Marian Bear Memorial Park — Attraction in San Diego

Okay, getting hot is the San Diego region? Then stop by Marian Bear Memorial Natural Park. Just south of State Route 52 near its end at the west. Exit Regent/Clairemont Mesa Blvd, and south. Turn left and you will find the bumpy gravel/dirt parking lot, go under the bridge and find another larger one (east side of road). Both have restrooms and information kiosks, picnic tables and bathrooms. This is a highly wooded park. The trees create lots of shade and bird habitats. The creek provides water for many types of animals while soothing even the animal in men & women. Many butterflies and hummingbirds are viewable in spring. In summer the park & trails stay cool from shade and constant slow breeze via the canyons coming from the ocean & (SD Mission Bay)bay. Many trails lead up the hill/bluffs into the communities that surround the canyon park. In fact on the eastern side one trail lead under SR 52 to a neighborhood park & school/rec. ctr/pool in University Heights. During summers they have many family events and movie nites here. On the west side is a nature trail with markers and pamphlet giving descriptions. The trail ends at the another river/creek and breaks off under the SR 52/ I-5 interchange going north to Rose Canyon, another natural canyon I'll review later. This end has a high view path ending at a flowing creek, with meadows and forest on both sides. West side path leads across railroad track, BE CAREFUL!, that goes into a commercial/industrial/retail center. Lunches can be had here on weekdays, you can also smell the waft of beer being brewed at the Strauss Brewery. This is a great place to connect to the path if you are coming from PB, via Santa Fe St. bike path at end goes up to UCSD campus. There are lots of natural elements here, including Coyotes, Great Horned Owls, red-tail hawks, an occasional perigrine falcon, wood peckers, and fox. Go enjoy your canyons! But women please take a companion to be safe. Mountain bikes can use, too. Just have a bell to warn hikers & walkers, please. Thanks! Enjoy. Walk...

As a child, I visited Marian R Bear Natural Park (San Clemente Canyon), and it holds to this day 20 years later a special place in my heart. My family took me there on basically a weekly basis because I lived in the Clairemont neighborhood (North San Diego) from birth to age 12. I am a nature lover, and this canyon helped me become one! There are large California Sycamore trees (Platanus racemosa), various willows (Salix spp.) Coast Live Oaks (Quercus agrifolia) abundant especially by the seasonal stream at the bottom, the latter tree also found on north facing slopes of the canyon in great abundance. Toyon Berry (Heteromeles arbutifolia) is very common too as are Laurel sumac (Malosma laurina) and Lemonade Sumac (Rhus integrifolia), and California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica) and various sages (Salvia spp) abound in the drier areas. As a kid, I remember the nice seasonal streams with the pleasant aroma of Mule Fat shrubs (Baccharis salicifolia), clover, and alfalfa, and the abundance of adult and larval (tadpole) Pacific Treefrogs (Hyla regilla), and some deeper pools where Bullfrogs (Rana catesbiana) and their tadpoles could even be found as well. Beware of the occasional Rattlesnake (Crotalus spp.), but enjoy the Western Fence Lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis), Western Skink (Eumeces skiltonianus), and a few other lizards and snakes. Also Coyotes (Canis latrans), and wild cats and deer may be found but probably rarely. Keep in mind, this oasis is right by the Ca 52 FRWY and is bound to the south by residences on top of the canyon! It is still a great retreat for nature enthusiasts in increasingly suburbanized San Diego. I haven't visitd the canyon since the 1990's but still remember if fondly! It is easy to get to, on Regents Rd, and Gennesee Ave. To me, this is the real...

With a primary trail stretching from one end to the other – and several side trails linked to neighborhoods - Marian Bear Memorial Park is an interesting place to go take a hike. I parked on Bloch Street, north of State Route 52, where the Rose Canyon Trail starts. Walking down that trail a few hundred yards brings you to a paved trail connecting to San Clemente Canyon. Some maps call the trail that runs through the canyon the San Clemente Canyon Trail (North and South), but the City’s map and signs in the park itself don’t name the trail – you’ll have to follow signs that say “Regents” or “Genesee” which is where parking, restrooms, and picnic tables are available. My hike, going west to east, brought me through these areas, and under streets, over streams, down narrow paths, and up steep hills. I reached the east end of the trail (Limerick Ave.), got a good look at I-805, and headed west again. The trails are interesting because they’re wide and narrow, flat and steep, in the open but with plenty of shaded areas. I had to cross the stream that runs through the park about 8 times in each direction. Those crossings took place not by bridge, but by stepping on rocks about the size of your shoe. The water isn’t deep, but you may get wet feet or worse,...