Top 20 Natural Monuments around San Diego

A great place to relax and a central point for exploring the park.

The beach trail leads you right down to where you'd expect. One of the things people love to do is to 1) park at the beach parking lot right after the paid entry, and then walk the road all the way up to the top, then hike down the beach trail back to the beach where your final stroll along the beach leads you right back to your car. I highly recommend this. It's a unique thing to be able to do. But there's a catch... If the tides are high, or there is big surf, you won't be able to make it back to the beach parking lot from where the beach trail hits the beach. The tides and/or surf sometimes close down the section of beach along the bottom of the cliffs, meaning you'd have to hike all the way back up the beach trail and then walk the road down again (not as fun, unless you're looking for the extra work and miles). Pro tip: Check the surf and tides for when you'll be doing the hike. That way you'll have a better idea of where you should park (beach lot down at the bottom or trail parking lot up top), and know what kind of hike to expect.

Balboa Park began as 1400 acres of land set aside in 1868 by San Diego civic leaders. Known then as “City Park”, the scrub-filled mesa that overlooked present-day Downtown San Diego sat without formal landscaping or development for more than 20 years. (Today the Park’s total land parcel has been reduced to 1,200 acres.) The first steps in Park beautification were made in 1892, largely due to the contributions of Kate Sessions. Sessions offered to plant 100 trees a year within the Park as well as donate trees and shrubs around San Diego in exchange for 32 acres of land within the Park boundaries to be used for her commercial nursery. Several popular species, including the birds of paradise, queen palm, and poinsettia were introduced into the Park’s horticulture because of Sessions’ early efforts. In fact, many of her original trees are alive and visible today. Just after the turn of the century, a master plan for Park improvements and beautification was formally introduced. Supported by a City tax levied in 1905, the process began in 1903 and continued through 1910. Water systems were installed, planting continued, roads were built, and the Park began to take on much of the familiar look of today. As San Diego was set to play host to the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, and “City Park” was a less-than-memorable or distinctive name for such an internationally prestigious event. In 1910, Park Commissioners announced plans to re-name City Park and the public was eager to throw potential names into the hat, including San Diego Park, Silver Gate Park, Horton Park, and Miramar Park. After months of discussion and great public interest, the Park Commissioners decided on the name Balboa Park, chosen in honor of Spanish-born Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, the first European to spot the Pacific Ocean while on exploration in Panama. https://balboapark.org/about-balboa-park/

This overlook on the trail offers a cool bird's eye view of the Old Mission Dam. You can tell just how wide the structure spans when you get this higher perspective.

Built in 1803 by Kumeyaay Indians 'conscripted' by the Spanish, the dam was built across Mission Gorge to redirect water to the Mission San Diego de Alcala. The area is full of history as well as spectacular scenery and wildlife.

It is a lie that it is a hiking for beginners. The route is already marked, to reach the top, the floor is not completely level. If you have knee problems, abstain. Since the hills are steep and the return could cause injury. Don't expect the potato chip photo to be easy; It has a large and dangerous crack that if you are not in the right condition it will be very difficult to climb up to take the photograph. The stones are smooth so you must have hiking shoes. Six km in total, two hours of closed route. Refrain from going in summer or after 12 pm, as there is little shade.

The Old Mission Dam is part of San Diego’s Mission Trails Regional Park located on the Father Junípero Serra Trail. When the population of San Diego de Alcala Mission grew during the late 18th century, so did its demand for water. The Spanish colonists solved the water shortage problem by building what is likely the first major colonial irrigation-engineering project on the Pacific Coast.

This overlook on the trail offers a cool bird's eye view of the Old Mission Dam. You can tell just how wide the structure spans when you get this higher perspective.