State Route 79 (SR 79) is an approximately 106-mile (171 km) north-south state highway in the U.S. state of California. The highway's southern terminus is at Interstate 8 (I-8) at the Descanso Junction in San Diego County. Its northern terminus is at Interstate 10 (I-10) in the city of Beaumont in Riverside County. In San Diego County, SR 79 connects with Lake Cuyamaca and Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, the communities of Julian and Warner Springs. In Riverside County, the highway runs through the cities of Temecula, Murrieta, Hemet, and San Jacinto before reaching Beaumont.

Cuyamaca is a region of eastern San Diego County. It lies east of the Capitan Grande Indian Reservation in the western Laguna Mountains, north of Descanso and south of Julian. Named for the 1845 Rancho Cuyamaca Mexican land grant, the region is now dominated by the 26,000-acre (110 km2) Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. Within the park is the prominent Cuyamaca Peak, the second-highest mountain in San Diego County at 6,512 feet (1,984.9 m).