My Top Ten San Diego Hikes: (10)- Lake Hodges

Lake Hodges looking East

It is hard not to get outside in San Diego. The weather is beautiful year round. It is so scenically diverse. There are rugged ocean cliffs, mesas and canyons, mountains and valleys, and mind blowing desert geology. When I was still new to the area, one of my students told me that I should have no problem finding a place to hike because in San Diego, "if there is a hill, there is a trail!" True enough, I found that trails are almost everywhere. Escaping civilization became just a matter of minutes. Blame it on San Diego weather and outdoors, since I moved to this place, I lost the title I held for decades, as "paperback and movie critic" awarded to me by my friends being their movie and novel consultant. San Diego turned me into a "hiking rat"! 

Sunset @ Lake Hodges, Looking West

Because of the numerous trails and places to explore in San Diego, I can not claim that I am an expert of the place, and have explored all nooks and crannies of San Diego County. I know there are still many places in San Diego that awaits for our eyes to feast, for our minds to rest and for our hearts to take inspiration. After having been here in San Diego for almost nine years now, I can finally identify my top ten favorite San Diego Hikes, those places we so frequent. Perhaps these top 10 San Diego hikes closer to my heart are the very reasons why some other places in San Diego are still waiting for us to explore. I will start sharing my top ten San Diego Hikes from my number 10, and will end it with my most favorite at number 1. Probably, those who have shared my joys in this blog for quite some time now can easily guess which place would be in my number 1.

Let me introduce to you the number 10 in my list, 

LAKE HODGES- Best Trail For Birding

Photos of Me @ Lake Hodges

Pro: Very Accessible, so many trails around the lake. However, for us, we usually start our hike at Piedras Pintadas Trail. Then we cross the foot bridge that runs parallel I-15, and go West at the North Shore of Lake Hodges towards del Dios, or climb up Bernardo Mountain. 

Con 1: Very near civilization since part of the trail runs parallel to a major freeway, I-15, and even very close to one of San Diego County's big shopping malls. However, that is the beauty for me, in just a matter of minutes, after you round the mountains, it felt very remote, like in another world. it also feels good that I chose Lake Hodges over walking at North County Mall. :)

Con 2: Very popular for mountain bikers. In very narrow trails, hikers have to yield a lot of times. :(

Mileage: Lake Hodges is part of the 55-mile long San Dieguito River Park Coast to Crest Trail, so really, mileage depends on one's enthusiasm to explore. However, the lake has maybe 10 miles of trail around it. 

Degree of Difficulty: Anyone can choose the intensity of their hike, from an easy walk around the lake to climbing some of the mountain peaks around the Lake, such as Bernardo Mountain.

Highlights: Birds, birds, and more birds. 

Birds @ Lake Hodges

Lake Hodges is one of the best places for bird watching in San Diego. Birds are scattered around the lake, and it is not difficult to spot them. My most memorable experience here is the flock of egrets at sunset. 

Egrets in Flight, Sunset @ Lake Hodges

Change in Elevation: Again, the hike here can be just around the lake without much change in elevation, or a climb in the surrounding mountains, up to 1000+ ft change in elevation. There's a trail for anyone. If you love birds however, they mostly are around the lake. 

From here, I will let my collection of Lake Hodges pictures speak why this place is in my list of top ten favorite San Diego hikes. 

Note: The wildflowers pictures above were from the previous years. Carpeting spring wildflowers is not a guaranteed sighting every year because it depends on the amount of rain the area got during the winter, the time it started to warm up, among other factors. Some years were very good, some years had a little here and there blooms.
However, the birds, I believe are almost year round at Lake Hodges. There are different species of birds migrating at the lake at different seasons. It is not a surprise since " San Diego County is one of those rare and exciting destinations where a birder can enjoy four distinct bird habitats all in the space of one day. More than 480 species of birds have been observed in San Diego County, more than any other county in the United States. It is a bird haven along the Pacific Flyway - the diverse migratory route along the west coast of the United States, where many birds make their winter homes or nest." - source: http://www.sandiego.org/what-to-do/tours-sightseeing/bird-watching.aspx

In my next post, I will be sharing the number 9 in my top ten San Diego hikes' list.

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