Description

  Mission Trails regional Park is the largest park in the City of San Diego. The park spreads throughout 5,300 acres in a southwest to northeast direction. Cowles Mountain and Lake Murray are among the major attractions.  Among the main highlights here are the Old Mission Dam, and several sites containing Native American artifacts.  Other then hiking, activities in the park include boating, fishing, camping, and mountain biking. The park is conveniently located in central San Diego, 8 miles from downtown. During spring and summer, the park gates close at 7:00pm and during the fall and winter they close at 5:00.  Note: there are other hikes in the park not listed on this page (see links page).  

Facilities

  Visitor and Interpretive Center, museum, library.

Directions

  From the 15 freeway, exit Friar's Road East.  Go until Friar's Road turns into Mission Gorge.  Continue on Mission Gorge a couple of miles.  The park entrance will be on the left hand side.

  From the 8 freeway, exit College Ave and go north.  Turn right on Navajo.  Continue on Navajo until you come to Golfcrest Drive.  Cowles Mountain will be on the left hand corner.  To continue to the main entrance of Mission Trails, turn left on Golfcrest Drive.  Turn left on Mission Gorge and the main entrance will be on the right hand side.

                Length = 1.4 mile loop round.

                Highlights = Easy access, habitats along trail include coastal sage scrub, oak woodland, and riparian.

                Directions = Take I-8 towards the Mission Gorge/Fairmount exit, and drive north along Mission Gorge Rd for 4.2 miles. Parking lot is located by the wooden park sign. Trail head is just behind large pipe entrance.

                Length = 1 mile loop.

                Difficulty = Easy.

                Highlights = Habitats include grasslands, riprarian, and sage scrub, trail intersects the Father Junipero Serra Trail.

                Directions = Take I-8 towards the Mission Gorge/Fairmount exit, and drive north along Mission Gorge Rd. for 4.2 miles. Parking lot is located by the wooden park sign. The trailhead is across from the driveway to the Visitors Center

   #5 Kwaay Paay Trail

                Length = 1.4 miles round trip.

                Difficulty = Challenging.

                Highlights = Habitats include chaparral and sage scrub, trail climbs to the summit of Kwaay Paay (1194 feet), great views of downtown and the

                                   Pacific.  Other short hikes within walking distance: Grasslands Loop and Kumeyaay Lake trail.                        

                Directions = Take I-8 towards the Mission Gorge/Fairmount exit, and drive north along Mission Gorge Rd. for 6.5 miles. Turn left onto Father Junipero Trail and drive .7 miles to the Old Mission Dam. Trail is next to dam.

    #6 Rim Trail Loop

                Length = 4 mile loop.

                Difficulty = Moderate.

                Highlights = Habitats include chaparral and sage scrub, views of Suycott Wash and downtown, nice long moderate trail.                         

                Directions = Take the I-15 to the Clairemont Mesa Blvd. exit and drive east 2.8 miles until Clairemont Mesa Blvd. ends. Trailhead is directly in front.

                Length = 3 miles round trip.

                Difficulty = Moderate.

                Highlights = Highest elevation within the City of San Diego.  A 360 degree view of the San Diego area is visible on clear days.                         

                Directions = See directions above.