Mission Trails Regional Park — Attraction in San Diego

Great place to go hike and look around. If looking for quiet: not the best as most parents let kids scream to hearts content, people travel in large groups and some carry small portable speakers and such but past that it's a nice little park to hike around.

Best in spring and if rains were great throughout the year the flowers can be delightful. Most of the year there is live and green plants near stream, lake and dam, but most of the year the rest of the park away from water is typical to inland So Cal: dry so only some plants that can tolerate climate, much is brown. There are many peaks to hike to and can see ocean from some.

I've been hiking here for 6years now and haven't seen a rattler but consider myself lucky as there are rattlers here and many of them...... so dont go running with ear buds in on trails, be alert and rattlers don't always rattle so be diligent to be aware of where you step. There are other critters: lizards, road runners, lots of birds especially by lakes before dam by the camp grounds. Guess mountain lions have been spotted but typically it's a adolescent that's exploring so not sure the cats still here? Also as of 2020 I think badgers may be in area as I've seen signs asking if you've seen them.

Lots of people on weekend and many with dogs of all types: meaning some status symbol people with there tough aggressive dogs that match their super tough don't mess with me personality but mostly well mannered/family dogs. Lots of mountain bikers on trails as well so watch out for speedy McGee.

Nice park to have to visit for sure. I definitely recommend for excercise, quick nature get away, mountain bikers and there is even a paved route that cuts through parks for normal bikers and strollers, hikers, back...

We tried the easy loop which is an easy hike for a family with kids. We went during August and the hills were very dry. It was pretty hot. Most of the trail provided shade, I would say 30% of the time. You can choose more difficult trails but I was content with the small loop. During the hike I got a whiff of a dead animal and as soon as I said, "It smells like death, I heard footsteps over the brush sort of trailing me about 15 yards away. It was not a rabbit or a squirrel. It was the sound of a big cat trying to conceal its steps but the bushes kept cracking as it walked, not towards me but parallel to me. I asked my 6 year old to stop in a loud voice as he was sort of skipping ahead and stopped to wait for the rest of my group to make sure we were all safe. I had not seen any warning signs for mountain lions, coyotes or bobcats so I wasn't thinking this might be a problem. As I yelled for my 6 year old to stop, I believe the animal was startled and it stopped in its tracks. I took a peak and I saw a light brownish yellow coat through some high reeds. I told my wife..."I heard a large animal". We picked up large stones just in case and moved along. We checked online once we got home and sure enough there are articles stating that Mountain lions, rattlesnakes, bobcats, tarantulas and even scorpions are in the habitat. Gulp. We should have done our research. Hope this helps someone. Park closes its gates after 7pm so do not go in the...

It's been a few years since I came here last. Some parts of the trails were a bit overgrown, hard to walk through with shorts and a furry pup getting scratched and tangled. The park itself is open a bit later than the info center, which is nice! They close the gates at 7pm, which was right around dusk. Perfect. There are 2 ways to get in to where some of the main trails are, the first being a one way road from the info center (the other side of the road is for pedestrians/bicyclists/etc) or you can go further up mission gorge road and come in through the other entrance. That way is a 2 way road, and has parking lots just outside the gate closure...in case you might want to not rush back for that 7pm lock up.

There were lots of information sigs, and a lot of warning signs, but trail signs were harder to come by. I could see them on the way up, but the way back not as clearly. You can easily get off the main trail because of all the side trecks people have made....that might not get you anywhere.

The waterfall was dried up, which was disappointing. But it was neat to see what was underneath since I have seen the waterfalls there before. It was a quick 15 min casual walk from the trail head to the "waterfall", nothing too strenuous.

My only complaints are 1. The main trails need to be trimmed back and better signage. And 2. DON'T BRING YOUR PETS IF YOU CAN'T PICK UP AFTER THEM. 😡 so much poop on the trails....