Lopez Canyon Trail — Attraction in San Diego

This southern entrance is hidden between business plazas. Small circle parking lot here, and the path splits into two right away. One way follows a path next to office parking lots with a great view of the valley, green hills, and the sky. This path will eventually connect to the northern entrance with a bigger parking lot, and you can continue hiking to complete your loop. Occasional step uphill, one small water stream to jump over; but no long, uncomfortable muddy or pebble stretches. Just before sunset it gets great lighting and view. We saw a sign for a waterfall (2.7miles away) but it was too late,...

Whether you stay in the canyon and walk up the river bed or you climb the hill to the top of Lopez Canyon, this is a beautiful hike that will make you forget you are in the middle of a major metropolitan area. One thing to be aware of is that there tends to be a lot of poison oak down in the Lush and Greener areas near the river bed. If you don't know what poison oak looks like, it would be good to check it out...

Great hike, but just a single trail. Out and back is about four miles with about 750 of elevation gain. It's a great trail run, as the views are beautiful and it's not heavily traveled. There's no formal parking lot, so you'll have to park on the street. The West entrance had plenty of street parking, but the east entrance requires that you park a couple of blocks away from the start...