Driving Directions:
Madre Grande Monastery is located in Dulzura,
California, in southeast San Diego County. It is 40 minutes from downtown, 35 miles from
the International Airport, and 7 miles from the Mexican border at Tecate.
A map and detailed directions are set out
below. But first...
The home of The Paracelsian Order at the
Madre Grande Monastery is open for private and group spiritual retreats, but
you must first have permission to visit there, as it is not a commercial
business open to the public. Please call the monastery office to arrange your retreat:
(619) 468-3006. Fees for retreats help maintain this retreat location. Your support of
this natural preserve is appreciated and allows the Order to keep their home available for
retreats such as this one.
A few driving tips:
- Watch for the right hand turn at a traffic
signal with a big shopping center in Jamul. You must turn right at the light to stay on
Highway 94. Continuing straight through the light puts you on Highway 54, and that won't
work at all.
- Stay on the graded roads and parking areas on
your way into, and inside, the monastery. You'll see for yourself why you don't want to
drive off the road on the way up. But the meadow of the monastery grounds can be
treacherously soft when wet. Vehicles driving off graded areas harm the vegetation and
risk sinking to their axles in mire - where tow trucks cannot effect rescue.
- There is a Border Patrol Checkpoint about 8
miles west of Madre Grande, on the road heading back out
toward San Diego. A good deed picking up a hitch hiker could spiral into charges of alien
smuggling, and that would be bad.
- The driveway to Madre Grande is wide enough
for cars to pass - in most places. But if it ever comes in handy to know, the car coming
uphill always has the right of way. If you see approaching traffic, use your head and look
for a wide area for the cars to pass. The driveway is passable by compact cars and sedans,
but try not to straddle rocks and rises that could scrape a tranny.
