trails in San Diego Archives - Food, Booze, & Baggage

Cuyamaca Rancho State Park: Green Valley Loop

August 26, 2015 by Mariah 7 Comments

This hike started in the Green Valley Campground, at the Arroyo Seco Picnic Area. I’m calling it the Green Valley Loop, which was what I found on Alltrails.com, but it is a combination of a few trails together to make the loop, and we did it a bit different than the original poster on alltrails. This is the best hike so far!! OMG guys this hike was AWESOME. The views were stunning and abundant, and talk about solitude. We did not encounter any other hikers at all. The whole 3 hours was just P and me, and the wind.

To make the loop we started at the Green Valley Campground, at the Arroyo Fire Road. This goes to the Horse Camp, and right after the camp, pick up the Arroyo Seco Trail. Do not take the Fox Trail, you will miss most of the views. Then pick up the West Mesa, to the Monument Trail, which will return you to the parking lot you started in.

I loved this hike, it was challenging, but so beautiful. The hike up was much, much more engaging than the hike down. This felt the most like a hike than any of our other adventures. The trail was very varied, going from fire road, to narrow, to grass covered, to rocky. The down part of this hike was very challenging. It required all your focus as it was extremely rocky. Honestly, I felt fine the whole hike until about halfway down, and my legs felt like jello and my ankles were complaining. It was just so hard to walk on the trail being SO rocky (see last picture below), that was pretty much the whole trail down.

While the Hollenbeck Canyon felt desolate, this felt serene. It was very peaceful and the view could not be beat. I loved it. The top was quite windy, we went when it was in the 80s. On a cooler day I’m sure you would need long-sleeves or jacket. There was quite a bit of grassy, grown in bits of the trail, so you may want to consider pants. We both had on shorts, and I did not come away with scratches, though I was a bit worried about ticks. We didn’t find any so I guess we got lucky 🙂

Other than the downhill challenge this hike was the BEST!!! P and I want to go back and do the longer Burnt Pine section of the trail.

Notes

Bug repellent is needed, the lower part of the trail was quite fly/gnat ridden.
Hiking shoes, honestly I don’t think we would have made it down in tennis shoes. You needed the stiffer soles.
Sunscreen & hat
Plenty of water
$8 cash for parking
It’s about a 45 minute drive to get to Cuyamaca Park from San Diego.
Make sure you have gas before HWY 79.
This hike was 6 miles.

Hollenbeck Canyon Trail

August 17, 2015 by Mariah 14 Comments

Hollenbeck Canyon Trail is outside of Jamal, CA, about 30 minutes from San Diego. This was our first time out in this direction. It felt very much like you were in the country; old west feeling.

This was the longest and hottest hike we have attempted to-date. This hike is a 6 mile loop and oh boy was it hot (92)!! This was also the least populated hike we have been on so far. We only passed people when starting and ending the hike. Two of the groups we passed were carrying guns, which made me feel a little uneasy. We passed no one on the majority of the hike.

Apparently in the wetter season (is there a wet season?) there are creeks you might cross, but this was not the case at all. The stream was still running though. What there was, were huge, luckily dead, tarantulas!!! On the positive, still no snakes dead or alive, YAY!! The trail is wide and dirt, it’s more of a road than a trail, and horses are allowed. Despite it being more of a road, this felt more in the “wild” than our prior hikes to me. It was devoid of car or people noise, you could hear the wind whipping through the grass, desolate.

The landscape is mix between trees and open grassland. There is not a huge elevation gain, but you do make a fairly good climb about a third of the way in, if you start on the right-hand side of the loop. I feel like if you started on the left-hand side, the climb would have been more gradual. Overall, the most challenging thing about the hike was the distance and heat.

I’m glad we tried it, but I enjoyed our other hikes more. I like loops because it’s not the same in and out, but I kind of like when you have that destination point at the top of climbs. I missed that on this hike, I felt a bit “are we there yet”. I think this one might be better in a different season.

Notes

Sunscreen!! While there are trees, not very much of the road is shaded.
Bring a hat. I was so glad I had one. It really helped with the sun and feeling like I was being cooked.
TONS of water, luckily we brought 3 liters and 2 16oz bottles.
Good shoes.
Parking is free for the trail.

Mission Trails Regional Park: Grasslands Loop Trail

July 27, 2015 by Mariah 8 Comments

The Grasslands Loop is one of the many trails, available in the Mission Trails Regional Park. Cowles Mountain is also part of the Mission Trails Regional Park. The Grasslands Loop was much less crowded than our Cowles Mountain hike (much less). There was still a good amount of people, but not as many where you were always with other hikers. The Grasslands Loop is 1.2 miles, and open to mountain bikers as well as hikers.

We parked at the Old Mission Dam parking area. You walk right past the Dam, which was neat…and yes there is water 🙂 The trail is fairly easy, mostly flat, with a slight climb in the middle. We may have wondered off the loop onto the lower part of the Oak Canyon Trail, but we were not 100% sure. The Grassland loop was not all that clearly marked, and it intersected with a few other trails. Most of it was wide and smooth, the lower part of the loop (which I think was the Oak Canyon part) was very rocky, and took much more effort to navigate.

A nice hike, not quite challenging enough, hot, and not as interesting change in landscape as some of the other hikes we have been on. My favorite part was the lower rocky part. I’m sure we will go back to the Mission Trails Regional Park to try another trail, there are plenty to choose from and it’s a much shorter drive to start our hike.

Notes

Wear and bring sunscreen!
Parking is plentiful, though you may have to park alongside the road, the actual parking lot at Old Mission Dam is small.
Dogs welcome
Bring water!
I could see how this trail might be very muddy if it has rained recently, and it is red dirt towards the top.

If you hike, what do you look for when choosing a trail: view, distance, climb?

Cuyamaca Rancho State Park: Stonewall Peak Trail

July 20, 2015 by Mariah 8 Comments

The Stonewall Peak Trail at the Cuyamaca Rancho State Park was a lovely hike, great views, and different flowers/vegetation along the trail. It gives a fairly good workout too. I was feeling it in my legs by the time we got to the top. The trail has switchbacks so the climb is not overly challenging, you do have a 900 feet elevation gain to the top. It’s 4 miles total, up and back. According to the brochure, this is their most popular trail in the park. We saw other hikers, but they were spread-out. Lots of children along for the hike, so not overly difficult. Make sure to bring plenty of water, it gets hot!

The entrance to the Stonewall Peak Trail, is to the right (if driving from San Diego) of Hwy 79, right across the street from the entrance to the Paso Picacho Campground. Parking in the campground is $8.00. P and I took advantage of this since it was our first time there (we got a brochure out of it). The parking fee can also be applied the same day to the Green Valley Campground. If you are still looking for a bit more of a hike you could head down to the Green Valley Falls trail (¾ mile each way).

The Stonewall trail starts out wider, and narrows as you climb. Some sections are wider than others. There are warnings of wildlife, but we only saw birds, bugs, butterflies and lizards. YAY no snakes!!! Oh and one chipmunk.

The top has quite the view, though we had a little trouble figuring out how to get to the very top. You need to stay to the right and go over and around. We went more left, and clambered up some fairly big rocks near the edge. The top has quite the view. I’m not 100% comfortable with heights and it made me feel a bit shaky. Also, it was taken over by flying ants, which did not make me hang around for too long.

Overall, it was a great hike and we had a lot of fun. The Cuyamaca Rancho Park has over 10 hiking trails to choose from. Ever since we took a drive to Julian, I’ve said I wanted go up here for a hike, I was so happy to cross one off the list! We will certainly be back to tackle one of the other trails in the area.

A few notes:

It’s about a 45 minute drive to get to Cuyamaca Park from San Diego.
Bring water!
Wear sunscreen & bring some, there is very little shade.
Make sure you have gas before HWY 79.
Parking is $8, bring cash.
Address for Paso Picacho Campground: 13652 Hwy 79, Julian, CA 92036

I’ve been bitten by the hiking bug 🙂 How about you? Hiking, yay or nay?