Double Peak (San Diego County, California)

San Elijo Hills is a master-planned community in the southwest of San Marcos, California, built by San Elijo Hills Development Company, and managed by HomeFed Corporation. San Elijo is home to three of the largest schools in San Marcos Unified School District. Unlike the rest of San Marcos, San Elijo Hills has its own town center, featuring a public park (including a stage and seating for community events), a clock tower, a fountain, and rows of shops and restaurants.

Cocos Fire, originally known as the Twin Oaks Fire, was a wildfire that ignited on May 14, 2014 in San Marcos, California, in the hills south of California State University, San Marcos. The Cocos Fire quickly spread into western Escondido. The fire destroyed more than 40 buildings, including a dozen single-family homes. The Harmony Grove Spiritualist Association, a 13-acre spiritualist retreat founded in 1896, was particularly hard hit; most of the buildings and residences on the property were destroyed, and the association's president said, "We're pretty much wiped out." Property damage from the fire is estimated at more than $5.7 million. Three minor injuries have been reported. The Cocos Fire was the last of the May 2014 wildfires in San Diego County to be extinguished, with full containment on May 22, 2014.

KARJ (92.1 MHz) is an FM radio station serving the North County of San Diego County, California, United States, airing a Worship music format from the Air1 network, and is owned by the Educational Media Foundation. KARJ's transmitter and antenna are located at 33°6′39″N 117°9′13″W in Escondido, California near Frank's Peak on Mount Whitney. The station broadcasts with 580 watts of effective radiated power (ERP).

California State University San Marcos (CSUSM or Cal State San Marcos) is a public university in San Marcos, California. It was founded in 1989 as the 21st campus in the California State University (CSU) system. CSUSM offers 43 bachelor's degree programs, 23 master's degree programs, an Ed.D. program, and 13 teaching credentials. The university has four colleges: the College of Business Administration; the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; the College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral and Social Sciences; and the College of Education, Health and Human Services. In January 2021, the university had 979 faculty. The university is a Hispanic-serving institution.

The University of Saint Katherine (USK) is a private, non-profit undergraduate and graduate university located in San Marcos, California. Founded by Frank J. Papatheofanis, MD, PhD it opened in 2011, and has grown each year in enrollment from its inaugural class of 11 in 2011 to 308 in 2022. The university's mission is to provide a balanced education in the liberal arts and sciences, founded and rooted in the life of the Eastern Orthodox tradition, although the school is not under the omophorion of any Orthodox bishop, and Orthodox students and faculty are in the minority at the school; the University accepts students of all faiths. Inquiry Seeking Wisdom is the current motto of the institution. The original motto "For Christ is our Life" was reserved for a new school of theology that is being formed.

High Tech High North County, also known as HTHNC, is a charter school located in San Marcos, California. It is a part of the High Tech High organization. Opening in 2007, with its initial class consisting of only 150 freshmen, the school has since expanded, with more than five hundred and fifty students attending. Each year, there had been a new class added. In the 2008–2009 school year, it was sophomores, in the 2009–2010 school year it was juniors, and in the 2010–2011 school year it became seniors. It is one of only two High Tech High schools to be built from the ground up with the other being High Tech High Chula Vista. The school follows the same type of personalized, college preparatory, project-based learning characterized at other High Tech High schools.

San Marcos ( SAN MAR-kohs; Spanish for "St. Mark") is a city in the North County region of San Diego County, California. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 94,833. It is the site of California State University San Marcos and Palomar College. The city is bordered by Escondido to the east, Encinitas to the southwest, Carlsbad to the west, and Vista to the northwest. Lake San Marcos is an enclave, or county island, in the southwestern part of the city, within San Marcos' sphere of influence but technically an unincorporated community.

The Elephant Bar was a scratch-kitchen restaurant in the United States that specialized in globally-based dishes and traditional American fare. The corporate office is located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their first restaurant opened in Lubbock, TX in 1980. In 2015, the chain comprised 25 restaurants throughout the United States, with the majority in California. Elephant Bar Restaurants are also located in New Mexico and Nevada. The restaurants are decorated around an African safari theme, with wildlife motifs. Many of the dishes offered are pan-Asian fusion in design.In 2014, Elephant Bar filed for bankruptcy and closed 16 stores. In 2017, Elephant Bar closed a number of sites with no explanation. In March 2018, Gen3 Hospitality purchased the Elephant Bar chain out of bankruptcy. By 2021, there was only 1 remaining location in Albuquerque, New Mexico which has now closed as of April 2023.

Lake San Marcos is a census-designated place (CDP) in the North County region of the San Diego metropolitan area. It is nominally independent of San Marcos proper, but functionally dependent on the city.

Cal State San Marcos station is an elevated railway station in San Marcos, California, the only elevated station along the North County Transit District's SPRINTER hybrid rail line, was commenced in 2005. The station sits on a loop of the San Diego Northern Railway's Escondido Subdivision that crosses over State Route 78 to serve the California State University, San Marcos campus, which is located southwest of the station. On campus days, shuttle services are available to ferry students from the train station to the heart of the CSUSM campus and vice versa.

San Marcos High School is a high school in the North County city of San Marcos, California. San Marcos High School is a member of the San Marcos Unified School District and serves students from San Marcos, Vista, and Carlsbad. Out of the 4 high schools in the district, it the largest in San Marcos Unified by student enrollment at more than 3000 in 2021. San Marcos High School also has a joint program with LCC High School nearby to serve students in the area.

San Marcos Civic Center station is a station on North County Transit District's SPRINTER hybrid rail line. It serves the heart of San Marcos, California. It is located at the intersection of San Marcos Boulevard and West Mission Road. A preview service stopped at San Marcos Civic Center on December 28, 2007, and regular service commenced March 9, 2008.