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

Hike to the summit of Kwaay Paay peak in Mission Trails Regional Park.

The 1194-foot mountain dubbed "Kwaay Paay" in Mission Trails Regional Park managed to escape the flames that swept through nearly half of the park's area in October 2003. The welcome if spotty precipitation we've received this season so far has been barely sufficient to trigger a minor floral display in the predominating chaparral and sage-scrub vegetation on the mountain's slopes. That colorful display alone is worth a climb of the mountain. So, too, is the view from the summit, which is terrific when the atmosphere is transparent and cloud-free, and at least instructive even when a soupy marine layer covers the region. Kwaay Paay and several other summits lying between Fortuna Mountain in the northwest and Cowles Mountain in the southeast are part of the same elongated granitic pluton (once-molten body of rock) that rose up over millions of years to form one of East County's most familiar skyline features.

Kwaay Paay's summit offers a unique vantage for tracing the lower San Diego River's course. In the east, you can see the river's willow-lined floodplain dividing the suburban tracts of Santee. In the west and southwest, the panorama hints of how the river's "mighty" flow during past geologic epochs apparently carved its way through almost a thousand vertical feet of granitic rock, producing the sheer walls of Mission Gorge.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A well-defined and rather steep old road/trail ascends Kwaay Paay's north ridge, starting from Mission Trails' east entrance gate on Father Junípero Serra Trail, 0.4 mile west of Mission Gorge Road in Santee. Another, side branch of this same trail starts just south of the parking lot at the Old Mission Dam. The main trail along the Kwaay Paay ridge rises and falls a bit before settling into a serious climb leading to the top.

There's not much to find in the way of comfortable sitting spots on the summit, but you can wander east over to the top of the rock outcrops overlooking Mission Gorge Road for lunch and a great view of Santee. There are rock outcrops on the west and south sides as well. Don't wander down to the outcrops on the west, where rock climbers commonly practice their craft; you might dislodge rocks that could roll and injure the climbers below.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

O’side Tree Lighting & Gift Market, Holiday Lights at the Museum, The Elovaters and Little Stranger

Events December 5-December 6, 2024

The 1194-foot mountain dubbed "Kwaay Paay" in Mission Trails Regional Park managed to escape the flames that swept through nearly half of the park's area in October 2003. The welcome if spotty precipitation we've received this season so far has been barely sufficient to trigger a minor floral display in the predominating chaparral and sage-scrub vegetation on the mountain's slopes. That colorful display alone is worth a climb of the mountain. So, too, is the view from the summit, which is terrific when the atmosphere is transparent and cloud-free, and at least instructive even when a soupy marine layer covers the region. Kwaay Paay and several other summits lying between Fortuna Mountain in the northwest and Cowles Mountain in the southeast are part of the same elongated granitic pluton (once-molten body of rock) that rose up over millions of years to form one of East County's most familiar skyline features.

Kwaay Paay's summit offers a unique vantage for tracing the lower San Diego River's course. In the east, you can see the river's willow-lined floodplain dividing the suburban tracts of Santee. In the west and southwest, the panorama hints of how the river's "mighty" flow during past geologic epochs apparently carved its way through almost a thousand vertical feet of granitic rock, producing the sheer walls of Mission Gorge.

Sponsored
Sponsored

A well-defined and rather steep old road/trail ascends Kwaay Paay's north ridge, starting from Mission Trails' east entrance gate on Father Junípero Serra Trail, 0.4 mile west of Mission Gorge Road in Santee. Another, side branch of this same trail starts just south of the parking lot at the Old Mission Dam. The main trail along the Kwaay Paay ridge rises and falls a bit before settling into a serious climb leading to the top.

There's not much to find in the way of comfortable sitting spots on the summit, but you can wander east over to the top of the rock outcrops overlooking Mission Gorge Road for lunch and a great view of Santee. There are rock outcrops on the west and south sides as well. Don't wander down to the outcrops on the west, where rock climbers commonly practice their craft; you might dislodge rocks that could roll and injure the climbers below.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

How to make a hit Christmas song

Feeling is key, but money helps too
Next Article

Barrio Logan’s very good Dogg

Chicano comfort food proves plenty spicy
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.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader