A city with natural beauty in every direction and a near perfect mediterranean climate, San Diego is an outdoor adventurer’s paradise. With options for hiking, biking, surfing, camping, and beautiful scenic parks for relaxing we’ve compiled the best outdoor activities in and around San Diego.
Outdoor Activities In the City
HIKING TRAILS NEAR SAN DIEGO
For hiking in San Diego, you will be pleased to find hundreds of trails from within the city itself, to up in the mountains or across the deserts that make up San DIego county. Because of the excellent climate, you are able to access beautiful hiking at any time of year, although some places are more favorable in certain seasons than others.
For example, sticking close to the coast or up in the mountains is more ideal for summer hiking, as you’ll want to avoid the dangerous heat of the desert. But during winter time, it’s ideal to explore San Diego’s incredible desert parks and open spaces. Even better, the city has numerous canyons, parks and trails directly in the city, so you can go hiking in San Diego whenever you want.
Maple Canyon Trail
Sitting between the neighborhoods of Bankers Hill and Little Italy, the Maple Canyon trail in San Diego is one of the more accessible and beautiful urban hikes around. The trail is just under 1 mile (one way). On the way you’ll be surrounded by pretty steep canyon walls, lots of tall eucalyptus trees and green foliage (depending on the time of year), and you’ll pass under a few tall bridges, which make a great scene on the trail.
Goat Canyon Trestle Bridge In Anza Borrego
Buried deep in the mountains of the western Colorado Desert, within the confines of Anza Borrego Desert State park, sits the world’s largest all-wood trestle bridge – haunting in its isolation and magnitude. The unused Goat Canyon Trestle Bridge is a testament to the determination of man to conquer every landscape on earth, no matter how formidable. And a testament to the limitations of that ambition. Initially part of a rail line attempting to connect San Diego with the east, this section of the defunct San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway snakes through inhospitable desert terrain in the southern section of Anza Borrego. Lucky for us, it makes for a beautiful walk through the desert.
Borrego Palm Canyon In Anza Borrego
Just 2.9 miles round trip, this is probably the most popular trail in Anza Borrego Desert State Park and one of the best hikes in San Diego County. The trail starts at the Borrego Palm Canyon Campground, a large campground with a combination of tent camping sites and full hookup trailer sites with drinkable water and coin-operated hot showers. The trail leads through the canyon and is an easy, kid friendly hike. This area is where the bighorn sheep of Anza Borrego are known to hang out, so keep an eye on the ridges above your head for any hooved activity (and also to make sure it isn’t a mountain lion stalking you). Go in the wetter winter months when water may be flowing for an even more magical experience.
Domelands Trail (Near) Anza Borrego
There was once a shallow sea covering parts of Anza Borrego over six million years ago and most of it seems to have deposited its sediment on the Domelands Trail, making this trail a geological wonderland. An eleven mile round-trip hike, the Domelands Trail, located in Anza Borrego State Park, is filled with slot canyons, wind caves, and great views of the Carrizo Badlands. It is also rich with fossils from ancient seashells, sand dollars, whales, and walruses.
Father Junipero Serra Trail
The Father Junipero Serra Trail is one of the best walks you can do in San Diego County. The trail is actually a paved road that cuts through Mission Trails Regional Park and it follows along the path of the San Diego River as it winds down from the eastern mountains toward the ocean. On the west side of the trail sits South Fortuna and on the east side Kwaay Paay Peak. The steep mountains on either side make you feel like you are miles and miles from any urban areas, even though the park sits right in the middle of San Diego.
South Fortuna Trail At Mission Trails
Located in Mission Trails Regional Park, South Fortuna Trail is one of the best hikes in San Diego County for catching a sunset. Or a sunrise. The South Fortuna Trail starts from the West Fortuna Staging Area and is a challenging hike that takes you through hills, meadows, riparian forest, and up a steep mountain climb. The hike can be done as a loop (6 miles), or as an out-and-back hike (4 miles), and is mostly exposed to the elements. From the top of South Fortuna you get a beautiful view – you can look west to the ocean and downtown San Diego in the distance or east out toward Mt Laguna and the desert beyond.
Blair Valley And The Pictographs Trail
A huge sweeping valley surrounded by mountain peaks, Blair Valley is truly one of the most scenic areas in Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Located in the southwestern part of the park, just off the Great Southern Overland Stage Route, Blair Valley is a popular primitive/dispersed camping area with miles of available spots to camp, all with a beautiful views of the valley floor and surrounding mountains. On the eastern side of the ridge sits Little Blair Valley, another great spot for setting up camp. Come after a rain and the whole valley may be exploding in color with a wildflower bloom.
Torrey Pines State Reserve
Torrey Pines State Preserve should be on everyone’s list to visit in San Diego, whether you are in town for a day or you have lived here your whole life. There are two ways to hike through Torrey Pines – on the beach below the cliffs or up in the cliffs themselves. We recommend the latter, starting up at the Torrey Pines Reserve Lodge and Visitor Center. Parking in the main lot by the visitor center is usually open, though it can fill up on weekends and sunset. There is overflow parking at the bottom of the hill by the beach.
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES IN THE CITY
San Diego’s city culture is largely driven by outdoor activities, so it’s no wonder the city has tons of hiking, parks, and adventurous outings to fuel the adventurous spirit. Everything from amazing outdoor volunteer opportunities, beautiful trails in the city’s canyons, and sunny beach activities to keep you healthy and well.
Don’t feel obliged to head away from San Diego to do some fun outdoor activities. Take a look within the city, and you will have no shortage of options to get outdoors, whether for a solo adventure, a fun day with your family, or keeping active with your friends.
The Loma Club Par Three Golf Course
The Loma Club is the perfect place for casual golfers. It is a par three golf course located in Liberty Station that has a very relaxed and easygoing vibe (there is a corn hole game set up at the tee box on hole 7, right by the beer cart). The holes are short (seven of them are 150 yards or less), the staff is friendly, and the atmosphere is basically a party. To us, The Loma Club is the best golf course in San Diego for beginners, or anyone just wanting to take it easy and not play such a formal round. On any given day you will be find beginner golfers, birthday party revelers, and families with young children. But despite its laidback nature, the course is well maintained and well worth a visit for more experienced golfers looking to hone their short game. Just beware the crossfire – things can get a little loose around hole 7 and beer number three.
Silver Strand Bikeway In Coronado
On any given sunny day in San Diego, which is most days of the year outside of May and June, a bike ride is one of the best things you can do with your time. And if you want to experience one of the most scenic bicycle routes in San Diego, the trip around Coronado Island is about as good as you can get. Your best option is either bring your own bike across the ferry or rent a bike from Holland’s Bicycles at the ferry landing on Coronado. Single bikes are $40. It is $50 for a bike with a child seat. This entire path is flat so it is a perfect leisurely ride for all of us casual bikers out there.
Tree San Diego Tree Treks
Tree Treks are a family-friendly, community event hosted by Tree San Diego, a local non-profit dedicated to improving the urban tree canopy. Held each month, each Tree Trek takes you on a walk through different parks or neighborhoods with a professional arborist to teach you about the trees of San Diego and their benefits to the community, public health, and the environment. A map is provided to all attendees with pre-selected trees that will be included on the walk, usually about 8-12 trees. (You also get a cool neon vest for safety when crossing streets). At each tree, a certified arborists will talk about how to identify the tree, its unique traits, and the influence it has on the surrounding environment.
Ocean Beach Bonfire
Having a beach bonfire is one of the best free things you can do in San Diego. Fires on the beach are legal in San Diego County, but must be in a designated city fire pit. You can have a propane-fueled device, similar to the parks, but this does not really provide the atmosphere you want for a nighttime bonfire, so buy some wood from one of the local convenient stores (they all have it) and pit it up. Ocean Beach has several fire pits just south of Lifeguard Tower 5. You can park in the Dog Beach parking lot and the pits are straight out by the water, past the volleyball courts. Once the sun begins to set, start the fire and watch the twinkling lights of La Jolla brighten the hillside just up the coast to the north.
Kate Sessions Park
There are many, many lovely green areas in San Diego and many, many places with beautiful views, but Kate Sessions Park in Pacific Beach combines both, which makes it probably the best place to have a picnic in all of San Diego County. Bring a blanket or chairs, pack your own food or bring a portable grill to cook out (it is legal, just try not to set your fellow park-goers on fire), and find a spot at the top of the hill. The view is spectacular – you will see all of Mission Bay, downtown San Diego, Coronado, and on a clear day south all the way to Mexico.
Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument is like a big brother to Sunset Cliffs in Ocean Beach – it is historically significant, beautiful, and part of the National Park System. It is where the first European explorer – Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo – stepped foot on modern California in 1542 (and then immediately left and got murked in the Channel Islands a few months later and then no Europeans set foot in San Diego for over two hundred years).
Final Remarks
Bookmark this guide and keep checking back — we’re always updating it with new outdoor activities and adventures.
