Dog owners know Ocean Beach’s Dog Beach as a great spot to let their four-legged friends have some off-leash fun, but its also the point where the San Diego River flows into the Pacific Ocean – and the start of the San Diego River Trail. The estuary, where ocean salt water and fresh river water mix, is a wonderfully interesting ecosystem great for watching birds and other wildlife. Continue reading San Diego River Trail – Dog Beach/Robb Field
When the temperature starts to rise, we like to find shorter, easier trails we can do in the evenings once it starts to cool down. The San Diego River Trail offers some great options for easy hikes that are perfect for warm summer evenings. This 2.1 mile loop along the river in the Mission Valley area is a nice spot to bring the dog or to enjoy some nice views of the river as the sun sets. Continue reading San Diego River Trail – Hazard Center/Mission Valley
Kumeyaay Lake in Mission Trails Regional Park was once a series of gravel pits along the San Diego River. After being mined out in the 1970’s, the area was restored and has since become an important nesting ground for the endangered Least Bell’s Vireo. The lake is also open to recreational fishing, and lies immediately adjacent to the Kumeeyaay Lake Campground, open on weekends and certain holidays. Continue reading Kumeyaay Lake
Eagle Peak Preserve doesn’t actually contain Eagle Peak, but lies just north of it. The Preserve is located on Eagle Peak Road, surrounded by a mix of Cleveland National Forest and private property. It is the Flagship Preserve of The San Diego River Park Foundation (SDRPF), who began acquiring the property from private landowners in 2008. Thanks to the work of the SDRPF, this land is now protected and can continue to serve as an important corridor for wildlife in the area.
It should be noted that the Preserve does not have well marked, highly maintained trails. Novice hikers or those uncomfortable with route-finding may wish to bring along a more experienced friend on their first visit. But if bush-whacking and exploration is your thing, Eagle Peak Preserve is a great spot to find some quiet solitude and nice views of the upper San Diego River Gorge.
Driving down Eagle Peak Road, we spotted the first entrance to the preserve, marked by a red wooden fence, metal gate and small sign. We continued down the road about half a mile to the second entrance, which had a similar red wooden fence and metal gate, but no sign. But this entrance had something the first one lacked: room to park in a turnout on the side of the road. We parked in the turnout on the road opposite the gate and entered the preserve.
Beyond the gate was an open dirt area. A small pedestal with a trail map and information about Eagle Peak Preserve marked the start of the trail. An old, overgrown dirt road (The Historic Trail, according to the map) led uphill.
Our plan was to follow the the route described in the Coast to Cactus trail guide – follow the Historic Trail through the Preserve to Cleveland National Forest land, then bushwhack our way up to an unnamed peak to check out the views. There are some other potential destinations in the Preserve, including two small peaks with benchmarks: Son and Son 2, and a couple of ponds down in the valley below. We will likely return for further exploration.
For now, we followed the path of the Historic Trail – once part of the original route between San Diego and Julian – as it climbed up the hillside.
We paused frequently to enjoy the views of the surrounding area. Looking west, back towards the parking area, was the San Diego River Gorge.
As we continued on, we spotted a wall of rocks that supported the side of the old road. 
We reached a low ridge and the trail bent east. 
The trail was a little hard to spot in places due to the brush, but we’d soon spot the remnants of the rock wall and know we were on course.
Ahead, to the east, we could see the small peak we were aiming for.
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In the valley on our left, we spotted one of the small ponds. Nearby was a wooden shade structure. According to the trail map we saw at the start of the trail, there was supposed to be a path from the trail we were on down to the pond, but we never spotted it in all the overgrown brush.
We continued picking our way through the thick brush. We were coming across more and more spots where vegetation made it difficult to see the old road, but continued pushing ahead until we managed to spot remnants of the rock wall and knew we were still on course.
Around 1.2 miles things got pretty messy. We came to what appeared to be a very faint “Y” junction – the left fork led down across a depression in the land, while the right fork contoured along the base of the hill.
Both routes looked reasonable, and we ended up taking the left fork through the small valley. On the return route though, we came back on the other fork and it seemed to be a little more trail-like, so that’s the route you probably want to take and is reflected in the GPS track.
Our adventure took us through a small valley towards a defoliated oak tree. After squeezing through some bushes, we found the rock wall and the road again on the other side.
We crossed a relatively flat, rocky, open expanse, aiming for the low ridge ahead of us. We found a few stone cairns along the way that let us know we were on the right track for something.
We reached the low ridge and once again found the rock wall the marked the old road. We continued northeast along the base of the peak.
The rock wall became increasingly apparent as we continued. We could see it stretch out ahead of us, wrapping the hillside into the distance.
Looking west, we had impressive views of the Preserve below us.
We passed a small sign with the San Diego River Park Foundation logo, presumably marking the border between Eagle Peak Preserve and Cleveland National Forest land.
From the sign it was a short way to the turn off we were looking for. There was a small saddle in the ridgeline above us, and we wanted to get up there. Around 1.55 miles the road began to curve sharply to the left, and we observed a cow path leading straight up the hill. We left the road and began climbing.
While the slope was steep, the ground was very soft and the impressions made by cow hoofs made perfect footholds for our ascent. 
A few minutes of sweating and dodging cow pies brought us to the top of the ridge where we found a fabulous grove of oak trees. We turned right and began heading uphill through the trees.
There was nothing resembling a trail at this point, so we just picked our own route south through the trees and sage, aiming for the highest point of land we could see.
We made our way to what looked like the high point, a nondescript pile of rocks and brush. It was a quiet and eminently serene spot to relax and enjoy the scenery.
The views from our pile of rocks and the surrounding hills were awesome. In the southeast were the Cuyamacas.
In the northeast was Kessler Flat and the road we had driven in on. We were able to spot some cows down below, possibly the same ones that had blazed the trail uphill for us.
To the south was Eagle Peak, the San Diego River Gorge, and El Cajon Mountain.
After enjoying the solitude and taking in the views, we headed back the way we had come.
Directions:
From Highway 79, just east of downtown Julian, head south on Pine Hills Road. Follow Pine Hills Road for approximately 1.6 miles and turn right onto Eagle Peak Road. Follow Eagle Peak Road for approximately 8.7 miles to the second (unmarked) entrance to Eagle Peak Preserve. Park in the turnout on the right side of the road. map
A note on road conditions: Most of Eagle Peak Road is unpaved, but its pretty well maintained and you shouldn’t have any issues in a passenger car.
| Total Distance: | 3.6 miles |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
| Total Ascent: | 850 feet |
| Dog Friendly?: | Leashed dogs allowed |
| Bike Friendly?: | Bikes allowed but not recommended |
| Facilities: | None |
| Fees/Permits: | None |
For more information, visit:
San Diego River Park Foundation: Eagle Peak Preserve Conservation Area
View route or download GPX from CalTopo
In 1956, 11 firefighters lost their lives while battling the Inaja Fire along the San Diego River outside of Julian. The Inaja Memorial Picnic Ground stands as tribute to these brave men who died battling the blaze. In addition to a stone memorial and the picnic amenities, this little rest stop just outside of Santa Ysabel contains a short but scenic Nature Trail with some fantastic views. Continue reading Inaja Nature Trail
We love Mission Trails Regional Park for a variety of reasons. First of all, it’s close by and easy to get to. Second, it has a huge variety of interconnecting trails so you can make as long or as short of a hike as you have time for, and as easy or challenging of a hike as you can handle. The numerous trails also makes it hard to get bored – you can take different routes and constantly mix up your routine. Although we’d hiked North Fortuna Mountain before, we’d never gone up the backside near Highway 52. With recent rains filling up the San Diego River and adjacent creeks, we decided we’d head up Oak Canyon which has an idyllic creek flowing through it wet seasons, then follow the North Perimeter Trail adjacent to Highway 52 up to the summit of North Fortuna. Since it was a nice cool day, perfect for hiking with a dog, we were joined by the ever courageous Khan. Continue reading North Fortuna via Oak Canyon (Mission Trails Regional Park)
The Walker Preserve Trail is the most recently completed section of the San Diego River Trail. This section encompasses over 100 acres of mixed sage scrub, riparian and wetland habitat capable of supporting at least 3 federally protected bird species (the Southwestern willow flycatcher, the California gnatcatcher, and the least Bell’s viero). This area was once part of the Walker Family Dairy Farm, and until recently was off-limits to the public as it was used for sand mining. A combination of funding from the City of Santee and various grants were used to purchase the land and construct a beautiful riverside trail that was opened to the public in April 2015. Continue reading Walker Preserve Trail
In our many trips to Mission Trails over the years, we’d always overlooked the Oak Grove trail
due to its short length. Deciding it was high time to rectify this oversight, we leashed up one of the dogs and headed to the park for a short hike combining the Oak Grove and Visitor’s Center Loop trails. Continue reading Oak Grove Loop and Visitor Center Loop (Mission Trails Regional Park)
Temperatures in the river gorge frequently reach well over 100 degrees. While hiking out to the local swimming hole for a refreshing dip may seem like a good idea on a hot summer day, each year dozens of hikers regularly succumb to heat exhaustion while trying to hike back out to the trailhead. Several heat-related fatalities have occurred on this trail. In the summer, the waterfall does not flow, and the little water that is in the pool is usually stagnant and green with algae, so its really not worth risking your life for. |
Cedar Creek Falls is an extremely popular hike, and for very good reason. The hike itself offers breathtaking views of the San Diego River Gorge and surrounding mountains, and the destination is an idyllic swimming hole at the base of an 80 foot waterfall. As there’s a considerable lack of freshwater playgrounds in San Diego, its easy to see why this uniquely beautiful spot gets so much attention. The drawback, however, is you will likely have to share this gem with others during your visit, especially if you go on a weekend. The swimming hole is often erroneously referred to as the Devil’s Punchbowl. The real Devil’s Punchbowl lies to the east on private property along Boulder Creek. Continue reading Cedar Creek Falls (via Ramona)
Lakeside River Park is a small, yet scenic stretch of the San Diego River. This trail is something of a work in progress. The original groundbreaking took place in 2006, and since then workers and volunteers have built a nice little trail and restored a substantial amount of native vegetation along the river. Future plans include additional removal of invasive plants and planting of natives, as well as extending the trail in both directions. We visited the trail on a warm summer evening shortly before sunset, and found the trail provided a pleasant little stroll with lots of birds and other wildlife. Continue reading Lakeside River Park
