Anza Valley

The Ramona Band of Cahuilla is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla Indians, located in Riverside County, California.

Anza is a census-designated place located in southwestern Riverside County, California, in the Anza Valley, a semi-arid region at a mean elevation of 3,921 feet (1,195 m) above sea level. It is located 13 miles (21 km) south of Idyllwild, 32 miles (51 km) east-northeast of Temecula, 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Palm Springs, and 90 miles (140 km) northeast of San Diego, being traversed by State Route 371. Anza is on the Pacific Crest Trail. The population was 3,075 at the 2020 census. Locally, Anza and several other mountain communities (including Garner Valley, Idyllwild, Pinyon Pines and Aguanga) are collectively referred to as "the Hill." The ZIP code is 92539, and the community is inside area code 951.

Hamilton High School is a public high school in Anza, California, United States. It became a true 9-12 high school in the school year 2006–2007. The school was used as an evacuation center during the Mountain Fire in July 2013.

Hamilton Creek is a tributary stream of Cahuilla Creek, (itself a tributary of Wilson Creek, Temecula Creek, and the Santa Margarita River), in Riverside County, California. Its mouth is found in the Anza Valley at an elevation of 3,865 feet (1,178 m). Its source is at 33°32′46″N 116°34′36″W at an elevation of 4,800 feet on the southwest facing slope of Lookout Mountain in the Santa Rosa Mountains.

Cahuilla, pronounced , (formerly, Kawia, Coahuilla, Cohuilla, and Coahuila) is an unincorporated community in Riverside County, California. It is part of the Cahuilla Reservation and lies in a high desert valley at an elevation of 3642 feet (1110 m). It is located 27 miles (43.5 km) south by road from mile-high Idyllwild. Cahuilla is on SR 371, about 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Anza, California. The Cahuilla Post Office first opened in 1888, moved in 1889 and 1895, closed in 1903, reopened in 1909, closed for a time in 1919, closed again in 1921, reopened in 1924 before closing for good in 1926. In 1926, the Anza Post Office was officially established.: 12 Facilities in Cahuilla have addresses on Highway 371 and use Anza, CA as their postal code. The Cahuilla Casino, first opened in 1996, and Mountain Sky Travel Center, a convenience store and gas station first opened in 2015, are both owned by the Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians of the Cahuilla Reservation and both located in Cahuilla with addresses in nearby Anza. A new casino and hotel, after some delay from the coronavirus, replaced the old casino and was opened May 2020.

Lake Hemet Dam, located in Mountain Center, California, impounds the South Fork of the San Jacinto River and creates Lake Hemet. The dam and lake are surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest. The dam is operated by the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District, which supplies water to parts of the cities of Hemet and San Jacinto as well as the Garner Valley community of Mountain Center.

The Cahuilla Mountain Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located in Riverside County in Southern California. The 5,575 acres (2,256 ha) wilderness is managed by the United States Forest Service in the San Bernardino National Forest. The summit of Cahuilla Mountain sits at 5604 feet (1708 m) and provides an excellent view of the nearby Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail. A trail to the top winds through the chaparral, as well as groves of live oak and Jeffrey pine. Local wildlife include mountain lion, mountain and California quail, and the rare red diamond rattlesnake.

Lake Hemet is a water storage reservoir located in the San Jacinto Mountains in Mountain Center, Riverside County, California, with a capacity of 14,000 acre-feet (17,000,000 m3) of water. It was created in 1895 with the construction of Lake Hemet Dam. Originally built by a private company, today it is owned and operated by the Lake Hemet Municipal Water District (LHMWD).

Yokoji Zen Mountain Center is a year-round Zen Buddhist training and retreat center located in the San Jacinto Mountains of Southern California. It is a 160 acres (65 hectares) of sacred Native American land and wilderness. Founded 1981 by Taizan Maezumi, Roshi as a summer retreat center for the Zen Center of Los Angeles. Charles Tenshin Fletcher, Roshi who received Dharma transmission from Taizan Maezumi in the White Plum Zen Lineage is the teacher and abbot. His successor, David Jokai Blackwell, serves as vice-abbot.When Yokoji Zen Mountain Center was founded, the formal name of the temple was Dounzan Yokoji. Doun refers to the honorary founder, Shiomi Doun, Roshi; Zan means mountain; and Yokoji means sunlight temple. Commonly the center was known by the name of Zen Mountain Center and in 2006 it returned to the lineage root name, Yokoji Zen Mountain Center to prevent confusion with other Zen centers. Yokoji Zen Mountain Center is open to people in all spiritual traditions and walks of life. The center has full-time residential training programs, as well as regularly scheduled silent meditation retreats (sesshin). Home practice is also supported by coming to the center for periods of intensive practice as well and local practice with one of the affiliated sitting groups. Affiliated sitting groups are located in: Los Angeles, California Pasadena, California Long Beach, California Boca Raton, Florida Mexico City, Mexico Liverpool, England Wellington, New Zealand Mendoza, ArgentinaThe buildings and grounds of the center were developed with ecological principles in concept and construction. It is an alternative power community and serves as the ecological model for the EarthWitness Foundation.

Lake Riverside is a census-designated place in the south western part of Riverside County, California. Lake Riverside sits at an elevation of 3,379 feet (1,030 m). The 2010 United States census reported Lake Riverside's population was 1,173. The community is named after the man-made Lake that the community surrounds.

Mountain Center is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the San Jacinto Mountains, within western central Riverside County, California.

The Mountain Fire was a wildfire in July, 2013 in Mountain Center, Riverside County, California, about 100 miles east of Los Angeles. It burned primarily in the San Jacinto Mountains in the San Bernardino National Forest. It started on July 15, 2013 at 1:43 PM near the junction of Highway 243 and Highway 74. It burned for 16 days on steep slopes of timber and chaparral above Palm Springs. Heavy rainfall, up to 1.5 inches (3.8 cm), on July 21 helped bring the blaze under control. It was fully contained on July 30, 2013.Cal Fire investigators said the fire was caused by a failure of "some type of electrical equipment" on private property and was not related to utility company equipment. At the fire's peak there were 3,500 firefighters on the lines as well as 20 helicopters, 12 airplanes and 260 engines. The cost of fighting the fire was estimated at $25.8 million.