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

Explore Mission Gorge by Foot, Bike, Skates, or Car

Mission Gorge is arguably San Diego’s (city, not county) most spectacular topographical feature, with walls on both sides rising several hundred feet at a nearly 45-degree pitch. From a geological perspective, the gorge was carved out by the “mighty” San Diego River — mighty at least intermittently during Pleistocene times — which managed to keep eroding its way through a rising block of tough igneous rock for millions of years. In today’s rather dry geologic epoch, there’s not as much excavation going on at the bottom of the gorge, but San Diego’s own “old man river” still keeps flowing, mostly lazily, around water-polished granitic rocks and over the roots of gnarled live oaks and rangy sycamores.

There’s a single access-way threading through Mission Gorge today, a paved road/trail called Father Junípero Serra Trail. Originally this route was the main, two-lane Mission Gorge Road connecting Allied Gardens and San Carlos to Santee. By the 1960s and ’70s, the road carried secondary car-and-truck traffic, even after the construction of the four- to six-lane segment of Mission Gorge Road bypassing the gorge. Fast-moving semi trucks and recreational cyclists and hikers didn’t mix well. Finally, in the mid-1990s, automotive traffic was nearly eliminated on Father Junípero Serra Trail, and self-propelled travelers at last felt welcome to use it as a recreational pathway.

The current configuration of Father Junípero Serra Trail features a single, speed-bump-studded, eastbound lane for slow-moving automobiles (open daylight hours) and a wide, separate, parallel path for travelers going either direction by foot, bike, or skates. Dog walking is a popular activity as well.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Plentiful free parking is available at either end of the gorge: at the Old Mission Dam historic site off Mission Gorge Road on Santee’s west side and at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center, just east of the Mission Gorge Road/Jackson Drive intersection.

The gently rising and falling two-mile stretch of paved trail in between offers continual vistas of the dramatically soaring walls of the gorge. In a couple of spots, you can take side paths down to the bottom of the gorge, where the San Diego River slides gently through the cottonwoods and around boulders fallen from the walls of the gorge. Here and there, especially high on the east side, the gorge’s granitic bones form an exoskeleton that attracts technical rock climbers from around the region.

While on the paved pathway, keep and eye out for other travelers — anything from bicyclists zipping around at high speed to kids and pets darting randomly. Also, this being rattlesnake season, use caution when exploring any of the side paths.

This article contains information about a publicly owned recreation or wilderness area. Trails and pathways are not necessarily marked. Conditions can change rapidly. Hikers should be properly equipped and have safety and navigational skills. The Reader and Jerry Schad assume no responsibility for any adverse experience.

Mission Gorge
Explore Mission Gorge by foot, bike, skates, or even car.
Distance from downtown San Diego: 12 miles
Hiking/biking length: 4 miles round trip
Difficulty: Easy

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

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024

Mission Gorge is arguably San Diego’s (city, not county) most spectacular topographical feature, with walls on both sides rising several hundred feet at a nearly 45-degree pitch. From a geological perspective, the gorge was carved out by the “mighty” San Diego River — mighty at least intermittently during Pleistocene times — which managed to keep eroding its way through a rising block of tough igneous rock for millions of years. In today’s rather dry geologic epoch, there’s not as much excavation going on at the bottom of the gorge, but San Diego’s own “old man river” still keeps flowing, mostly lazily, around water-polished granitic rocks and over the roots of gnarled live oaks and rangy sycamores.

There’s a single access-way threading through Mission Gorge today, a paved road/trail called Father Junípero Serra Trail. Originally this route was the main, two-lane Mission Gorge Road connecting Allied Gardens and San Carlos to Santee. By the 1960s and ’70s, the road carried secondary car-and-truck traffic, even after the construction of the four- to six-lane segment of Mission Gorge Road bypassing the gorge. Fast-moving semi trucks and recreational cyclists and hikers didn’t mix well. Finally, in the mid-1990s, automotive traffic was nearly eliminated on Father Junípero Serra Trail, and self-propelled travelers at last felt welcome to use it as a recreational pathway.

The current configuration of Father Junípero Serra Trail features a single, speed-bump-studded, eastbound lane for slow-moving automobiles (open daylight hours) and a wide, separate, parallel path for travelers going either direction by foot, bike, or skates. Dog walking is a popular activity as well.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Plentiful free parking is available at either end of the gorge: at the Old Mission Dam historic site off Mission Gorge Road on Santee’s west side and at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center, just east of the Mission Gorge Road/Jackson Drive intersection.

The gently rising and falling two-mile stretch of paved trail in between offers continual vistas of the dramatically soaring walls of the gorge. In a couple of spots, you can take side paths down to the bottom of the gorge, where the San Diego River slides gently through the cottonwoods and around boulders fallen from the walls of the gorge. Here and there, especially high on the east side, the gorge’s granitic bones form an exoskeleton that attracts technical rock climbers from around the region.

While on the paved pathway, keep and eye out for other travelers — anything from bicyclists zipping around at high speed to kids and pets darting randomly. Also, this being rattlesnake season, use caution when exploring any of the side paths.

This article contains information about a publicly owned recreation or wilderness area. Trails and pathways are not necessarily marked. Conditions can change rapidly. Hikers should be properly equipped and have safety and navigational skills. The Reader and Jerry Schad assume no responsibility for any adverse experience.

Mission Gorge
Explore Mission Gorge by foot, bike, skates, or even car.
Distance from downtown San Diego: 12 miles
Hiking/biking length: 4 miles round trip
Difficulty: Easy

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

Nation’s sexy soldiers stage protest at Pendleton in wake of change in Marine uniform policy

Semper WHY?
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
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.