By Miriam Raftery

Overview

Nestled in the foothills of San Diego’s East County, The Ramona region is nationally recognized as an American Viticultural Region (AVA). You can savor wines at over 40 tasting rooms.  

Ramona is also home to a historic downtown district with shopping, galleries and restaurants, a western museum, a camel dairy, a paint ball range, colorful murals, restaurants , and live music including a theater with concerts. There are also annual events including rodeos, a country fair, hawk watch,  an art and wine festival, and a holiday wine trail to savor.

There are also several county parks in Ramona where you can enjoy hiking trails and scenic views. Ramona’s lodging options range from resorts with golf, tennis and spa facilities to rustic cabins and camping.  

By Karen Pearlman

April 25, 2025 (San Diego’s East County  – The Anza-Borrego Desert in inland San Diego County is captivating with its beauty and expansiveness, humbling and powerful in its quietness. A landscape of extremes -- sun-scorched earth and hidden blooms, rugged canyons carved by time, and sudden spring wildflowers when the rain gods have been kind -- the desert has a raw quality that strips everything down to the essentials of light, shadow, stone and sky.

Our desert region includes Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, famous for its spring wildflowers and rugged terrain; the city of Borrego Springs, the nation’s first “Dark Sky” community and ideal for stargazing; Agua Caliente State Park, known for its thermal pools; Ocotillo Wells, a wildly popular draw for off-road vehicles; and Jacumba Hot Springs, a town that has reinvented itself and become a destination on its own merits.