Up next in 10
Visitors center loop is a great hike for families and beginners.
•1.5 miles
•minimal elevation gain
•dog friendly
•no fees
Don’t forget to check out the actual visitors center while you’re here! The views are amazing. Mission trail park has over 60 miles of trails to explore. This is just the tip of the iceberg! Happy hiking.
TIMESTAMPS
01:06 Trailhead
02:46 Detour to San Diego River
03:41 Last 1/2 mile
04:25 Parking
05:10 Visitors Center Entrance
05:36 Other Hikes at Mission Trails
05:54 Mission Trails "5 Peak Challenge"
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0:03
hey everyone it's Wendy from go hiking
0:06
San Diego and today I am out at Mission
0:08
Trails regional park today I'll be
0:10
hiking Visitor Center Loop it's about
0:12
one and a half miles with very very
0:14
minimal elevation gain it's very family
0:17
friendly beginner friendly kid-friendly
0:19
and dog friendly this Trail does attract
0:22
a lot of visitors though so on the
0:24
weekends expect to see crowds other
0:26
hikers and bikers just a ton of people
0:29
who come here to get away from the city
0:31
what's nice about Mission Trails is it's
0:34
only about 15 minutes away from downtown
0:36
making it really accessible Mission
0:39
Trails has over 60 miles of hiking and
0:41
biking trails so there's a lot to do and
0:44
see out here every time I come here I
0:47
find a new Trail or I find something
0:48
else to love about this amazing Park in
0:51
total it has over 8 000 Acres as well so
0:54
it's a really really big space
0:56
sometimes it's hard to believe that this
0:58
exists in such a busy City
1:00
anyways stick around and I'll show you
1:02
what Visitor Center loop trail looks
1:04
like at Mission Trails Regional Park
1:06
a Trailhead is tucked away on the left
1:08
side of the gate here the small sign
1:11
indicates the start of the hike remember
1:13
that the hike is a loop so we're not
1:16
going to see this part of the trail
1:17
again the hiking trail itself is made up
1:19
of packed dirt and it starts off kind of
1:22
narrow maybe fitting two people Max but
1:25
the trail will widen out as we go along
1:28
this is one of the few spots of the hike
1:31
that contains shade so keep that in mind
1:34
if you're hiking Visitor Center Loop
1:35
anytime soon especially in the summer
1:37
you're going to want to bring a cap and
1:39
some sunscreen
1:40
you are going to come across a few
1:42
different Forks in the trail along the
1:45
way just keep an eye out for the signs
1:47
they're really easy to follow and tell
1:49
you exactly where you're headed
1:51
shortly after starting the hike the
1:53
trail really opens up here and gives you
1:56
a really nice view of Mission Trails
1:58
Regional Park and the surrounding area
2:00
here's another fork in the trail this
2:03
time this Fork will take you to grinding
2:06
rocks Trail it also leads to Father
2:08
Junipero Sarah Trail that's the main
2:11
paved path that goes all up through
2:13
Mission Trails Regional Park
2:15
but we're not taking any detours except
2:18
for maybe one a little later on
2:20
now besides the views along this hike
2:23
another thing that I really loved about
2:24
Visitor Center Loop was seeing this
2:27
ginormous oak tree there's a sign that
2:30
asks you not to carve in the oak tree
2:31
but as you can tell a lot of people
2:33
don't follow that piece of advice but
2:36
just because someone else does it
2:38
doesn't mean it's okay for you to do it
2:40
anyways we're going to continue on this
2:41
hike you can follow this wood fencing
2:44
along the trail
2:46
now about a mile in you're going to want
2:48
to take this small detour here just to
2:51
the right of the fencing there's a small
2:53
walkway that actually leads to the San
2:56
Diego River and after the wet winter
2:58
that we had the river is flowing and
3:01
full
3:02
so here's the walkway that you'll take
3:05
I did this hike in late spring and you
3:07
can tell that the water is already
3:08
starting to become a little stagnant
3:11
but the river itself is still flowing
3:13
I'll get you guys a close-up view so you
3:16
can see what I'm talking about
3:18
I don't know about you but I've always
3:20
found the sound of Russian water to be
3:22
so peaceful
3:24
here she is guys the little piece of the
3:26
San Diego river that we get on Visitor
3:29
Center Loop it's not much but it is
3:31
something and I'm grateful to have this
3:34
only 15 minutes away from downtown San
3:36
Diego
3:41
once you're done with that little detour
3:43
you're going to continue on the hike
3:45
the last half mile is where we start to
3:47
gain elevation now watch your footing
3:49
here because we do have some loose
3:51
gravel and some small Rocks coming up on
3:54
the hiking path it's not just pack dirt
3:56
anymore on the plus side this is where I
3:59
saw the most wildflowers on the left
4:02
side of the trail here you can still see
4:04
some of those bright yellow flowers that
4:05
were blooming in Spring
4:07
I was surprised to see as many
4:09
wildflowers as I did considering the
4:11
temperatures have been rising in San
4:13
Diego I'm sure these flowers will die
4:16
off pretty soon unfortunately once
4:18
summer rolls around
4:20
we're about a little over a mile into
4:22
Visitor Center Loop now and we're going
4:24
to come across an additional parking lot
4:27
you'll be able to see it from the hiking
4:29
path it's obviously not the most scenic
4:31
part of the hike but I'll show it to you
4:33
just for information's sake the parking
4:36
lot's made up of pact dirt and it's
4:38
really important to know now that we're
4:40
talking about parking
4:42
that Mission Trails parking lots are not
4:44
open 24 7. the park will close the gates
4:48
depending on the season either at 7 pm
4:50
or at 5 pm
4:52
so if you're planning to hike Before
4:54
Sunrise or after Sunset you're going to
4:56
have to park in a residential area
4:58
nearby and walk to the trailhead from
5:00
your parking spot continuing on we only
5:02
have about 0.3 miles left until we get
5:05
back to our starting point and then I
5:07
can show you guys their awesome Visitor
5:09
Center here's the entrance to the
5:11
Visitor Center admission is free and
5:13
they have some really cool exhibits and
5:15
a small gift shop to check out
5:18
I highly recommend you come and check
5:20
out the actual Visitor Center itself it
5:23
is gorgeous it looks brand new and
5:26
there's tons of things to see and read
5:28
about here it's a very educational
5:30
experience and the views from here are
5:33
amazing I mean just look behind me
5:36
some other family-friendly hiking trails
5:38
include Old Mission Dam that's a really
5:40
good one as well and father junipers
5:43
Junipero Sarah road that trail is all
5:47
paved as well so it is stroller friendly
5:50
in case you have a little that needs
5:52
that
5:53
um
5:54
if you're looking for a more difficult
5:56
hike in the area there is the five Peak
5:59
challenge out at Mission Trails Regional
6:00
Park the five Peak challenge was created
6:04
back in 2015 to encourage hikers to
6:07
explore other parts of the park most
6:09
people come here to hike cows Mountain
6:11
which is one of the five Peaks there are
6:13
actually four other peaks in the park
6:15
there's South Fortuna North Fortuna
6:18
piles Peak and Kauai Pai Peak I have an
6:21
entire blog post about this if you're
6:23
interested in learning more I'll put it
6:24
down below
6:26
as always guys thank you for watching I
6:28
hope you enjoy this Trail as much as I
6:30
did happy hiking
#Hiking & Camping