Mount Vaca
| Mount Vaca | |
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Mt. Vaca and the Blue Ridge, high points of Solano County, as seen from upper Suisun Valley.
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 2,822 ft (860 m) NAVD 88 |
| Prominence | 1,959 ft (597 m) |
| Listing | California county high points 53rd |
| Coordinates | 38°24′01″N 122°06′22″W / 38.4001881°N 122.1060815°WCoordinates: 38°24′01″N 122°06′22″W / 38.4001881°N 122.1060815°W |
| Geography | |
 Mount Vaca
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| Location | Napa and Solano counties, California, U.S. |
| Parent range | Vaca Mountains |
| Topo map | USGS Mount Vaca |
Mount Vaca is a mountain in Napa and Solano counties of Northern California. It is both the highest point in the Vaca Mountains and in Solano County. It is also one of several peaks in the San Francisco Bay Area that receive winter snow.
Vaca is the Spanish word for cow. Although cattle ranching historically played an important role in the area, Mount Vaca and the nearby city of Vacaville are actually named for Juan Manuel Cabeza Vaca (1782-1856), who with Juan Felipe Pena received in 1843 the Rancho Los Putos Mexican land grant, which included the peak that now bears Vaca's name.
The summit of Mount Vaca is reached via either Mix Canyon Road or Gates Canyon Road, both of which originate in Vacaville California. These roads intersect Blue Ridge Road, which is the same as County Road 354, and follows the ridge top to the summit high point. Lands on either side of Blue Ridge Road are private property, but the road itself is a public thoroughfare. Although both Gates Canyon and Mix Canyon are often illegally posted with "No Trespassing" signs to prevent reaching Blue Ridge Road, public access is confirmed by the Solano County Surveyors Office. There are also Fire Department gates across Blue Ridge Road that are closed during periods of extreme fire danger, but should be open otherwise.
The San Francisco Bay Area is surrounded by mountain ranges that obstruct weather radar, even government broadcasts, thereby leaving blind spots in the weather prediction system. As a consequence, television station KPIX-TV, a San Francisco CBS affiliate, partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to build a Doppler weather radar on top of Mt. Vaca. Before this, the mountain blocked radar information about storms coming in from the Northwest, which compromised weather prediction and allowed for flooding, heavy rains, and high winds without prior warnings. This new radar system gives meteorologists a more complete view of precipitation and temperature patterns in the Bay Area, and allows for more accurate weather predictions.
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