Category Archives: Palomar Mountain

Doane Valley Nature Trail (Palomar Mountain State Park)


The Doane Valley Nature Trail in Palomar Mountain State Park is a beautiful little interpretive trail in the heart of Palomar. This short little hike takes you along Doane Creek (and across it several times), through towering cedars and pines, and along the edge of a meadow. This is a great choice if you have young children or non-hikers in your group and you want an easy stroll through some spectacular scenery. You can download an interpretive guide with information about various numbered exhibits you will find along the trail.
Continue reading Doane Valley Nature Trail (Palomar Mountain State Park)

Silvercrest Loop (Palomar Mountain State Park)


Just beyond the entrance to Palomar Mountain State Park lies the Silvercrest Picnic Area, a quaint spot to enjoy a picnic with the family or relax in some quiet solitude. It its also the start of the short but scenic Silvercrest Trail, traversing a ridge along the southern edge of Palomar. You can do this hike as is, or make a longer figure-8 by adding on the Boucher Hill Loop. Continue reading Silvercrest Loop (Palomar Mountain State Park)

Thunder Spring and Chimney Flats Loop (Palomar Mountain State Park)


There aren’t a lot of areas in San Diego County that really make you feel like you’re in “the mountains,” but Palomar Mountain most certainly qualifies. With nearly 30″ of average annul precipitation, Palomar is a unique and beautiful gem within our otherwise mostly arid county. The Thunder Spring and Chimney Flats Loop takes you through large swathes of Palomar’s cedar, oak, fir, and pine forest, while providing some great wildlife viewing opportunities. Continue reading Thunder Spring and Chimney Flats Loop (Palomar Mountain State Park)

Boucher Hill Loop (Palomar Mountain State Park)

Boucher Hill in Palomar Mountain State Park has been used for fire surveillance since the early 1900’s. The first lookout tower was built in 1921 by the US Forest Service, and the second was built in 1934 by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The tower that currently stands atop the hill was built in 1948, and is staffed by volunteers during fire season (May – early December). When staffed, the tower is generally open for public tours. Continue reading Boucher Hill Loop (Palomar Mountain State Park)

Love Valley Meadow


Love Valley lies near the base of Palomar Mountain just west of Lake Henshaw. Seasonal ponds, a rustic old barn, and an oak-lined meadow make for a pleasant stroll. The valley is still currently used at times for cattle grazing. While we didn’t encounter any cows on our trip, be aware that you might have some four-legged companions on your hike.

From the trailhead off of East Grade Road, we stepped past the gate and set off along the hard-packed dirt road.

Almost immediately, we spotted a single track trail branching off on the right. We turned and followed this trail through the trees.

The trail descended towards the valley below.

Wildflowers were beginning to dot the grassy trailside.

We passed through a short section of overgrown ceanothus.

Around .28 miles we crossed a narrow stream.

We followed the thin stream of water for a short stretch.

We passed through some more oaks and crossed a damp muddy patch before emerging on the edge of the meadow. The trail bent south, heading towards an old, dilapidated barn.

We followed the trail as it passed by the barn, allowing us a close look at the ramshackle building. It was constructed of rusty sheets of corrugated metal that groaned loudly in the wind. I personally found the “No Trespassing” signs unnecessary, as the likelihood of contracting tetanus was enough to keep me out.

Continuing past the barn, we took in the beautiful meadow on our right. Water filled several of the depressions in the field.

At .6 miles we came upon a “T” junction. The road straight ahead led back to our starting point and would be our route out. For now, we turned right to explore more of the valley.

The old road traveled south. On our right was the open expanse of the meadow, and on our left were tall oak trees. As we continued, we caught some glimpses of Lake Henshaw through the trees.

We got some better views of the small pond in the middle of the meadow.

We also spotted a number of these cement cylinders near the road, which immediately made me think of fire rings. We hypothesized that the area may once have held a campground, but I haven’t been able to find any confirmation of that.

We encountered increasing numbers of small yellow flowers.

The old road turned west and slowly began to fade away, overgrown with grass.

By the time we reached the 1.4 mile point, the trail had pretty much disappeared. It would certainly be possible to forge your own path around the meadow and loop back to the rusty barn, but we decided to just turn around and retrace our path back to the last junction.

At the junction, we turned right and began to climb up the dirt road.

Before long we got some fantastic views of Lake Henshaw in the east.

We also found we had some nice views of the Valley behind us.

The ceanothus on the hills surrounding us was beginning to bloom.

We continued along the road as it wound around. Then suddenly, rounding a bend as the road turned sharply northward, we found ourselves back at the gate where we had started.


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Directions:
From the junction of Highway 76 and East Grade Road (S7), head north on East Grade road for approximately 3.3 miles to the Love Valley Meadow trailhead on the left. Park in the large dirt turnout. map

Total Distance: 2.95 miles
Difficulty: Easy – Moderate
Total Ascent: 396 feet
Dog Friendly?: Leashed dogs allowed
Bike Friendly?: Bikes allowed
Facilities: None
Fees/Permits: None

For more information, visit:
View route or download GPX from CalTopo

Fry Creek Trail

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There are a lot of shorter hikes scattered throughout the county that are beautiful and scenic, but don’t always feel like they justify the amount of driving involved to get there. We decided that we’d hike both this trail and another nearby trail, as well as take a tour of the Palomar Mountain Observatory to make a decent half-day adventure worthy of the couple hours of driving involved. So after hiking the Observatory Trail, we headed over to the Fry Creek Campground just up the road to do this short little loop along the slopes above the campground. Continue reading Fry Creek Trail

Observatory Trail

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The top of Palomar Mountain is home to the Palomar Observatory. Three large telescopes, the 200-inch Hale telescope (which can be seen from many distant mountain tops), a 60-inch telescope, and the 48-inch Samuel Oschin telescope are currently used for ongoing research. The Observatory has been in operation since the mid 1930’s, and has been involved in numerous discoveries, including the discoveries of dwarf planets Sedna and Eris, 178 supernovae, and 13 comets. Continue reading Observatory Trail

Oak Grove to High Point

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High Point, the top of Palomar Mountain, is home to one of the few fire lookout towers in San Diego that is still currently in use. The tower is staffed by volunteers from the Forest Fire Lookout Association during fire season. While the tower itself is only open to authorized personnel, you can still visit the peak and enjoy the fantastic views. Volunteers and less ambitious visitors make the journey via dirt road with a 4-wheel drive vehicle, but the fun route is a calf-busting 13 mile hike up the northeastern side of the mountain. Naturally, that’s the route we took. Continue reading Oak Grove to High Point

Weir Trail & French Valley Trail – Palomar Mountain State Park

The Doane Valley Nature Trail

Palomar Mountain is like a hiking oasis in San Diego County. While much of San Diego is arid and dry, filled with drought tolerant plants adapted to living on only minuscule amounts of water, Palomar is full of ferns, cedars, pine trees, and a multitude of other foliage more reminiscent of the wet and snowy Sierras Nevadas. Palomar Mountain State Park has a number of gorgeous trails that can be explored individually or combined into longer loops. This relatively short trek traverses several of the Park’s trails in the Lower Doane Valley area. Continue reading Weir Trail & French Valley Trail – Palomar Mountain State Park