[2] The major floral biomes of Rancho Bernardo are chaparral, coastal sage scrub, Southern California grassland and freshwater marsh/riparian habitat.

[3] The community is a sprawling community with shopping centers, golf courses, and office parks typical of San Diego development located about 20 miles (32 km) north-northeast of downtown San Diego, immediately east of 4S Ranch, north of Carmel Mountain Ranch, northwest of the city of Poway, and south of the city of Escondido.

[8] On October 22, 2007, the Witch Creek Fire burned through Rancho Bernardo and several other populous areas of San Diego County, destroying hundreds of homes, and completely destroying several entire neighborhoods, particularly ones that firefighters had trouble accessing due to rugged terrain and rapidly advancing flames pushed by strong Santa Ana winds.

The highly unpredictable flames pushed into the northeast section of Poway during the day, prompting evacuation of Palomar-Pomerado Hospital.

[12] Rancho Bernardo is home to the corporate headquarters campus of Petco, which is 300,000 square feet and includes a dog park and other play spaces and habitat for wildlife.

Other companies with a presence in the area include General Atomics, Broadcom, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Renovate America, Teradata, LSI Corporation, BAE Systems, ASML, Northrop Grumman and Amazon.