Hiking San Diego: Visitor Center Loop at Mission Trails Regional Park

Share

Mission Trails Regional Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States.  At its heart is a state-of-the-art visitor’s center.  One of the most family friendly hikes in the park is the short Visitor Center Loop Trail.

• Starting Point: Visitor Center, Mission Trails Regional Park
• Length: 1.5 mile
• Elevation: 150 foot gain and loss
• Type: loop

The Mission Trails Visitor Center is an attraction in its own right.  This 14,000 square foot facility features exhibits and regular programs.  It is also the starting point for the Visitor Center Loop Trail.

Unlike many of the trails in this mountainous region, the Visitor Center Loop Trail is relatively flat and short.  However, it is long enough that you feel like you are getting some decent exercise.  This was one of the first family hikes we did when the children were getting out of the toddler stage.

Mission Trails Regional Park features over 60 miles of hiking trails.  Many of these involve climbing the 5 mountain peaks in the park.  Visitor Center Loop is centrally located in the park and connects with several other trails.

The trail starts at the entrance to Father Junipero Serra Trail at the parking lot for the Visitor’s Center.  You can hike the trail either way but we are counter-clockwise hikers and always start the trail from the right side of the entrance as you are facing the visitor’s center.

For the first part of the hike, the trail follows along the paved Father Junipero Serra Trail (we like to bike this trail).  About a third of a mile in the trail turns to the left towards the San Diego River.  South Fortuna Mountain is off to the left.

At this point you can take a short detour to Grinding Rock Trails.  This leads to a place where the native Kumeyaay would prepare their meals.  You can still see the rocks where they would grind acorns.  This also leads up to Father Junipero Serra and the start of the Climbers Loop Trail.

Hiking San Diego: Grinding Rocks Trail at Mission Trails Regional Park

Grinding Rocks Trail is a short add-on walk to several hikes in San Diego’s Mission Trails Regional Park.  This walk takes you to the area by the San Diego River where the native Kumeyaay would prepare their meals. Mission Trails Regional Park is huge and features over 60 miles of hiking trails.  Many of these […]

For the next half mile or so Visitor Center Loop follows the San Diego River.  The trail heads slightly down hill until it comes to the river crossing.  The trail at the river crossing heads up towards South Fortuna mountain and the West Fortuna area.

West Fortuna has a separate entrance to the park that is about a 10-mile drive from the visitor’s center.  However, as the crow flies, or the hiker walks, it is a much shorter distance.  To continue on Visitor Center Loop you do not cross the river, but instead head left up the only uphill portion of the trail.

At the top of the hill you will come to a second parking lot for Visitor Center Loop.  This parking lot is at the corner of Jackson Dr and Mission Gorge Dr and is another place to start the hike.

This parking lot is also the location of the Deerfield BMX bike trail.  From the parking lot the trail is a short walk parallel to Mission Gorge Dr back to where you started by the Visitor Center.  Along the way you get a nice view of Cowles Mountain, the highest point in the city of San Diego.

Overall Visitor Center Loop is a great introduction to the Mission Trails area.   The official trail is 1.5 miles but with parking we figure 1.6 miles.  Be sure and check out more Mission Trails hikes at our full guide.

Hiking Mission Trails Regional Park

With over 60 miles of hiking trails, Mission Trails Regional Park in San Diego is one of the largest urban parks in the United States.  This is our guide to hiking Mission Trails. Overview WEBSITE: https://mtrp.org/ Mission Trails Regional Park was started in 1974.  It continues to grow today as new areas are added.  Currently […]

Share