One of my favorite late winter early spring hikes in San Diego. If you time it just right, you will…read moresee the most gorgeous flowers all over the trail. I was a little bit early this spring, the flowers are just starting to come out! My guess is two weeks from now it's going to pop. You do not want to come out here and hike in the summer, it's got the name Hellhole Canyon for a reason. It gets dangerously hot and there is no guarantee that anyone's going to rescue you. You can put together a monster hike in this canyon. I've done it twice over 10 miles with an ass blaster of a climb. But today I did the shorter loop which is 5.25 miles. It's got everything, views, climbing and descending and varied terrain! We rarely see anybody out here but today we actually passed three small groups on the trail. You can tell that a lot of people use the trails also with horses because we saw some horse poop and in the distance we could hear horse whinnies- so cute!!! Another bonus is at this trailhead. There are two pit toilets that are the nicest pit toilets I have ever been in. The people that maintain this canyon do an excellent job. They are always clean, stocked with toilet paper and have hand sanitizer. I will 100% be back to this trail, possibly in two weeks! If you're going to do it, I highly recommend downloading the AllTrails app and following the trail as marked. No way you'll get lost.

Super sweet hike for me and my pups. Pretty steep but gorgeous when the weather is right!read more

The "Star" of Palomar Mountain State Park is the California Institute of Technology's Hale…read moreTelescope at the Palomar Mountain Observatory, but there is also a rare bit (for San Diego) of Alpine terrain to explore with hiking trails in the trees and meadows with pounds and lakes. The views are always spectacular, and adventure awaits for those willing to get out and explore. Plan ahead for camping, the campgrounds fill up fast on weekends when the weather is nice.

A beautiful state park and such amazing campgrounds. There are a few campground options, but during…read moremy recent visit, we stayed at the Doane Valley Campground. It was very easy to book ahead online and pay for our daily parking pass once we checked-in. The campsite itself is tucked into the forest, very high up on Palomar Mountain. We found it easy to park our one SUV at our campsite and pitch our tents. The sites do have water, tables, and food boxes. The bathrooms were kept quite nice and tidy. We were all very impressed with the simple but clean and well maintained facilities. We did do a dog friendly hike that starts in the Doane Valley Campground and it's about 4 miles round trip. We had a lovely hike with a decent amount of incline along with beautiful weather. They also have a lovely stop/view area at the beginning of the campgrounds with picnic tables. Palomar mountain is great for camping, hiking, a nice Sunday cruise up the mountain for the beauty, etc. Cell phone service is spotty up there so make sure to either download your map ahead of time or use satellite service.

Woodland Park is a nice place to walk your dog....they keep the park nice....there is a playground…read morefor the kids....they have tables with benches scattered around...on the weekends especially, people reserve tables for parties..

We came upon Woodland Park today on our way to pick up dragon fruit cuttings in San Marcos, and I…read morehad to check it out. This City of San Marcos park is modest in size. It has a beautiful perimeter of trees and shrubs. Inside, there's open green space with a pond, covered picnic tables, and playground equipment. There's a swimming pool at the northern end, but I didn't explore that end of the park. Next time we come out this way, we'll have to enjoy a picnic here. Street parking only.

Great place to take the kids especially on Saturdays since the barn is open and you can go inside…read more Got some turtles and activities for them to see. The park is pretty nice as well, you can paint a rock and add it to the snake rock garden if you would like. There's a couple small spots you can walk next to the pond and see some turtles, birds and ducks.

This is a nice good walk. Excellent lake view lots of ducks to watch too. I love it when the cactus…read morebloom they are so beautiful! I start at the bottom near Silver Shadow and walk up to the recreation center. They're are restrooms and a faucet if you need water for your pups. I like to use the trails instead of the main walking road it gives me more of a workout. Keep an eye out for rattlesnakes from March through October. If you let them pass they aren't a threat. I do this walk/hike by myself it's never stopped me. I love it here

This easy hike is a 5 minute drive from Pala Casino off of Hwy 76…read more We spent about an hour and a half on the trails, which included stopping a few times for photos and views. Other than one slight elevation, it was all flat, wide trails. NOTE: $5 FEE. Highlights: A pond, elevated views of the surrounding area, shrubs, trees, cacti, a few flowers, museum (which wasn't open when we went). PROS: ~Plenty of parking on site (go through the gates) ~Porta potties on site. A couple in the parking lot and a couple on the trails. The one I used was clean and didn't smell. Antibacterial gel and toilet paper provided. No sink. ~Picnic benches available, although most were not in the shade. Trash and recycling containers provided. ~Most trails were wide and flat. There was one part where we walked up an elevation which provided views of the surrounding area. ~A few benches were available on the trail. ~Well sign-posted from the road. ~There was a caretaker on site, keeping everything well maintained. ~It wasn't busy when we went in May 2026. We saw about 5 other people. CONS: ~$5 entry fee (May 2026) ~The museum wasn't open when we were there. We walked by twice. I felt for our $5 we should have had entry to the museum. ~Somewhat underwhelming, but easy and well maintained. MAKE A DAY OF IT We stopped in at the nearby Pala Casino afterwards and dropped in at a winery on the way home. See my photos for more details.

So last week was my second time to this spot. I enjoyed it the first time that I asked my friend…read moreto join me again for another leisurely hike/walk. There is a small fee of $3 to park and enjoy a walk or hike. Each time of our visit it seemed like they were maintaining certain areas. This spot is located right off the main road of Pala, which you must give a enough time to give the driver behind you with a warning brake and use your signal. This turn will sneak up on you as you are coming downhill at a decent speed. I like this area because it is not too far from where I live and it has a lot of nature habitat that I feel like I am deep in a canyon. You can make this a leisure walk or a moderate hike by taking a different trail. There is a small pond nearby and a couple of benches to sit and enjoy the pond. While on this walk we watched a healthy coyote roam the area. We didn't feel threatened by it. We opted to head up the hill which we managed much better than my first time. There are areas that have soft soil/sand. We didn't come across any snakes, but I see a Yelper had encountered one. We are in their territory. During our walk at mid morning there was a constant breeze, that was a plus. There is a porta potty available if needed. During our first visit rangers were driving the roads periodically, which this time we didn't seen anyone driving in the area. I hope to do another leisure walk or hike here again soon. Come check it out! Be cautious turning into the entrance and also exiting the Preserve.

This is a nice little park if you want to see the view of the Hollywood sign…read more Once again, Yelp doesn't like it if I only give you my opinion. They want me to go on and on and on for no reason. So here's some extra words so the review will be posted.

Mountain view park is an East Escondido park where you might attend a birthday party once in a…read morewhile.. This park has some picnic ( party areas), nice playground sets, and a really cool climbing spiderweb orb. Grass is pretty well maintained and there are some city tennis courts. There is also a soccer and a little league field too, but seeing I live in another part of Escondido we've never used those for league play. Just know in the summer that the playground slides get very hot ( like hot lava), so be careful. Good to know - There's an abandoned white house next to this park that's always used for wedding / family pictures. I know this all too well :(

Hubs and I found this community park while driving by on a Saturday afternoon. We paid the small…read morefee, parked and took a walk throughout the winding trails. It was small, but so cute. And not crowded especially for a Saturday. We were pretty impressed with all the amenities. There are tons of places to BBQ, have group gatherings or just hang with your own family. We even found a small amphitheater! So cool. There are at least 2 baseball fields, a volleyball court, soccer field etc... We saw a strong park ranger presence as well. I like how this creates a safe environment. The bathrooms we went to were simple, yet clean and there are trees all throughout. It's such a perfect place to be for outside air, family time and small gatherings.

This park is a self pay park just like the Live Oak dog park across the way. It's the old fashion…read moreself pay, write the car info and place $3 fee in the envelope and place in the box at the ranger stand. You will find two of these rangers stand. One on the NW side and one on the east side. I've come to the park many times and only once was there a park ranger at the stand. You can also obtain annual pass at the ranger office. There are two baseball fields, an open field for soccer and a volleyball sandpit on one side. The other side you will find all the picnic areas along with the kids play area, a horseshoe pit, a small stage, a small amphitheater and basketball court. You can make reservations for large events at the rangers office (not at this time because of Covid19, large gathering are prohibited) You will also find kiosks that will share some history about Live Oak and information on nature that surrounds or is in the park. Its is shaded with many beautiful and large oak trees and some sycamores. Restrooms are available on both sides of the park. Recently, they improved the ramp to the park from the parking lot. Handicap accessible, ready. They also made a nice cement walkway, making it a much safer walk area. They also added a few more picnic tables and planted a number of new oak trees. I enjoy strolling this park, but I find my dogs seems to enjoy just as much. (There are 4 posts that provided disposal bags to clean up after your pet.)

Love this park, been coming for over a decade. It's the only place we come for fireworks show every…read moreyear. Love the live bands & dance floor. It's a great time every time!

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars…read more This review is strictly for Baseball fields. There are 4 major fields and few practice fields. The park is huge including a BMX bick tracks, which is spread across lot of areas. ApApart from that, this park features baseball diamonds, a soccer field, a playground, picnic areas, and more. It's a really nice sports park that's bustling in the evenings. There are some good baseball fields and ample space for soccer and football. However, parking can be a bit tight, and the bathrooms are just okay. There are water fountains and place to fill bottle. Overall, the park is well-maintained. But the baseball, the outfields leave much to be desired, with numerous bumpy patches causing the ball to bounce instead of roll. Parking on streets close to home base it's a risk. Beware.