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

High above Escondido, enjoy the bucolic splendor of the Engelmann Oak loop hike in Daley Ranch.

This trail highlights the Engelmann oak (or mesa oak) -- a somewhat rare evergreen oak tree found only in parts of inland Southern California. Along the way you'll also see the ubiquitous coast live oak, with its characteristic dense and dark green foliage. Engelmanns, with sparser foliage and grayish-green leaves, tolerate dryness better and tend to thrive on high, as well as low, ground.

The starting point for the Engelmann Oak loop hike is Daley Ranch's west-side (Cougar Pass) trailhead. To get there take the Highway 78 freeway east from Interstate 15. After only one mile, the freeway ends at Broadway. Turn left on Broadway and drive 4.8 miles north to unpaved Cougar Pass Road on the right. Follow the winding Cougar Pass Road 1.4 miles to the Daley Ranch trailhead on the right.

From the trailhead, enter Daley Ranch property on Cougar Ridge Trail (a dirt road). You traverse a grassy flat and soon plunge into coast live oak woods, where perpetual twilight reigns. A small stream trickles through here during the wetter half of the year. At 0.7 mile ignore the first road on left, the northern leg of the Engelmann Oak Trail. At 0.9 mile stay right, avoiding the lesser trail on the left (this Bobcat Trail will be your return route). You climb more briskly now, reaching a saddle. Stay on the main road, which angles east upward along a ridge, and negotiate your way over a steep section with loose rocks underfoot. Most of the city of Escondido lies in view below, nestled in a bowl surrounded by rounded hills. You can understand how Escondido (Spanish for "hidden") deserves its name.

Sponsored
Sponsored

At the next junction, 1.5 miles, bear left on the Engelmann Oak Trail. Continue climbing and don't miss the old stock pond on the right, which brims with water after winter rains. Continue through a park-like spread of coast live oaks -- where, on a warm spring day, sweet, toasty aromas rise from the drying grass and oak leaf litter.

Next, you skirt the south base of Burnt Mountain, a rounded, boulder-studded promontory guarded by thick chaparral. The newly opened Burnt Mountain single-track trail intersects on the left -- a rougher alternate and slight short-cut route along the base of the mountain. For easier walking or riding, stay on the Engelmann Oak Trail, which soon curls left and goes northward. You catch sight of the rolling mesa to the northeast occupied by the rural community of Valley Center.

At 3.3 miles (about 0.4 mile past an old water tank on the right), in a grassy vale, turn left on the narrow Bobcat Trail. A delightful one-mile descent down a shallow ravine ensues, first through swaying grass, then amid fragrant chaparral, then under densely clustered live oaks whose intertwining limbs nearly blot out the sky. When you reach the next trail fork, bear right, hook up with Cougar Ridge Trail, and return to the Cougar Pass Road trailhead.

This article contains information about a publicly owned recreation or wilderness area. Trails and pathways are not necessarily marked. Conditions can change rapidly. Hikers should be properly equipped and have safety and navigational skills. The Reader and Jerry Schad assume no responsibility for any adverse experience.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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

Recalling a nighttime firefight in my Rolando condo complex

This was years ago, but I still freeze when I hear anything that sounds like gunfire
Next Article

JamPinoy: one cafeteria line, two cultures

Pick your island cuisine in Vista's new Jamaican-slash-Filipino eatery

This trail highlights the Engelmann oak (or mesa oak) -- a somewhat rare evergreen oak tree found only in parts of inland Southern California. Along the way you'll also see the ubiquitous coast live oak, with its characteristic dense and dark green foliage. Engelmanns, with sparser foliage and grayish-green leaves, tolerate dryness better and tend to thrive on high, as well as low, ground.

The starting point for the Engelmann Oak loop hike is Daley Ranch's west-side (Cougar Pass) trailhead. To get there take the Highway 78 freeway east from Interstate 15. After only one mile, the freeway ends at Broadway. Turn left on Broadway and drive 4.8 miles north to unpaved Cougar Pass Road on the right. Follow the winding Cougar Pass Road 1.4 miles to the Daley Ranch trailhead on the right.

From the trailhead, enter Daley Ranch property on Cougar Ridge Trail (a dirt road). You traverse a grassy flat and soon plunge into coast live oak woods, where perpetual twilight reigns. A small stream trickles through here during the wetter half of the year. At 0.7 mile ignore the first road on left, the northern leg of the Engelmann Oak Trail. At 0.9 mile stay right, avoiding the lesser trail on the left (this Bobcat Trail will be your return route). You climb more briskly now, reaching a saddle. Stay on the main road, which angles east upward along a ridge, and negotiate your way over a steep section with loose rocks underfoot. Most of the city of Escondido lies in view below, nestled in a bowl surrounded by rounded hills. You can understand how Escondido (Spanish for "hidden") deserves its name.

Sponsored
Sponsored

At the next junction, 1.5 miles, bear left on the Engelmann Oak Trail. Continue climbing and don't miss the old stock pond on the right, which brims with water after winter rains. Continue through a park-like spread of coast live oaks -- where, on a warm spring day, sweet, toasty aromas rise from the drying grass and oak leaf litter.

Next, you skirt the south base of Burnt Mountain, a rounded, boulder-studded promontory guarded by thick chaparral. The newly opened Burnt Mountain single-track trail intersects on the left -- a rougher alternate and slight short-cut route along the base of the mountain. For easier walking or riding, stay on the Engelmann Oak Trail, which soon curls left and goes northward. You catch sight of the rolling mesa to the northeast occupied by the rural community of Valley Center.

At 3.3 miles (about 0.4 mile past an old water tank on the right), in a grassy vale, turn left on the narrow Bobcat Trail. A delightful one-mile descent down a shallow ravine ensues, first through swaying grass, then amid fragrant chaparral, then under densely clustered live oaks whose intertwining limbs nearly blot out the sky. When you reach the next trail fork, bear right, hook up with Cougar Ridge Trail, and return to the Cougar Pass Road trailhead.

This article contains information about a publicly owned recreation or wilderness area. Trails and pathways are not necessarily marked. Conditions can change rapidly. Hikers should be properly equipped and have safety and navigational skills. The Reader and Jerry Schad assume no responsibility for any adverse experience.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

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

Frank Zane has already won

But don’t call former Mr. Universe retired
Next Article

Prime Wheel in Tijuana cracks down on employees after worker disappears

Maquila co-workers turn on man's wife
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