The Jackass Mail service, soldiers, Spanish conquistadors, pioneers, emigrants, and explores traveling in wagons used this narrow passage

“The mule driven stagecoaches had few places to stop and rest besides outdoor campsites. But the Vallecito Stage Station was different, it offered food, water, and a place to sleep”

This small cemetery holding 3 graves, can be found on the property near campsite #8

1.The first grave is of James Mason, “Mason was the first land patent owner, and the last to live in Vallecito”

2.The second is John Hart, “Hart and his wife Mary moved into the sod house, supplying travelers, after the Lassator-Mulkins clan left”

3.And the third unmarked grave is believed to be the resting place of Miss Eileen O’Conner. From Eileen’s death stemmed one of the most iconic ghost stories of the West. The Lady in White

(Photo of Mason, Lady in White story, and info courtesy of, “Historic Stage Routes of San Diego County” by Ellen Sweet and Lynne Newell. For more info visit arcadiapublishing.com)

Native Americans, western women, and  gunslingin mustached men arnt the only brave beings to live in this unforgiving territory.

A man by the name of Marshall South made a life with his wife Tanya and their three children on top of ghost mountain. They built a house, tended a garden, and Marshall made a living writing articles about living in the desert. They lived this way for over a decade. But soon Tanya grew tired of this harsh desert lifestyle, and they decided to separate and move.

To this day bits of the foundation remain weathering in the elements. All that’s left is the door frame, metal bed springs, a make shift irrigation system, and a primitive sundial.

The 1 mile trail up ghost mountain is located 3 miles into the Blair valley campground.