Before the park, a fight to preserve the land
by Nancy Yates
Noah and Nancy Yates were honored with a Peñasquitos Canyon Park Day proclamation from the County of San Diego — a tribute to their vision, perseverance, and tireless advocacy for one of Southern California’s last great coastal canyons.
Beautiful Canyon to Explore
Peñasquitos Canyon, once part of California’s first Mexican land grant, was a quiet valley of oak groves, creek beds, and history — a sanctuary poised on the edge of development.
A New Beginning
In the mid-1970s, Mira Mesa was a brand-new suburb, its neighborhoods sprouting faster than the schools, parks, and public services meant to sustain them. When Nancy and Noah Yates moved there in 1975, they saw both promise and imbalance. Determined to help shape their growing community, the couple began attending Mira Mesa Planning Committee meetings — unaware that those meetings would soon set them on a life-changing path.
The Fight for Preservation
One evening, environmental advocate Jeannie O’Toole unrolled a massive map of the canyon, exposing plans to carve it into housing tracts and roads. The warning electrified the room. Developers from Peñasquitos Inc. leapt up to dispute her presentation, but the warning had already struck a chord. Noah, who often hiked the shaded creek to its waterfall, was deeply shaken. After the meeting, he and Nancy approached Jeannie to ask how they could help. That simple question marked the beginning of their campaign to save the canyon.
By then, the County of San Diego had purchased 193 acres at the canyon’s east end, including the historic Rancho House. But to protect the land fully, more acreage needed to be secured. Working with developers from Peñasquitos Inc., the county used state park bond funds to buy additional parcels for $2.1 million. Later another 213 acres were added.
Nancy and Noah soon found themselves in the thick of city politics — meeting with County Supervisor Roger Hedgecock and City Councilman Bill Mitchell, who encouraged them to rally supporters, attend the City Council meetings, and voice their concerns. They soon learned firsthand how slow and frustrating the process could be. It was hard not to become disillusioned by how city government works, as time after time, lawyers from Penasquitos, Inc., after seeing the large turnout of supporters in the audience, would ask for a postponement of the Peñasquitos Canyon agenda item until later. Developers routinely postponed council votes, hoping to exhaust public turnout as they knew many of the supporters had taken time off from work to attend and would not be able to continue to do that. Still, the Yates refused to relent.
By late 1977, Nancy, was chairing the newly formed Citizens’ Ad Hoc Committee for Peñasquitos Park, which operated under the Northern Area Park and Recreation Committee. Together they rallied dozens of civic groups and delivered petitions to the San Diego City Council demanding that the full 3,730 acres of planned open space be saved.
A Movement Takes Root
Knowing that the city needed funds to purchase the large parcel of land in the Peñasquitos Canyon, Noah and Nancy –- along with other environmentalists — spent every spare hour gathering signatures to put Prop C on the ballot. In the spring of 1978, Prop C went before voters to secure open space for parkland.
Noah sought publicity for the cause by contacting Sunset Western Magazine to ask if they would feature Peñasquitos Canyon -- the last big coastal canyon in Southern California. They agreed on one condition: there had to be an event. So, Noah proposed a “Peñasquitos Canyon Park Day!” Sunset Magazine promoted the event in their spring edition.
The First Park Day
And so, Peñasquitos Canyon Park Day was born. The Yates — who had never organized anything on such a large scale — threw themselves into the effort, eager to share the beauty of the canyon with others. They designed t-shirts with “First Annual Peñasquitos Canyon Park Day, May 13, 1978” on the back with, at that time, was thought to be the Rancho Penasquitos brand.
They enlisted Nancy’s brother, botanist Jon Keeley, to lead native plant tours. They contacted Horseman’s Park to have horses available and Project Wildlife to promote the preservation of our local wildlife. Probably the surprise of the day was that Penasquitos, Inc. provided shuttle buses from the Ranch House out to the waterfall area for a first-time experience for many of them.
On May 13, 1978, more than 2,000 people streamed into the canyon for the inaugural Peñasquitos Canyon Park Day, opening the off-limits canyon to the public. Guided hikes introduced visitors to the canyon’s rare habitats and its deep cultural history. County Supervisor Roger Hedgecock rode in on horseback and publicly pledged to make the land a city-county priority for preservation. The gathering proved that broad community support existed for permanent protection.
Just weeks later, on June 6, Proposition C passed, unlocking $65 million to buy and protect open space across San Diego. City staff soon named Peñasquitos Canyon the top priority for acquisition — a victory born of a single community’s determination and love for the land.
The Yates continued to lead and inspire these efforts, helping to spark further public events and pressuring officials to uphold the city’s open-space vision. Their early action—born of a single community meeting and their love of the canyon’s beauty—was instrumental in turning public awareness into the political will that ultimately created today’s Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve.
Bill Hanks and Noah Yates, March 30, 1980
Life After the Fight
By the 1980’s, with their two sons, now 11 and 8, Noah and Nancy stepped back from politics, but never their passion for nature and helping others.
Nancy turned her focus to rescuing and rehabilitating injured and orphaned wild animals. Their home filled each spring with the sounds of baby birds and small mammals in recovery. A longtime teacher for 20 years in her in-home Happytime Preschool, Nancy saw wildlife care as an extension of education — a way to teach children empathy for living things. She trained to handle birds of prey, using a jess to safely hold hawks and owls on her gloved hand. She brought them into classrooms to show students what these birds looked like and to explain what had happened to them that made them unable to be released in the wild again. She shared that many of these birds of prey had been injured by b-b guns by kids “just wanting to bring it down so they could see what it looked like up close.” Her goal was simple and profound: if children could see the beauty of an owl or hawk up close, perhaps they’d think twice before ever shooting one.
Sharing the Wild
The Yates family poured their love of nature into Scouting for over 20 years, leading hikes through the canyon, teaching kids how to read animal tracks, identify birds, and how to leave no trace when hiking. Whenever possible, they shared the wonder that had once inspired their fight.
Noah loved visiting Penasquitos Canyon in his later years, hiking the trails as often as he could. Noah passed away on July 15, 2023.
In remembrance of Noah’s love for Penasquitos Canyon Preserve, the Yates’ family has donated two benches which are located on the south side, above the waterfalls.
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