Agua Tibia Wilderness

Agua Tibia Wilderness is a 17,961acre protected area in Riverside and San Diego counties, California. It is mostly within the Palomar Ranger District of the Cleveland National Forest. The area was originally protected as the Agua Tibia Primitive Area until January 1975 when it was added to the National Wilderness Preservation System with the passage of Public Law 93-632 by the United States Congress. Between its inception and 1984, the ATW was San Diego County's only officially designated wilderness area. The Spanish name, Agua Tibia, translates as warm water.Its approximate boundaries are: North- SR-79 South East- Arroyo Seco River South- Fray Creek West- Pala RoadEnvironmentThere are no permanent streams in the ATW. The highest landform is Agua Tibia Mountain with an elevation of 4779ft.Though the summer climate is hot, with limited shade and no water sources, there were no fires in the ATW for 110 years. In the last two decades, there have been four fires including the Palomar Mountain Fire (1987), the Vail Fire (1989), the Agua Tibia Fire (2000), and the Poomacha Fire (2007). Its pollution exposure is monitored within the San Diego Air Basin.FloraThe Agua Tibia Wilderness is home to rare and endemic plants. These include: Nevin's barberry Rainbow manzanita Round-leaved boykinia Vail Lake ceanothus