Grove and Spring Valley generally retain a large-lot rural quality while Rancho San Diego hugs the Otay Mesa Lake with a wide array of housing choices. These are primarily older, middle-class neighborhoods, which are seeing an influx of new business and infrastructure. 

• El Cajon, Rancho San Diego 

El Cajon is just twenty minutes from Downtown San Diego. An inland valley surrounded by rolling hills and mountains, it has a warm and dry climate. With three different sections, housing in El Cajon varies from apartments, condos and tract homes to the semi-custom homes in the master planned community of Rancho San Diego which together with three golf courses create hillside and valley splendor. 

• Jamul, Dehesa 

This is a beautiful country area with mesas, hills, valleys, boulders, parkland and lakes. The lots and many of the homes are large and the neighbors enjoy their wide open spaces. Jamul has a post office and an elementary/middle school, some stores and lots of horses. In Dehesa, there is a golf course and the nearby Sycuan Casino and Resort. 

• Lakeside, Santee 

Lakeside and Santee stand at the eastern edge of town and are bordered by slopes, lakes and mountains. The San Diego River runs through the communities, which were built on land that was once a dairy farming area. The focus is on family in these suburban, child-filled neighborhoods. Santee residents can ride the trolley to Mission Valley, Downtown and the Mexican border.