San Antonio Valley (CA) (Images of America)

The San Antonio River, flowing for millennia from the highest peak in the Santa Lucia Mountain Range, carved out a valley on its way to join the Salinas River. These oak savannahs grow lush with native grasses and in spring ignite with one of the brightest wildflower displays in the state. Once the domain of the Salinan people, and later including the ranch lands of William Randolph Hearst, the valley now hosts the well-preserved Mission San Antonio de Padua, founded in 1771; farms and vineyards; mines and oil wells; historic Fort Hunter Ligget; and the communities of Jolon, Lockwood, Pleyto, and Bryson- Hesperia. Still ringed by blue, sometimes snow-capped mountains, this lovely valley remains a sanctuary for deer, mountain lion, tule elk, and the occasional black bear.