Hiking San Diego: Climbers Loop at Mission Trails Regional Park
Mission Trails Regional Park is great for hiking. However, it is also a paradise for rock climbers. Climbers Loop Trail is a short 1-mile trail that takes you to the best rock-climbing areas.
- Starting Point: Father Junipero Serra Trail near Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor’s Center
- Length: 1 mile
- Elevation: 400 foot gain and loss
- Type: loop
Climbers Loop Trail is mainly used by climbers to access the rock-climbing opportunities on the side of Kwaay Paay Peak above Mission Gorge. However, it is also a great trail to climb to get views of Mission Trails to downtown San Diego.
Mission Trails Regional Park rates Climbers Loop in the most difficult category 3. However, it is the easiest category 3 hike in the park with only about 400 feet in elevation gain.
Climbers Loop starts about a quarter mile down Father Junipero Serra Trail from the Mission Trails Visitor’s Center. Father Junipero Serra Trail is a paved one-way road running through Mission Gorge from the visitor’s center to Old Mission Dam.
You can park at the visitor’s center, but there is also limited parking alongside the road at both the south and north entrance to Climbers Loop. Either way, the loop climbs above Mission Gorge, runs parallel to the ridge along the top, and descends back into Mission Gorge, a short distance from where you started.
We usually start Climbers Loop at the south entrance, nearest the visitor’s center. You climb straight up about 300 feet. This takes you to the rocky area where you will find the rock climbing areas. Below you is a great view of Mission Trails.
At this point the trail levels off and follows the ridge for about a third of a mile. This area is quite rocky and requires some scrambling. At some point it can be unclear which route is the official trail. However, it is well-marked and you really can’t get lost.
This route runs below the peak of Kwaay Paay. However, you cannot get to the top of the mountain from this trail. To climb the mountain, you need to go about a mile down the road to Kwaay Paay Peak trail.
After a short distance scrambling parallel to the ridge Climbers Loop turns back down the hill. You head down the trail to the north entrance to Climbers Loop on Father Junipero Serra Trail. To complete the loop, simply walk the short distance down the road back to the south entrance.
It is fun to go to Climbers Loop to watch the rock climbers in action. However, we generally like to go during weekdays when it is not crowded. We do some mild boulder climbing but nothing as exciting as the climbers in full gear.
If you are really into rock-climbing you can check out this web site which looks at most of the major routes on Climbers Loop (labeled Mission Gorge). The three main climbing areas are labeled Middle Earth, Limbo and Main Wall.
One thing that is fun is after the hike you can go to the visitor’s center and look through the telescopes that are trained on the mountain. If you don’t want to hike, you can use these telescopes to spot the climbers without having to do any climbing.
While doing Climbers Loop it is worth checking out the Kumeyaay grinding rocks. Across the road from the south entrance to Climbers Loop it is a short 300-foot walk to the grinding rocks where the Kumeyaay prepared food by the river.
For more hikes in Mission Trails we are making regular updates here.
Be sure and check out our full guide to Mission Trails Regional Park.
2 Comments
Comments are closed.