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

Climb Bernardo Mountain, overlooking Lake Hodges near Escondido.

Lake Hodges has become the most popular destination for recreation within the 55-mile-long San Dieguito River Park, now taking form along the San Dieguito River watershed from the coast at Del Mar to the Volcan Mountains near Julian. Trails along the Lake Hodges shoreline have long been popular, and now a route up Bernardo Mountain is attracting attention as well. The bulk of the mountain was purchased for inclusion in the park in 2002, so now hikers and mountain bikers can reach the top without leaving public land.

The following 7.2-mile round-trip hike to Bernardo Mountain starts at the end of Sunset Drive, south of Via Rancho Parkway and just east of Interstate 15. This is a relatively easy hiking route but semi-technical for mountain bikes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Start off heading south, parallel to the freeway, initially on a wide, concrete walkway. After about 0.4 mile, the pathway turns sharply right and passes under the Interstate 15 bridge that goes over the east arm of Lake Hodges. The reservoir is now almost completely dry, though heavy winter or spring rains this season or next could fill it again. After swinging north on the far side of the freeway, the path joins for a short time the crumbling pavement of the long-abandoned Highway 395, the former inland highway running north from San Diego into Riverside County. Soon, however, the pavement disappears and you're on a dirt trail following the shoreline west. At 1.5 miles into the run, you cross Felicita Creek, a small perennial brook deeply shaded by oaks, sycamores, palms, and other water-loving vegetation.

You rise out of the creek and ascend moderately, wrapping around the broad south flank of Bernardo Mountain. At 1.7 miles, a couple of minutes past the creek crossing, make a very sharp right turn on the path heading north. You ascend slowly, with the oaks and sycamores of Felicita Creek just below you on the right and Bernardo Mountain rising on the left. By about 2.5 miles, you've swung around to the north side of the mountain, where the chaparral vegetation thickens to jungle-like proportions and the ascent quickens. Stay left (uphill) at the next two trail intersections, always heading upward.

You continue either ascending or contouring in a zigzag pattern, passing a large water tank at 3.2 miles, and finally reaching the rocky summit at 3.6 miles. From this noble vantage point you can clearly visualize the patchwork of urban/suburban/wildland that inland North County has become. The white noise of traffic on Interstate 15 wafts upward to you -- but peering in certain other directions you see little apparent human impact on the landscape. Westward, down the valley below Lake Hodges, a slice of Pacific Ocean is visible on clear days.

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?

Lake Hodges has become the most popular destination for recreation within the 55-mile-long San Dieguito River Park, now taking form along the San Dieguito River watershed from the coast at Del Mar to the Volcan Mountains near Julian. Trails along the Lake Hodges shoreline have long been popular, and now a route up Bernardo Mountain is attracting attention as well. The bulk of the mountain was purchased for inclusion in the park in 2002, so now hikers and mountain bikers can reach the top without leaving public land.

The following 7.2-mile round-trip hike to Bernardo Mountain starts at the end of Sunset Drive, south of Via Rancho Parkway and just east of Interstate 15. This is a relatively easy hiking route but semi-technical for mountain bikes.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Start off heading south, parallel to the freeway, initially on a wide, concrete walkway. After about 0.4 mile, the pathway turns sharply right and passes under the Interstate 15 bridge that goes over the east arm of Lake Hodges. The reservoir is now almost completely dry, though heavy winter or spring rains this season or next could fill it again. After swinging north on the far side of the freeway, the path joins for a short time the crumbling pavement of the long-abandoned Highway 395, the former inland highway running north from San Diego into Riverside County. Soon, however, the pavement disappears and you're on a dirt trail following the shoreline west. At 1.5 miles into the run, you cross Felicita Creek, a small perennial brook deeply shaded by oaks, sycamores, palms, and other water-loving vegetation.

You rise out of the creek and ascend moderately, wrapping around the broad south flank of Bernardo Mountain. At 1.7 miles, a couple of minutes past the creek crossing, make a very sharp right turn on the path heading north. You ascend slowly, with the oaks and sycamores of Felicita Creek just below you on the right and Bernardo Mountain rising on the left. By about 2.5 miles, you've swung around to the north side of the mountain, where the chaparral vegetation thickens to jungle-like proportions and the ascent quickens. Stay left (uphill) at the next two trail intersections, always heading upward.

You continue either ascending or contouring in a zigzag pattern, passing a large water tank at 3.2 miles, and finally reaching the rocky summit at 3.6 miles. From this noble vantage point you can clearly visualize the patchwork of urban/suburban/wildland that inland North County has become. The white noise of traffic on Interstate 15 wafts upward to you -- but peering in certain other directions you see little apparent human impact on the landscape. Westward, down the valley below Lake Hodges, a slice of Pacific Ocean is visible on clear days.

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

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Next Article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

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.