Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve West — Hotel in San Diego Country Estates

On hot days, please be careful here. I went with my family, and we were totally prepared with enough electrolyte water (a few bottles for each person). However, my brother (age 17) kept refusing to drink his water. He got heat exhaustion and had a rapid heart rate and couldn’t cool himself properly because of dehydration. I didn’t count on a member of my party failing to follow basic survival instructions. Be mindful of your companions. You may need to save them or rely on them to save you. It’s going to be fairly impossible to carry your sick companion out yourself...

Besides dangers of the trail, it was extremely beautiful and freely offered the best views I’ve seen in my life. Amongst the valleys in front of you, you can see distant rocky hills, all undeveloped. It was a special treat for everyone.

We hiked to the stream, which was very beautiful. It had a surprising amount of water, considering the current drought in which we find ourselves. After filtering, the water tasted great and was refreshing!

I enjoyed myself, and I’m no worse for wear. I saw amazing things. Take enough electrolyte water (you can make your own): 8oz for each 20 minutes. It took about 1 hour for my party of adults and teens to walk to the stream, which lies about 3 miles into the preserve. You need about 3 bottles of water per person, or more, if it’s really hot. Seriously, don’t skimp on it....

It's a really nice place to hike. It's what I works guess are miles of rolling hills, trees, creeks and cows. 🙂 We really enjoyed it. I would say I loved it had there been more signage about what to expect from the wild animals we might encounter. There were warnings, but any suggestions of what you are likely to encounter. We were about to leave because we saw what might have been a mountain lion, but another hiker drove up just then and told us the animals stay away from people. They might venture out of hiding to go to the creek for water, but not to worry. Then she and her dog headed off. So we figured if she wasn't worried, we shouldn't either. We had a really nice time. The Ranger drove by, other hikers passed by, and we saw a mama cow with her baby near the trail. 🙂 We found it quite humorous that the sign warning of rattle snakes is out in the field where you have to go off the trail to go read it. All in all, we are really glad we went and will definitely go back. Make sure you wear sunscreen...

If people realized how much more healthy, diverse, and beautiful this "preserve" would be if not for cattle ranching they wouldn't be giving it 4 or 5 stars. Sure, it's "open" space and there are nice trails and it's probably better than condos, but, please, learn what cattle and ranching developments do to the land. Some parts -- generally those less accessible to cattle -- are in better condition than others, but this is a cattle ranch and the ecosystem is in relatively bad shape, believe it or not. Otherwise it would be a 4- or 5-star nature preserve. I'd go into detail, but that would take a book on the effects of cattle ranching (which I...