Mission Trails Regional Park

Mission trails is a great place to go to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Beautiful landscape: rolling hills, mountains, birds chirping. Perfection!
I enjoy going here and often take my dog. We love being in nature and getting in a good run or hike. This is a beautiful spot to do it.
If you aren’t familiar with the area, is highly suggest a map to find your way. There are many intricate trails for biking, hiking, etc. and I wouldn’t want anyone to get lost!
This is one of my favorite places to go in SD for my nature fix.
Enjoy and bring plenty of water during hotter days!

This is a very convenient trail to get to if you live in San Diego. It’s only a 15 minute drive from my place near SDSU and located in Tierrasanta. I usually go here when I don’t want to drive too far for a short 30 – 40 minutes hike by myself or with my dog. There are some medium inclines so I feel like i’m getting a little work out for the day; I also get to enjoy some nature and fresh air, what’s there not to like?
There’s plenty of parking in front on the street and you can also park inside near the dirt.

Right on my doorstep but a lovely park, it can get hot and tiresome with the big hills so always travel with water

I am so blessed to call Mission Trails my backyard! The scenery is breathtaking, trails well maintained, numerous options from a quick trek to a day-​long adventure. The peace and serenity during the week is my favorite time but never too crowded on the weekends. Perfect for hiking and biking — a must for locals and visitors alike.

I love hiking out here and do it everyday.
From the Tierrasanta side you have a lot more options. Depending on the heat I stay on the fire roads. Nice wide trails with a lot of hills, where I can see the snakes well ahead of time.
I’ve done both North and South Fortuna which provide a great workout.
I have noticed over the last month or so more trash. Come on people, don’t drop your dogs poop bag in the middle of a trail. Don’t wanna deal with it, keep fido at home. Same goes for your water bottles.
Don’t ruin the trails for us because your mom didn’t teach you manners.

Whether you’re checking out the trail from just off of Colina Dorada, or starting from the main trail head off of Mission Gorge, this place has beautiful trails all around! I highly recommend starting at the main trail head and checking out the visitor center– they have a museum and an awesome little amphitheater.

This place is pretty gangster. Me and my homies like to come out to North Fortuna, kick it on the rocks and have a grand ol’ time. Me and my boy Sandman have been thinkin’ though, why isn’t there a general store/​medical center with an outhouse attached to the side? Like man if I’m wrestling a snake and I get bit, I’m gonna have to call up the fools at 911 so they can airlift me (and the snake too, cause you know he’s probably gonna be pretty messed up.) Then like I’m probably gonna wanna go back and get my hike on after that. But as soon as I’m halfway down into the valley, the anti snake venom starts gettin’ me real hungry for some chips. So like damn I’m not about to go mob all the way down to town center just pick up a pack of Doritos. That’s where the general store would come in handy. Afterwards, I’d need somethin’ to wash my fingers with and you know I ain’t about to get Doritos stains on my Versace camelback. So shoot, I could just skip right in to the little outhouse side attachment, get my wash on and head back up the mountain for some deep meditation. Anyways, Mission Trails is dope but it could be doper.

This is a great place for mountain biking and hiking. There is good number of parking spaces at the end of Clairmont Mesa. The trails connect throughout the regional park to Jackson Road, the area off of the 52.
Different levels of difficulty. Good place to walk the dog. Just make sure you bring enough water.

My sister and I get our asses kicked running the trails and hiking the mountains! Such pretty views too, it helps to distract you from your PAIN! that is if you’re going for a workout :)

Oh my Lord… NOT for beginner hikers like myself. This was only my second time hiking ever, and first time at Mission Trails. I went with a group of 9. We went all the way to the highest point and back, took about 3 hours.
I hadn’t anticipated it being to difficult so I wasn’t prepared at all. I had a light pack with me with 4 water bottles and I finished them all about an hour before we finished. Afterwards I had mild heat exhaustion and dehydration, and was so sore I couldn’t comfortably sit or stand up from a sitting position without pain. Had to rest and stay indoors, drinking lots of fluids and electrolytes, for 2 – 3 days after.
The view from the top is worth it if you can make it!
Also there were a lot of loose rocks coming back down so be careful. We also heard a lot of rattlesnakes.
My tips
— don’t go if you’re a beginner and have little to no endurance
— Only go on a day when temps are relatively cool, this is no place to be on a blazing hot summer day
— don’t go alone unless you know what you’re doing
— take LOTS of water — freezing some bottles half-​full the night before, then filling with regular water, helps. Nothing quite like getting a mouthful of hot water when you’re dying of thirst, BLEKKKH
— stretch throughout and afterwards
— wear lots of sunscreen (i had SPF 50 and was fine; reapplied once), and take a hat and sunglasses because there’s no shade

Clairemont Ridge has some great trails! When you enter Mission Trails from the Tierrasanta side, you cross an awesome wooden bridge to enter the park. You’re at a lower elevation so you have to go up a bit and then there are more even trails, which are great for running. Many are DG and in some areas around the top of the ridge where the trails are more rocky, there are single file dirt trails parallel to the rockier terrain. On either side of the ridge there are some great hiking areas with more challenging elevation and terrain changes. Enjoy!