{"id":458066,"date":"2025-12-19T16:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T16:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/458066\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T16:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T16:07:11","slug":"exploring-the-canyons-and-trails-of-the-del-mar-mesa-preserve-san-diego-union-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/458066\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the canyons and trails of the Del Mar Mesa Preserve \u2013 San Diego Union-Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week took me to the Del Mar Mesa Preserve<\/strong>, a web of canyons, trails and vernal pools at the northern edge of the city of San Diego.<\/p>\n

Most of the nearby Del Mar Mesa community was\u00a0developed in the early 2000s<\/a>, but large swaths of land remain open space \u2014 despite some litigious development<\/a> near the preserve\u2019s boundary.<\/p>\n

As I made my way under the thick canopy of oak branches, I wondered: How has it taken me so long to find this gem?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been dancing around it, hiking at the nearby Los Penasquitos Canyon County Preserve and Black Mountain Open Space Park (both lovely in their own right), but have never stopped by this charming wildlife haven<\/strong>. My nearly 4.5-mile route followed a narrow, wooded path with a few creek crossings \u2014 practically out of a children\u2019s storybook.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big fan of visiting places like this \u2014 preserved open space surrounded by more developed areas \u2014 because they serve as a reminder that you don\u2019t have to travel far outside of central San Diego to escape to nature<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Read more about my hike around the preserve in this week\u2019s Hike of the Week column<\/a>. And if you\u2019re not already getting this newsletter sent to your inbox, you can sign up to get it there first every week.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also thinking this week about some new reporting<\/a> from my colleagues at the La Jolla Light about efforts to reduce unsafe interactions between people and La Jolla Cove\u2019s sea lions.<\/p>\n

The animals have been on my mind lately. Last month, while in Baja Sur, I swam in the Sea of Cortez near a colony of sea lions. In Spanish they\u2019re called lobos marinos, which translates directly to \u201cmarine wolves.\u201d (Why does a wolf sound so much more daunting than a lion?) All said, it was an incredible experience to appreciate the animals up close<\/strong>, if a bit unnerving.<\/p>\n

My inbox is open for suggestions for my next hiking column or news story. You can reach me at maura.fox@sduniontribune.com<\/a>, or reply to this email.<\/p>\n

Enjoy the last full week of 2025!<\/p>\n

\u2014Maura<\/p>\n

\n

Hike of the week: Find tranquility among the oak trees at the Del Mar Mesa Preserve<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Ocean views, lush canyons and dusty peaks: 35 hikes in San Diego<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Cameras, viewing deck and new signs among S.D.\u2019s ideas for La Jolla Cove access management<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Hike of the week: Make a backcountry day of it with a hike up the Lagunas\u2019 Garnet Peak<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Handpicked by Locals: 5 places to eat, drink and explore in Santee<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Interstellar comet keeps its distance as it makes its closest approach to Earth<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Trump administration delays decision on federal protections for monarch butterflies<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This week took me to the Del Mar Mesa Preserve, a web of canyons, trails and vernal pools…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":458067,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5134],"tags":[5229,1582,276,9427,3549,3550,7264,1072,7289,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-458066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-hiking","12":"tag-san-diego","13":"tag-san-diego-county","14":"tag-sandiego","15":"tag-things-to-do","16":"tag-top-stories-sdut","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115747097337534568","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458066"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458066\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}