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

Clamber onto a skull-shaped promontory rising above interior Carlsbad.

At 513 feet in elevation, Cerro de la Calavera (translated "Skull Hill" and also known as Mount Calavera) rises modestly above lesser hills and valleys of Oceanside, Vista, and Carlsbad. Picturesque Calavera Lake lies at its northern base, and empty lands stretch for some distance east and south. Much of this landscape is being preserved by such entities as the California Department of Fish and Game, but some of it will eventually succumb to future housing subdivisions.

Billed by some as a "volcano," the Calavera peak is actually a volcanic plug -- the solidified remains of a blob of magma that forced its way upward, barely or perhaps not quite reaching Earth's surface. This happened about 22 million years ago, during the most recent episode of significant volcanism in San Diego County. The gradual eroding away of surrounding layers of sedimentary and volcanic rock has exposed the core of that plug.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Although there are several ways to approach the peak, the following directions are simple: Exit Interstate 5 at Carlsbad Village Drive. Turn east and continue 3.3 miles to the end of that street at College Boulevard. The Calavera trailhead, featuring parking spaces and interpretive panels, lies straight ahead across this intersection. You can travel by either foot or bicycle from this point on, but parts of the route ahead are dangerous and virtually impossible to ride on a mountain bike. The area has experienced past off-road-vehicle abuse, and so there are minor trails everywhere. You, however, should make an effort to stay on the marked, designated trails.

Descend the wide, initially steeply plunging trail ahead, and pass under powerlines after about 0.3 mile. Stay right at the next intersection (0.4 mile) and continue south on a service road another 0.2 mile, where you'll find an information board and maps of the "Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Reserve." Turn left and head east to a marked trail heading left, almost straight up the mountainside. The brief, heart-pounding climb will take you without delay to Cerro de la Calavera's flattish summit, where you have a virtually aerial view of Calavera Lake in the north, the ocean in the west, and rolling hills and distant mountains around an arc of about 200 degrees. Just northwest of the summit, a chunk of the mountain is missing -- chewed off by gravel-mining operations that continued into the 1930s.

You've come just 1.2 miles. The return trip, via a different route, is also 1.2 miles. Backtrack down the mountainside about 0.1 mile, and stay right on a trail that descends northwest to the Calavera Lake dam. Cross over the top of the dam and pick up a trail/dirt road heading left (south). You'll soon reach the trail you followed earlier on your initial descent from the intersection of Carlsbad Village Drive and College Boulevard.

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.

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

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Next Article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule

At 513 feet in elevation, Cerro de la Calavera (translated "Skull Hill" and also known as Mount Calavera) rises modestly above lesser hills and valleys of Oceanside, Vista, and Carlsbad. Picturesque Calavera Lake lies at its northern base, and empty lands stretch for some distance east and south. Much of this landscape is being preserved by such entities as the California Department of Fish and Game, but some of it will eventually succumb to future housing subdivisions.

Billed by some as a "volcano," the Calavera peak is actually a volcanic plug -- the solidified remains of a blob of magma that forced its way upward, barely or perhaps not quite reaching Earth's surface. This happened about 22 million years ago, during the most recent episode of significant volcanism in San Diego County. The gradual eroding away of surrounding layers of sedimentary and volcanic rock has exposed the core of that plug.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Although there are several ways to approach the peak, the following directions are simple: Exit Interstate 5 at Carlsbad Village Drive. Turn east and continue 3.3 miles to the end of that street at College Boulevard. The Calavera trailhead, featuring parking spaces and interpretive panels, lies straight ahead across this intersection. You can travel by either foot or bicycle from this point on, but parts of the route ahead are dangerous and virtually impossible to ride on a mountain bike. The area has experienced past off-road-vehicle abuse, and so there are minor trails everywhere. You, however, should make an effort to stay on the marked, designated trails.

Descend the wide, initially steeply plunging trail ahead, and pass under powerlines after about 0.3 mile. Stay right at the next intersection (0.4 mile) and continue south on a service road another 0.2 mile, where you'll find an information board and maps of the "Carlsbad Highlands Ecological Reserve." Turn left and head east to a marked trail heading left, almost straight up the mountainside. The brief, heart-pounding climb will take you without delay to Cerro de la Calavera's flattish summit, where you have a virtually aerial view of Calavera Lake in the north, the ocean in the west, and rolling hills and distant mountains around an arc of about 200 degrees. Just northwest of the summit, a chunk of the mountain is missing -- chewed off by gravel-mining operations that continued into the 1930s.

You've come just 1.2 miles. The return trip, via a different route, is also 1.2 miles. Backtrack down the mountainside about 0.1 mile, and stay right on a trail that descends northwest to the Calavera Lake dam. Cross over the top of the dam and pick up a trail/dirt road heading left (south). You'll soon reach the trail you followed earlier on your initial descent from the intersection of Carlsbad Village Drive and College Boulevard.

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.

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

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Next Article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

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.