50 Best Short Hikes San Diego by Don Endicott & Jerry Schad

Author:Don Endicott & Jerry Schad
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wilderness Press
Published: 2018-03-17T04:00:00+00:00

24 Marian Bear Memorial Park

Trailhead Location: Inland from La Jolla

Trail Use: Hiking, dog walking, running, mountain biking

Distance & Configuration: Up to 6.8 miles (double out-and-backs)

Elevation Range: 100'–240'

Facilities: Water, restrooms, and picnic tables at the start; restrooms and picnic tables near Regents Road parking

Highlights: Canopies of live oak and sycamore trees, plus a trickling stream; interpretive kiosks

DESCRIPTION

Eastbound in the right lane of CA 52, the San Clemente Canyon Freeway, you can look down on a long, slender, almost unbroken swath of natural vegetation: massive sycamores, stately live oaks, climbing vines, and tangled shrubs. This is one of San Diego County’s best examples of riparian (stream-loving) vegetation, and it’s very rare in Southern California. Only 0.1% of San Diego County’s land area consists of riparian vegetation.

Much of San Clemente Canyon and several of its steep finger (small tributary) canyons are included within the boundaries of Marian Bear Memorial Park, an area set aside by the city of San Diego as natural open space. Facilities include parking areas, picnic tables, and restrooms off Regents Road and Genesee Avenue and resting benches elsewhere. You won’t get completely away from freeway traffic noise while hiking here, but you can minimize the disturbance by arriving early on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.

An old roadbed—today a trail of variable width—follows along the canyon’s seasonal stream beneath the canopy of trees. The path stretches about 3 miles, is almost flat, and crosses the streambed four times. In summer these crossings simply mean a hop and a skip across cobblestones, but in winter some shallow-water wading may be necessary, typically at the first crossing east of Genesee and at the far west end.

The east end of the park (between Genesee Avenue and I-805) offers the prettiest vegetation, the densest shade, and a proliferation of poison oak vines that are adjacent to but not encroaching on the trail. Beginning about October, the leaves of the poison oak turn bright red in pleasing complement to the evergreen live oaks and the yellows and oranges of the sycamores and willows. At other times of year these vines are leafless while the branches retain toxins to which many people have skin reactions. It is best to remain on the trails at all times to avoid contact and to help reduce impacts to vegetation.

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