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

Ramble on two wheels through San Diego County's sleepy Lake Morena and Campo region.

The rural landscape spreading north and east of the tiny, border-hugging town of Campo is caught in a time warp. Not much new has appeared hereabouts in the past half-century. Narrow two-lane ribbons of blacktop meander over rocky hills and grassy dales. Grazing cattle dot meadows filled with the most lush display of tender green shoots we've seen in years. A pungent-sweet fragrance rises from the thickets of chaparral and sage draping the hillsides. It's a perfect venue for road bicycling; by no other means of travel can you fully engage all of your five senses at the same time.

A good starting point is the spacious Buckman Springs freeway rest stop, less than one hour east of San Diego on Interstate 8. Park anywhere outside the rest area itself (technically, you're not allowed to leave your car unaccompanied in the rest area). Pedal south on Buckman Springs Road. You roll past table-flat Cottonwood Valley, aptly named for its cottonwood trees, bare at the moment but ready to sprout a fresh crop of shimmering green leaves with the arrival of the spring season. You cross woodsy Cottonwood Creek on a narrow bridge and climb moderately for another two miles to reach a Y-intersection on the right. Take the right fork, Oak Drive, for the side trip into the authentically quaint Morena Village. Morena Reservoir, recovering from years of drought, its water level steadily rising, lies just past the center of town.

Sponsored
Sponsored

From the middle of Lake Morena Village, follow Lake Morena Drive south and continue all the way (mostly downhill) to an intersection at Highway 94 called Cameron Corners. A short side trip south from there takes you to the small village of Campo, with three destinations of note: The first is the historic Campo stone store -- the site of a wild gun battle in 1875 that is said to have rivaled the shootout at the O.K. Corral. The second is the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum along the historic rail line connecting San Diego and the Imperial Valley. The third is a unique wooden monument marking the south terminus of the 2650-mile-long Pacific Crest Trail, the West's most famous footpath. The latter point of interest is 1.5 miles south of Campo by way of the mostly unpaved Forest Gate Road.

Our loop route continues east of Cameron Corners on Highway 94, past an old feldspar mill whose grounds are the site of a collection of old trucks known as the Motor Transport Museum. At 3.3 miles east of Cameron Corners, turn left onto La Posta Road and pedal north. Your whirring intrusion on this serene ribbon of pavement may startle and scatter jackrabbits and squirrels. On a promontory ahead stands a Navy-operated radio telescope, its gobletlike parabolic dish pointed straight up. After a long ascent you reach a summit, swoop downhill toward a glade of oaks, and finally arrive at a junction with the old U.S. Highway 80. Turn left and enjoy the last six mostly downhill miles on this once-busy but now lonely frontage road running parallel to Interstate 8.

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

Why Unified® Review: What To Expect Dropshipping (Positive & Negative)

Next Article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate

The rural landscape spreading north and east of the tiny, border-hugging town of Campo is caught in a time warp. Not much new has appeared hereabouts in the past half-century. Narrow two-lane ribbons of blacktop meander over rocky hills and grassy dales. Grazing cattle dot meadows filled with the most lush display of tender green shoots we've seen in years. A pungent-sweet fragrance rises from the thickets of chaparral and sage draping the hillsides. It's a perfect venue for road bicycling; by no other means of travel can you fully engage all of your five senses at the same time.

A good starting point is the spacious Buckman Springs freeway rest stop, less than one hour east of San Diego on Interstate 8. Park anywhere outside the rest area itself (technically, you're not allowed to leave your car unaccompanied in the rest area). Pedal south on Buckman Springs Road. You roll past table-flat Cottonwood Valley, aptly named for its cottonwood trees, bare at the moment but ready to sprout a fresh crop of shimmering green leaves with the arrival of the spring season. You cross woodsy Cottonwood Creek on a narrow bridge and climb moderately for another two miles to reach a Y-intersection on the right. Take the right fork, Oak Drive, for the side trip into the authentically quaint Morena Village. Morena Reservoir, recovering from years of drought, its water level steadily rising, lies just past the center of town.

Sponsored
Sponsored

From the middle of Lake Morena Village, follow Lake Morena Drive south and continue all the way (mostly downhill) to an intersection at Highway 94 called Cameron Corners. A short side trip south from there takes you to the small village of Campo, with three destinations of note: The first is the historic Campo stone store -- the site of a wild gun battle in 1875 that is said to have rivaled the shootout at the O.K. Corral. The second is the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum along the historic rail line connecting San Diego and the Imperial Valley. The third is a unique wooden monument marking the south terminus of the 2650-mile-long Pacific Crest Trail, the West's most famous footpath. The latter point of interest is 1.5 miles south of Campo by way of the mostly unpaved Forest Gate Road.

Our loop route continues east of Cameron Corners on Highway 94, past an old feldspar mill whose grounds are the site of a collection of old trucks known as the Motor Transport Museum. At 3.3 miles east of Cameron Corners, turn left onto La Posta Road and pedal north. Your whirring intrusion on this serene ribbon of pavement may startle and scatter jackrabbits and squirrels. On a promontory ahead stands a Navy-operated radio telescope, its gobletlike parabolic dish pointed straight up. After a long ascent you reach a summit, swoop downhill toward a glade of oaks, and finally arrive at a junction with the old U.S. Highway 80. Turn left and enjoy the last six mostly downhill miles on this once-busy but now lonely frontage road running parallel to Interstate 8.

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

Yo-Yo Ma, Wagner, and Tchaikovsky come to San Diego

Next Article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate
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.