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

Caballero Canyon

Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park is the wordy title of a strip of public land squeezed between Tarzana, at the south edge of the San Fernando Valley, and “dirt Mulholland,” the unpaved section of the fabled and twisty Mulholland Highway that follows the crest of the Santa Monica Mountains. The scenic Caballero Canyon Trail connects the lowland and highland section of the gateway park and hooks up with trails in Topanga State Park, which spills down toward the Pacific Ocean on the west slope of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Since the Caballero Canyon Trail is basically an old fire road, mountain bikes are allowed on it as well as hikers. The starting point is easy to find. Simply exit the Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101) at Reseda Boulevard and drive 2.2 miles south to the trailhead, which is opposite the Braemar Country Club clubhouse.

Start your journey on the marked trail up along sycamore-dotted Caballero Canyon. After less than a mile, the trail starts climbing in earnest up a slope east of the canyon bottom. By 1.5 miles you come up to a saddle traversed by dirt Mulholland — itself a popular route for both hikers and mountain bikers.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The views north have been good so far, but a more panoramic vista awaits you a short distance ahead. To the east you’ll notice a very steep fire break going up a ridge (no bikes allowed on that, though). Hike up this a short distance, then contour to the right to pick up the Bent Arrow Trail. This narrow path takes you on a winding route up a south-facing slope, crosses a wide fire break, and finally tops out on a rounded, nearly flat ridge. There’s a 1927-foot knoll immediately to the east, and a slightly higher point overlooking Mulholland Drive 0.4 mile east. Late in the day you can watch evening shadows elongate across the San Fernando Valley, and clouds form along the coast as the chill of evening descends upon the land.

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.

Caballero Canyon
Rise high above San Fernando Valley on the Caballero Canyon Trail.
Distance from downtown San Diego:
142 miles
Hiking length: 4.2 miles round trip
Difficulty: Moderate

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?

Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park is the wordy title of a strip of public land squeezed between Tarzana, at the south edge of the San Fernando Valley, and “dirt Mulholland,” the unpaved section of the fabled and twisty Mulholland Highway that follows the crest of the Santa Monica Mountains. The scenic Caballero Canyon Trail connects the lowland and highland section of the gateway park and hooks up with trails in Topanga State Park, which spills down toward the Pacific Ocean on the west slope of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Since the Caballero Canyon Trail is basically an old fire road, mountain bikes are allowed on it as well as hikers. The starting point is easy to find. Simply exit the Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101) at Reseda Boulevard and drive 2.2 miles south to the trailhead, which is opposite the Braemar Country Club clubhouse.

Start your journey on the marked trail up along sycamore-dotted Caballero Canyon. After less than a mile, the trail starts climbing in earnest up a slope east of the canyon bottom. By 1.5 miles you come up to a saddle traversed by dirt Mulholland — itself a popular route for both hikers and mountain bikers.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The views north have been good so far, but a more panoramic vista awaits you a short distance ahead. To the east you’ll notice a very steep fire break going up a ridge (no bikes allowed on that, though). Hike up this a short distance, then contour to the right to pick up the Bent Arrow Trail. This narrow path takes you on a winding route up a south-facing slope, crosses a wide fire break, and finally tops out on a rounded, nearly flat ridge. There’s a 1927-foot knoll immediately to the east, and a slightly higher point overlooking Mulholland Drive 0.4 mile east. Late in the day you can watch evening shadows elongate across the San Fernando Valley, and clouds form along the coast as the chill of evening descends upon the land.

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.

Caballero Canyon
Rise high above San Fernando Valley on the Caballero Canyon Trail.
Distance from downtown San Diego:
142 miles
Hiking length: 4.2 miles round trip
Difficulty: Moderate

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

Angry Pete’s goes from pop-up to drive-thru

Detroit Pizza sidles into the husk of a shuttered Taco Bell
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.