Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Follow a segment of the Coast to Crest Trail along the north shore of Lake Hodges.

Lake Hodges has become one of the key units in the sprawling San Dieguito River Park, slowly taking form along 55 miles of river valley from the coast at Del Mar to Volcan Mountain near Julian. Designated hiking/biking trails have been in place around the lake's shoreline for several years now, most notably the Coast to Crest Trail following the north shore.

Hikers and especially mountain bikers will enjoy the stretch of Coast-to-Crest Trail that parallels Lake Drive through Del Dios and wraps around the north shore of the lake as far east as Interstate 15. On the east part of the trail, actually a former service road designated for nonmotorized travel,

Sponsored
Sponsored

you curl around the base

of 1150-foot Bernardo Mountain, always staying a fair distance above the water level. The lake itself hasn't filled to capacity this year due to a lackluster rainy season. Nonetheless, you can look for hawks and ravens patrolling the slopes above and sometimes gliding over the wind-rippled surface of the lake below.

Nearing I-15, you cross a tiny stream where oaks, sycamores, palms, and other water-loving vegetation thrive. The trail continues under I-15 and eventually connects with Via Rancho Parkway -- though new construction is in the works that will extend the Coast-to-Crest Trail upstream through San Pasqual Valley and into the headwaters of Santa Ysabel Creek beyond Ramona. Another project in the works is a pedestrian bridge/bicycle path to be routed over the shallow lake surface just west of the current ten-lane I-15 roadway.

Now is the time to enjoy the last of our cool springtime weather -- courtesy of the lingering marine layer -- before summer's heat and dryness hit with a vengeance. By then, this and other inland trails can still be traveled in relative comfort if it's either early morning or late afternoon. We're also nearing the time of summer solstice, when sunset occurs as late as 8 p.m. and after-dinner outdoor recreation makes sense.

For more information about the San Dieguito River Park, including its program of interpretive hikes around the Lake Hodges area, call 858-674-2270.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob

Lake Hodges has become one of the key units in the sprawling San Dieguito River Park, slowly taking form along 55 miles of river valley from the coast at Del Mar to Volcan Mountain near Julian. Designated hiking/biking trails have been in place around the lake's shoreline for several years now, most notably the Coast to Crest Trail following the north shore.

Hikers and especially mountain bikers will enjoy the stretch of Coast-to-Crest Trail that parallels Lake Drive through Del Dios and wraps around the north shore of the lake as far east as Interstate 15. On the east part of the trail, actually a former service road designated for nonmotorized travel,

Sponsored
Sponsored

you curl around the base

of 1150-foot Bernardo Mountain, always staying a fair distance above the water level. The lake itself hasn't filled to capacity this year due to a lackluster rainy season. Nonetheless, you can look for hawks and ravens patrolling the slopes above and sometimes gliding over the wind-rippled surface of the lake below.

Nearing I-15, you cross a tiny stream where oaks, sycamores, palms, and other water-loving vegetation thrive. The trail continues under I-15 and eventually connects with Via Rancho Parkway -- though new construction is in the works that will extend the Coast-to-Crest Trail upstream through San Pasqual Valley and into the headwaters of Santa Ysabel Creek beyond Ramona. Another project in the works is a pedestrian bridge/bicycle path to be routed over the shallow lake surface just west of the current ten-lane I-15 roadway.

Now is the time to enjoy the last of our cool springtime weather -- courtesy of the lingering marine layer -- before summer's heat and dryness hit with a vengeance. By then, this and other inland trails can still be traveled in relative comfort if it's either early morning or late afternoon. We're also nearing the time of summer solstice, when sunset occurs as late as 8 p.m. and after-dinner outdoor recreation makes sense.

For more information about the San Dieguito River Park, including its program of interpretive hikes around the Lake Hodges area, call 858-674-2270.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Didja know I did the first American feature on Jimi Hendrix?

Richard Meltzer goes through the Germs, Blue Oyster Cult, Ray Charles, Elvis, Lavender Hill Mob
Next Article

Best Kratom Capsules: Top Brands, Benefits & Where To Buy

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.