The San Rafael Mountains are a mountain range in central Santa Barbara County, California, U.S., separating the drainages of the Santa Ynez River and the Santa Maria River. They are part of the Transverse Ranges system of Southern California which in turn are part of the Pacific Coast Ranges system of western North America.

Geography

Most of the mountain range is within the Los Padres National Forest, and the northern slopes are included in the remote San Rafael Wilderness area.

The highest peaks include Big Pine Mountain (6,820 ft, 2,079 m), San Rafael Mountain (6,593 ft, 2,010 m) and McKinley Mountain (6,220 ft, 1,896 m), none of which are easily accessible except by foot or horse. The highest peak at the southern edge of the range is Little Pine Mountain.

Hurricane Deck is a spectacular block of sandstone that can be found deep in the San Rafael Wilderness.

The Sisquoc River headwaters are on the north slopes of Big Pine Mountain. It is a designated Wild and Scenic River of the United States, and a tributary of the Santa Maria River.

San Rafael (the Spanish-language name of the Archangel Raphael) is a common place-name in areas where that tongue is or was spoken:

Towns, cities, municipalities, etc.

San Rafael is one of the departments of Mendoza Province, Argentina. The seat of the department is in the city of San Rafael.

Statistics

Neighboring departments

Administration

The department is subdivided in 18 districts: Ciudad, El Cerrito, Cuadro Nacional, Las Malvinas District, El Sosneado (added in 2005, it used to belong to Cuadro Benegas, but then it was added as a district), Las Paredes, La Llave, Cuadro Benegas, Cuadro Nacional, Cañada Seca, Goudge, Jaime Prats, Monte Comán, Rama Caída, Real del Padre, Punta del Agua, Villa Atuel and Villa 25 de Mayo.

San Rafael is a town and commune of the Talca Province in the Maule Region of Chile. The town serves as the communal capital.

Demographics

According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, San Rafael spans an area of 263.5 km² (102 sq mi) and has 7,674 inhabitants (3,903 men and 3,771 women). Of these, 3,482 (45.4%) lived in urban areas and 4,192 (54.6%) in rural areas. The population grew by 6.5% (465 persons) between the 1992 and 2002 censuses.

Administration

As a commune, San Rafael is a third-level administrative division of Chile administered by a municipal council, headed by an alcalde who is directly elected every four years. The 2008-2012 alcalde is Patricio Poblete Yáñez (UDI).

Within the electoral divisions of Chile, San Rafael is represented in the Chamber of Deputies by Pablo Lorenzini (PDC) and Pedro Pablo Alvarez-Salamanca (UDI) as part of the 38th electoral district, (together with Curepto, Constitución, Empedrado, Pencahue, Maule, San Clemente, Pelarco and Río Claro). The commune is represented in the Senate by Juan Antonio Coloma Correa (UDI) and Andrés Zaldívar Larraín (PDC) as part of the 10th senatorial constituency (Maule-North).