bridle trail

We are constant explorers of Balboa Park. We run there several times a week, & we've been known to spend an entire day every so often walking through the entire park from the archery areas to the rose garden. The park, previously called City Park before it was truly developed into what we know today, has really become a marvelous point of pride for the city. With all the museums, lush gardens, canyons, fountains, restaurants & plenty of areas to play or picnic - there really is just nothing like Balboa Park. We took this hike on a gorgeous sunny day, which happened to be the last Saturday in 2007.

• Trail: Bridle Trail (map)
• Location: Balboa Park (trailhead north of the bowling greens near Redwood Circle, in the park from 6th Ave & Maple St.)
  
• Length: 1 mile (then walk back)
  
• Hike time: about 20 minutes
  
• Terrain: winding hills for a wide dirt path
• Path visibility: Very clearly marked
  
• Difficulty: easy - great for the whole family
  
• Cost: free parking throughout Balboa Park or along 6th Ave. on the park - some metered spots along 5th & 6th if you have trouble parking
  
• Highlight destination: knowing you are in the middle of the city, but surrounded by such an urban jungle
  
• Beware: this is not the type of area you want to go in after dark - & women should always hike with a partner on this trail
  

This hike, more than any other Balboa experience we had, really inspired us to learn more about the gorgeous park so many San Diegans enjoy each day. Ahh, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.

We ran the park in the morning & thought it might be a good day to take on this newly rehabilitated trail. The park and volunteers had just recently reclaimed the Bridle Trail from the criminal activity/loitering last month, but this still wouldn't be the safest place to go alone. The maps of the park had recently been updated & provided a good guide for finding the trailhead (maps online still don't show it). Even so, we were a little uncertain trying to find the trail but once in the area between the bowling greens and Redwood Circle, it was very clearly marked with a sign.

You can tell that a lot of effort went into preparing this path. The brush was pushed aside for a wide dirt path, which was bordered by logs giving it a more formal feel that this really was an official path & not just some odd dirt road leading you into the depths of Balboa Park!

Along the way, it seemed especially green in some areas, leading us to think they may have planted some grass seed during the reclamation of the trail.

The path was a nice mix of rolling hills, not as steep as some of the hikes we've done lately - but nothing to shake your head at. You go pretty far down into the canyon, and then of course have to walk back upward to meet the manicured greens of the park.

Going down our first hill, we came to a fork & were a bit unsure as to whether we should go right or left. We decided to go left & that turned out to keep us going the longest. The trail isn't an out-and-back. Rather, it is a 1-mile path from one point in the park to another.

When you get down to the lowest part of the trail, you are actually walking alongside Highway 163. This is both a good thing & a bad. It's great because you really are forced to realize that you are hiking in a hidden urban jewel of unspoilt land in the middle of the city. The smell & noise & view of the cars on the highway round out the obvious "bad."

After walking along the highway (rather closely & only separated by a chain link fence) for a few minutes, you start to move your way back into the park & upward.

At one point, we had a nice view of the back of the San Diego Zoo & saw some animals taking a break from the front lines of tourists viewing.

If you wanted to run this course (as many people were doing during our early afternoon hike), you would probably want to start at the end of the trial to minimize the inclines to something a little more manageable (but challenging anyway you look at it).

After about 20 minutes of walking, we started to see the bright grass and picnic areas so familiar in the park. We were let out off the trail around 6th Ave & Upas at a nice open area with picnic benches.

We walked to the north a bit toward the more residential area, drawn by a large home with beautiful gardens. Little did we realize we had stumbled upon the home of the man they call "San Diego's First Citizen," George Marston. The Tudor-meets-Craftsman style home is now open to the public & operated by the San Diego Historical Society. We walked around the grounds a bit, peaked in some windows, then realized we were right on time for a tour. The tours appeared to be operated on the hour, cost about $5 (less for military, children, etc) & last an hour. After the tour we were in complete agreement: it had to be the best historical tour we've ever had. The man who led our small tour group took us through each room, knew everything from details about architecture to cultural details about living in 1905. What a wonderful bargain!

On way back from the trail & the Marston House tour, we marveled at the park that Mr. Marston had donated so much of his own money to develop. We looked at the grounds, the many activity areas & gardens with a new renewed sense of interest toward Balboa Park. What a great afternoon!


Tipped off: We found this hike mentioned by another San Diego hike blogger, then did some research on it & thought it sounded like a great little urban hike. Thanks for the tip, Peter!

forest trail in mount vernon

A few weeks ago, we were both in DC & decided to use the time wisely to see if there were any great hikes in the region. After a little searching, we found we could mix tourist duties with hiking! So we jumped at the chance to walk the Forest Trail, on the historic Mount Vernon George Washington estate.

• Trail: Forest Trail (no map available)
• Location: Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens, Mount Vernon, Va.
  
• Length: 1/4 mile
  
• Hike time: 15 minutes (take your time)
  
• Terrain: dirt road, some steps, wood bridge
  
• Path visibility: Very clearly marked
  
• Difficulty: easy
  
• Cost: $13 per adult for admission to Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens
  
• Highlight destination: realization that you are walking where George Washington once did
  
• Beware: nothing - have a great time!
  

Can you think of anything better than taking a nice winter walk in the woods on the private property of President George Washington? The trail begins just off the hill where the main house sits.

At the start of the trail, you're greeted by a few cows & some historic replica farm equipment. Yeah, I'll admit it. I climbed into the wagon for a picture or two, but you won't find that evidence posted here! Walking along to the right side of this area into the trees to the trail, you cross a nice wood bridge to the thick of the woods.

And that is where it hits you.

Not only are you walking on George Washington's property, he likely walked these woods every morning to survey the land.

There were tons of signs along the way, pointing out species of plant or animal life that were present in Washington's time & a few fun quizzes as well.

The walk itself curved around various parts of the forest, but at 1/4 mile it wasn't long enough to get the heart going. This is, after all, basically a museum activity. (If you want a serious hike, you should probably do the 18-mile Mount Vernon trail, which leads hikers along the Potomac from Rosslyn to Mount Vernon.)

The forest trail ends at a farming area exhibition, which recreated a barn and various planting areas all overlooking the Potomac River.

The walk in the woods gives the estate visitors a chance to reflect on how amazing the Mount Vernon historic experience is & really walk a few steps in Washington's world.


Tipped off: We found this one on the Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens Web site when researching tourist activities in DC.

tecate peak

Can you think of anything better to do on Christmas day than take a 9-mile hike up a mountain? We couldn't. After a delish meal, we made the drive out to the border to take on what turned out to be our toughest hike yet.

• Trail: Tecate Peak (map)
• Location: Tecate Mountain on CA side of US/Mexico border
  
• Length: around 9 miles (up & down)
  
• Hike time: 1.5 hours up, just over an hour down
  
• Terrain: gravel road with some steep incline/decline and loose rocks at places
  
• Path visibility: Very clearly marked
  
• Difficulty: difficult
  
• Cost: free
  
• Highlight destination: summit: you did it!
  
• Beware: we have lots of tips about timing of hike & what to bring so check it out below
  

For Christmas, we wanted a longer hike & a great adventure. We could not have picked a more appropriate trail. After a relatively early Christmas feast, we set out for the US/Mexico border to take on 3880+ feet high Tecate Peak (on the California side).

According to our hike book, there is a lot of history associated with this location. Indian tribes used to climb to the summit for peace conferences. The Kumeyaay Indians also believed that the granitic boulders emanated holy powers.

The drive out to the peak took about 45 minutes, in Christmas traffic (that means no one was on the road). The drive itself was worth the journey. As we got further and further away from downtown San Diego, the terrain started looking closer to something out of sci-fi than urban SD! The boulders lining the roads and sitting atop burned out hills from the recent fires reminded both of us of Hollywood's version of another planet.

The directions from Schad on getting to the hike were great, so consult his before making this drive. About 1.6 miles after turning on to Highway 188, you will see an unpaved road on the right - it is just in front of the "International Border 15,000 feet" sign. Take that right. Then, be prepared for some serious off-roading for 2.8 miles. We're not talking smooth, often-traveled gravel roads here. There are patches of road with lots of big loose rocks on the thin one-car-at-a-time road.

If you feel like you are exceptionally close to Mexico it is because you are! You drive right along the border fence for sometime, pass several industrial lights they turn on toward the border at night & we saw border patrol as well.

You feel like you're almost driving up the mountain, because well, you are - until you get to the gate blocking the road. The gate was open when we went & even though Schad said to park beneath it there was a nice extra bit of road that looked good for parking right inside the gate so we did that with no problem (gate was still unlocked after dark when we got back to the car).

Next we looked for the trailhead. Trailhead? There is no official trailhead! You park at the gate & go. The entire journey is along this inclined mountain road that was constructed in 1958, which has restricted traffic. We didn't see one person or another car the entire hike. Save a few ATV engines humming in the distance, you would think we were the only ones out there.

It was about 4.5 miles up, and took us 1.5 hours to to top. There are way too many details for a single blog post, so I'll just try to cover the highlights.

The boulder and rock formations were the most amazing sites. Some were granite, some with red splashed on the side, and almost all were the most remarkable shapes and perched in the most peculiar positions along the mountain side. These are true landmarks & I was surprised how well I was able to remember them on the way down.

Sadly, the fires this fall had definitely been here (pdf of Harris Fire), as we saw several burned out areas and could almost trace the path of the blaze.

We noticed animal footprints along the road. Comparing what we saw to pictures of tracks online, I think they might have been from a coyote. We saw traces of our little friend all the way up, but never actually encountered anything.

Not far into the hike, you really get a great view of the twin cities of Tecate. On the California side it is much more rural than the Baja California side in Mexico. We were able to see the famous brewery on the Mexican side, & spotted a lake further off in the distance. Once at the top of the peak & on the other side of the mountain, we even swear we saw past Imperial Beach to the ocean. It was simply breathtaking!

At this point, the winds were pretty strong. We took a moment to enjoy the setting sun & look out over the surroundings, but knew we needed to get down as quickly as possible to make the most of the remaining light. This was our biggest mistake with this hike: we started too late in the day for such a long hike.

We ran about a mile down from the summit because the path was pretty solid with very little loose gravel to cause any falls. What fun! After that, it started getting a little dark so we slowed it down to stay safe.

Going down was almost as amazing as going up. Looking at the path before us, I was struck by how long & sharp the incline of some of the sections were. I did that? Wow! It was a remarkable chance to review your hike & a great moment to reveal in the pride of having made it to the top.

Even though it was challenging & we made a few poor decisions on this hike, it was worth it. If you know you can handle a hike of this caliber, put this one at the top of your list!

Based on our hike, there a lot of little tips we would give to anyone else trying this hike out:

• use a truck or other 4-wheel drive vehicle to get out there because the road leading up to the trail is not pleasant
  
• go in the morning, we went in the late afternoon & had the sun in our eyes the entire way up
• wear lots of layers because it was a gorgeous 70 or so in San Diego but much cooler at the trailhead then very windy in spots along the sides of the mountain
  
• give yourself enough time to get up - probably budget 4 hours for the hike itself
• don't be caught on the mountain after dark. We started down the mountain right at sunset (we just really wanted to make it to the top against better judgment!) and we ended up walking in pitch darkness for more than 40 minutes - resulting in me taking several spills & I was lucky enough not to really get anything more than a scrape
  
• don't go after heavy rains because there was a good deal of mud along the roads without having seen much rain, it would only be worse after a big rainfall
• this is better as a hike than a mountain bike excursion - I've seen pictures of people on the mountain on their bikes & after doing it I just don't know how that is possible. The inclines were a nice 15 degrees up in most places, but going up in long sections especially near the top. Also, the thought of riding a bike down this uneven, loosely graveled road seems dangerous too.
  
• take your cell phone - about 1/3 or the way up you might switch to a Mexican cell tower, but I still had great reception if something went wrong
  

Tipped off: We found this one in our trusty hiking book, new edition (May 2007) of Jerry Schad's Afoot & Afield in San Diego County. Schad has another, very similar write-up online we found after the hike.

bayside trail

It was a clear December day right before Christmas -- so what better thing to do in sunny San Diego than take a hike! We paged through the hike book in Starbucks in the morning & found an old classic: the Bayside Trail in Point Loma at the Cabrillo National Monument. With views of the San Diego Bay, downtown skyline, Silver Strand, NAS North Island - and heck, we could actually see all the way down to Mexico! - it seemed like the perfect choice for a gorgeous, clear winter day.

• Trail: Bayside Trail (map)
• Location: Point Loma
  
• Length: 2.4 miles (out & back)
  
• Hike time: 15 minutes down, 20 minutes up
  
• Terrain: gravel winding road
  
• Path visibility: Very clearly marked
  
• Difficulty: easy - great for the whole family & lots of benches along the way for enjoying the view
  
• Cost: $5 to park (good for a week of unlimited entries though!)
  
• Highlight destination: the view takes it all! City, mountains, ships, naval aircraft landing, seeing all the way to Mexico - wow!
  
• Beware: the museums & the lookout points before the trail are busy
  

Save this hike for a clear day. Sure, it is great any time of year, any type of weather ... but on a clear day you can really see it all. Unobstructed views of the mountains in the distance, the city skyline, the bay ... the list of what you can see on a clear day is too long to name.

We started at the visitor's center, where they had some educational presentations going on for the kids, complete with the presenters in colonial clothing. We breezed past this straight to the overlook point on the other side. It was just breathtaking! I can't gush about it enough. From the naval station right in front to being able to see all the way back to the mountains, I just don't know that there is a better view of everything the city has to offer than this! Don't worry if you forget your binoculars, they have stationary ones there for you.

Next, we moved over to that actual Cabrillo National Monument statue. This statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo lies on one the smallest national monuments in the nation (only 144 acres). Facing inland with his back to the spectacular view, it is was almost as if he was ready to explore more of the land that has become San Diego.

The walk toward the trailhead leads us to one more tourist stop: the Old Point Loma Lighthouse. This was the first lighthouse we had both seen close up & toured. There were great displays of how lighthouses worked in the olden days reflecting a small lamp and magnifying that light out to the seas, keeping sailors from crashing into land. We were able to go into both the assistant keeper's quarters and the lighthouse itself. It was really interesting & worth the stop prior to the hike. Of course, it was busy but if you're patient you can read all the signs & get a good look at the displays.

Once done at the lighthouse, we were ready to start the hike. It was 3:45 p.m. & the sign at the trailhead said the trail closed at 4 p.m., but we kept on & never felt rushed by the rangers on site. The walk from the lighthouse to the trailhead was a short five minutes down a little winding paved road & we didn't count that as part of the official hike.

At the trailhead, the path changes to gravel. Parts of the path are heavily eroded, but the park has that part roped off well for hiker safety. The trail descends about 300 feet & it is all scenery all the way.

Besides the view, which I'm not sure I could say anything more than "breathtaking" & "amazing" about, there were so many neat little things along the way. For instance, we came up on a bunker built into the cliff. Inside the bunker was a mobile search light used during both World Wars that they could quickly roll out to the edge of the cliff on tracks to look at approaching vessels. This was just one illustration of many that drove home the fact that this area was an excellent strategic element in coastal defense.

This park doesn't really need 4 unique museum-like information centers (visitor center, 2 light house buildings, military museum) because the view is the real star, but having those there really add to the experience. Take it slow. Don't be put off by the crowd on clear days & you could honestly spend hours there.

After the climb back up, we decided to head a few minutes away to watch the sun set over the Pacific. It was a perfect sunset, with the sun disappearing in a blink, ending a lovely hike I hope to do many times again.


Tipped off: My hiking partner has been here before & I briefly visited (just for the view, not the hike) back in 2003. We really got jazzed about the hike after looking in the new edition (May 2007) of Jerry Schad's Afoot & Afield in San Diego County for a "perfect on a clear day!" hike. It did not disappoint!

cowles mountain

This post has been a long time coming, because we hiked this trail during summertime. We had decided we wanted to see the sunset from the highest point in the city of San Diego, and getting our hike on was part of the bargain.

• Trail: Cowles Mountain from Golfcrest Drive (map)
• Location: Mission Trails Regional Park
  
• Length: 3 miles (out & back)
  
• Hike/run time: 45 minutes up, 20 minutes back down
  
• Terrain: Dirt path, some rocks, some stairs
  
• Path visibility: Clearly marked
  
• Difficulty: Moderately steep -- it is a mountain, after all
  
• Cost: free parking at corner of Navajo and Golfcrest
  
• Highlight destination: The top! Can't beat the view!
  
• Beware: Lots of traffic on the path, and coming down can be tricky
  

After parking in the street (the lot was full) we started making our way up. We knew we had pushed our luck by getting there only about 35 minutes before sunset, so we tried to limit our sightseeing as we headed up. Still, after only 10 minutes or so you can't help but notice how beautiful the view of the city below is from the mountainside.

There were lots of other people already heading up the mountain ahead of us. They had obviously planned a little better to reach the summit in time for the sunset. But we were undaunted. We set a pretty good pace up the trail, which was fairly steep and full of switchbacks. We didn't have as good a pace as some of the runners on the trail, though - it was pretty impressive to see them tackling the hill at speed, and it even looked kind of fun in a masochistic way. Kind of a natural, rugged version of Rocky running up the steps in Philadelphia.

The trail itself actually heads up to a shoulder on the southeast side of the mountain, and then levels out and slightly descends before heading up the main summit where some radio towers and various antennas are perched. We had not had much verticality in our hikes before this, so we felt pretty good about really climbing a mountain ... well, the kids running up and down the path beside us kept us from being too proud of our feat, but still, there was no arguing that we were gaining some altitude.

Our diligence and urgency paid off. The sun set a little bit later atop the 1,591 ft peak than scheduled at sea level, so we arrived at the top just in time to see a the sun touching the top of the Pacific beyond what must have been La Jolla, and then slowly sliding down into the sea. It was a gorgeously clear day, and looking down at the little houses spreading out towards the city skyline, all the way to the Coronado bridge, we felt very lucky to be enjoying the panorama of America's Finest City as the sky turned colors from a deep blue behind us to a bright gold in front of us.

We stayed for a little while at the top. Drank some water. Took photos. Basked in our success. Then decided we better head down before it got too dark. The path isn't exactly treacherous, but I certainly wouldn't want to descend it blindfolded. Short of a full moon, it would be a less than pleasant trek down at night.

As we reached the bottom it was just getting uncomfortably dark, so we were glad we didn't stay too long on top. But this was one of our favorite hikes, and we're hoping to repeat it early in the morning on the Winter Solstice, which local native Americans used to mark on this mountain annually.

We're probably not ready to run up the mountain yet, but the view alone definitely makes it a goal worth working towards.



Tipped off: We first saw this hike in the entertainment section of the Union-Tribune's Web site, in the Best Of San Diego section, where San Diegans vote on their favorite things around the city.