Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Services in Del Dios, CA

Del Dios is an unincorporated lakeside community in San Diego County that first appeared as a census-designated place in the 2020 census, when it recorded a population of 396.

Del Dios began in the early 1920s as a cabin colony on the western shore of Lake Hodges, after Los Angeles investors Townsend and Wagner bought 400 acres there to sell lots for a boating and fishing resort.

The settlement started as Camp Santa Fe in 1923 and was renamed Camp del Dios in the summer of 1925, when the California Outing Company completed 35 cabins along with a general store, a service station and a lumber yard; more than 700 cabin lots were sold.

The community exists because of Lake Hodges, whose dam was completed in 1918 on the San Dieguito River to supply water to San Diego's coastal cities.

Del Dios covers just 0.41 square miles at an elevation of 361 feet, strung along Lake Drive and the winding Del Dios Highway between Escondido and Rancho Santa Fe.

The 2020 census found Del Dios about 81.8% White alone (non-Hispanic) and 10.6% Hispanic or Latino, and American Community Survey figures put its median household income at $93,542 with a per capita income of $65,627, well above county norms.

Del Dios Community Park gives the tiny settlement a playground, basketball court, baseball field, tennis courts and a pond, while the Del Dios Highlands County Preserve above town offers views over Lake Hodges and, on clear days, to the Pacific Ocean.

Local legend holds that Lake Hodges is home to a lake monster nicknamed 'Hodgee,' whose reported sightings around the Del Dios shore date to the 1970s and became a running joke in the community newsletter.

Del Dios children attend schools in the Escondido Union Elementary School District and the Escondido Union High School District.