Once the escrow closes, the Haun Road Archaeological Site in Menifee will be owned by the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors members are also the board of the Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District, and on Feb. 28 the county supervisors acting as the park district board voted 4-0, with Manuel Perez absent, to approve an agreement for the purchase and sale of real property between the Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District and the Pechanga Tribe. Approximately 35.5 acres of vacant land on Haun Road north of Scott Road will be purchased for $1,000,000.
The Haun Road Archaeological Site is also sometimes called Ringing Rock or the Menifee Valley Archaeological Site. The property is near the intersection of Haun Road and Scott Road west of Interstate 215.
The reason the property has historically been known as Ringing Rock is due to the ceremonial rock located at the site. Archaeologists have known about the rock since the early 20th century. Later in the century archaeologists recognized the significance of the site as a village site complete with burials, bedrock mortars and rock art.
When the area was slated for development in the late 1980s the county’s parks department worked with the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to acquire two parcels, which were purchased in 1990 for a total of $1.295 million. A third parcel was added to the park property later in the 1990s.
From the start of the process the parks department worked with the Pechanga Tribe to ensure proper care for the site. Since the early 1990s the Pechanga Tribe has managed the site to protect the cultural resources on the property. In the mid-1990s the parks department entered into a management agreement with Pechanga, and since then a Tribal member has lived at the property as a caretaker.
The property was never dedicated for park or open space purposes. In April 2022, the Riverside County Regional Park and Open-Space District declared the three parcels to be surplus property. County and park district staff worked with the Pechanga tribe on a purchase and sale agreement. Because no construction or additional use will occur as a result of the sale, the action to approve the sale was found to be categorically exempt from California Environmental Quality Act review.
The funds acquired through the sale of the property will be used for cultural and interpretive resources under the park district’s care.
