Hike 26 - Mission Trails Regional Park

I’m writing this while sequestered away at home due to the Coronavirus. We’re healthy… we’re fine, but we’ve been home for weeks and now it’s snowing. We’ve been out on A LOT of walks around the neighborhood, but haven’t been exploring trails (or really going anywhere) in awhile so it’s nice to revisit this time when we could go where ever we wanted and interact with other people. A couple years ago we hiked Torry Pine State Natural Reserve Park and were tempted to return as it was a great trail to explore, but we decided it was best to venture to someplace new.

Mission Trails Regional Park is set amongst the mountains so it feels mostly secluded, except for the bits where you can see the surrounding neighborhood. It doesn’t have any shade so be prepared with sunscreen and hats… and I’d suggest to go early as it gets hot fast, even in January.

It also has a vistor/nature center which we always appreciate so we can learn more about the area and animals, and have an indoor bathroom. Riley especially enjoyed the indoor activities for kids.

I would return so explore some of the other trails in this park (there are many - we took the visitor center loop), but knowing us, we’ll find another place to explore the next time we visit San Diego.

Hike #: 26

Trail:  Mission Trails Regional Park

Location: San Diego, CA

Trail surface: dirt

Date: 1/30/20

Jo: ★★★★

Jesse: ★★★

Riley: ★★★★

Hike 1 - Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve Park

Before I set my 50 hikes by 50 goal, I already had hiking on my brain. My husband, daughter and I were vacationing in San Diego over my 46th birthday and while we did a ton of walking when visiting the zoo, Seaworld, Old Town, Balboa Park, the seals in La Jolla, beaches, and so forth, I wanted to go on a good ol' hike. I gathered suggestions from friends and pretty much everyone suggested Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve Park in La Jolla. 

Hike #: 1

Trail: Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve Park

Location: La Jolla, CA

Trail surface: dirt, and rock and shells on the beach

Date: 1/27/18

Torrey Pines has a number of shorter trails which seems like a good idea when hiking with a kid. We are still testing our limits with her and understand this can change from day to day as well. We started out at the beach near the south beach parking lot - mostly I'll admit, because the light was amazing and I wanted to get some photos. Plus, my kid could spend all day running from waves and throwing rocks into the ocean.

From the beach we headed up the trail along Torrey Pines Park Rd. It was a hotter than usual southern California January day and we felt it along this stretch of little shade and constant incline. I was tempted to turn around at some point, not really knowing what we'd find at the top, but mostly because I thought my kid was having a hard time. There was whining, but in the end she was fine and it was worth trudging forward. 

We explored a couple of the shorter trails, the information booth (Riley liked taking the different animal prints they had and marking them in the dirt), and then found a map and determined we'd take a trail that brought us back down the beach (with a little detour in the middle) and eventually loop us back to the other end of the beach where we started.

I liked this hike and would go back to explore it in more detail. We mostly had the beach to ourselves when we started out, but the trails thickened up fast and there were a few annoying people who decided to play music on their phones for all to hear. This is not good trail etiquette, people! It was a little urban for Jesse and I would have liked more tree cover, but still a great place to hike. It was especially nice to explore a terrain that is so different than what we are used to in Minnesota.

On a 1 - 5 scale...

Jo: ★★★★

Jesse: ★★★★

Riley: ★★★★★