What a beautiful day for a walk along the path at the slough. It's a great place to stop when you're driving between Ocean Beach and the Midway District. There are so many birds right now migrating through SAN DIEGO that you are guaranteed to see them enjoying the water. Make sure that you walk on both sides of the road so that you see the entire slough!! read more

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Whoever is in charge, if anyone, has basically split the difference: they're not making it especially pleasant or accessible, but they haven't entirely blocked it or worse paved it over for condos. Google Maps shows a contiguous trail along the west side, I didn't see one. On the east side there's a sign saying access is blocked for vegetation reasons, with no alternate route indicated. And near the south entrance there's an empty spot where signage used to be. I zig-zagged through the neighborhood to the Point Loma Blvd. section which gets you closer to the water, those not close to most of the birds. The birds might like it that way, but just be aware that most of the preserve isn't reachable. I'm no ornithologist so I'll say there was an impressive variety of birds - both kinds, large and small. read more

The slough is cool, not a whole lot to it besides the trail and some wildlife. Its a good spot to kick back and think for a while in peace though, and i support the efforts to keep it a part of OB. The "roadwork" is STILL going on all around the surrounding streets. No wonder the city claims its broke and the school system is in shambles, the people doing the roadwork are obvious products of a school system in shambles because they cant seem to get anything sensible done. In the rare instance a road does appear to be repaired, eh, they come back and dig it up in a few months and start over again; which leads me to believe that the "foremen" actually running the construction show, are probably not products of a school system in shambles, but rather, very smart individuals who have figured out how to continuosly milk the blind taxpaying people of SD for their $45 an hour paychecks while they create infinite potholes and pollution! Another example of our societal imbalances. The people volunteering (key word volunteer) actually care about the environment and the living creatures within the environment and whose work is priceless(and appreciated by far too few). All the while ya have the destroyers of our environment working the system over and over again getting their fat paychecks chuckling as they watch the birds drop dead and your car rims get bent. But hey, who cares, you can go watch American Idol tonight and forget all about it. Awaken my fellow humans, the signs of the demise are all around you, but it doesnt have to be this way. Seven, over and out. read more

Famosa Slough - swimming, not advised. - Hiking Near Me - San Diego, California

A jewel in the middle of town! Egrets, mallards, pipers, herons, and more! Even though there is traffic noise, this place silences it all as the senses take in a peaceful beauty! Thank you San Diego for protecting this tiny bit of wonderful!!! read more

Famosa Slough - Beautiful! - Hiking Near Me - San Diego, California

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Here is another update on the goings-on at Famosa Slough. I know there's been lots of activity recently with the City of San Diego digging up the streets around the Slough. Workers are currently replacing old underground pipes that have decayed and broken down over the years. The number of sewage leaks that have occurred has increased and of course-the outfall ends up in the Slough wetlands. Monitoring of water quality in the area showed the high bacteria to be sewage contamination and the culprit was traced back to leaking city sewer pipes. Even though the street closures and re-routing of traffic has been noisy and a big hassle-it is a necessary evil in order to stop the pollution at Famosa Slough. The filtering reed plants that were planted off Valeta Street have done a great job at cleaning up the water visibility and keeping down the algae levels during the summer. As a result, the large bird populations are back-wintering in the waterways and drawing lots of "birders" with their binoculars and camera's. In fact now there are "birding tours" that pay a call here to photograph and gawk at the variety of wildlife at the Slough. I have seen large numbers of pintail ducks and the sand-pipers are numerous. Occasionally, some pelicans will show up and then there are always the "winged rats"--pigeons and sea gulls. But this vibrant display of winter birds is proof that Famosa is a healthy and vital marine wetland that can support a large variety and amount of fine-feathered friends. That is the entire purpose of all the hard-work and sweat of the brow that goes into keeping this little slice of nature something to be proud of. read more

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A 37-acre wetland and wildlife preserve tucked in between condos and the freeway. A unique place to take a walk and enjoy the birds, wildlife, flowers and trees. Over 190 species of birds have been observed here. Dogs on leashes are allowed. Although 37 acres seems large, the historic wetland was huge, and once covered a lot of the surrounding area, including what is now Mission Bay Park. Some reviews have mentioned Mosquitos, but we always come early in the morning when it's cooler, and have never had a problem. NOTE: there are 2 parts to the slough, the part on the south side of W. Point Loma has more walking trails, and less road noise, but both are nice. read more

Famosa Slough - Early morning walk around Famosa Slough - Hiking Near Me - San Diego, California

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I took a Nature and Bird Walks here today and had a good time. They are held on the 3rd Saturday of each month at 1 pm. Meet at the kiosk by the corner of Famosa Blvd. and W. Pt. Loma Blvd. The guide's name was Barbara and she was really nice, helpful and knowledgeable. She had binoculars for everyone to borrow, which really helped. She told us about the history of the Slough as well as recent developments. She took us on a 2 hour walk, pointed out various birds and flowers/plants/foliage along the way. She answered all our questions and told us about the Friends of Famosa Slough organization which is always looking for volunteers! The Slough itself is pretty big, but there are only a few walking paths / trails, so its not exactly a place to hike. Just a nice place to take a stroll, bird watch, see some unique plants (the ice flower/cactus were so cool and attracted a ton of bees), relax on one of the several benches and just enjoy nature. Its conveniently located in Point Loma Heights. There are three different "kiosk" entry points which have a map of the area to help you. The one on Famosa and W Point Loma Heights is the most central (and has street parking which is pretty easy to find) and the one on Famosa and Valeta has a dirt parking lot. It seems to be a place the locals like to hang out, not sure its worth going on a regular basis if its out of your way, but I would recommend checking it out if you're into birds, nature or just want a nice new place for a walk. Especially if you can make one of the hosted walks. Point Loma Heights is a nice neighbourhood with lots of shops and restaurants to check out while you're there. I'm going to have to go back throughout the year to see how the bird life changes with the seasons. read more

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I live right around the corner from this place- and just went for the first time yesterday on my Sunday afternoon walk with my dog. Vader is an on leash kind of dog- so on leash trails are my thing. He also likes to bird watch- by watch I mean wishes to chase, and never gets to. So this was a good thing for him in more ways than one. We just stuck to the south side- and will again- so that we don't have to cross the craziness that is West Point Loma Blvd, but it's a nice quiet place to walk. I'd stay away when its dark - as there are some more questionable "residents" if you will- but with my dog- it's a nice peaceful place to walk, take a few pictures of my adorable little buddy and then move on. read more

A vast wetland preserve literally in my backyard! Animals, wildlife, plants, galore...... I like it because it offers a venue if I need to take Bella on a quick walk through one of its trails. Though--the trails aren't very long or bountiful for that fact. I wouldn't feel comfortable walking through here by myself at night as you often see remnants of random alcohol bottles, traces of "mini camps", and other sketchy items. But when all is said and done, it's great that there's an established preserve area in my community. :) read more

So how do you pronounce this place? Sloff? Slow? Slew? Slouff? Had an argument with a friend who's always right - she didn't want to go with the way I say it - slew. So whatever. I like this place. Peaceful at night to sit on a bench on the south side of Point Loma Boulevard and just vegetate and listen to the birds. Not really all that into Ornithology unless it's that jazz ditty by "Bird" but this is a cool place to walk through to get away from it all if you take the path that goes into it instead of staying on Point Loma when you walk by the slough. The Slough pretty much divides Ocean Beach from Midway - nice big landmark on any map of the area. And heck if the economy never recovers and things get really really really really bad I have some good snowy egret casserole recipes... read more

This may be one of my favorite local spots to take a nice afternoon walk. I usually spend at least one hour a day biking, hiking, swimming or walking around and this right here is one of my number one spots for that walking! It's right off W. Point Loma which is a fairly busy road but, once you get into the Slough all that will disappear. You can walk for a good 20-30 mins around the water and back and you feel like you have transported to a nature oasis. There's lots of life and plants through out the Slough and I've even been told you can catch Halibut there. It's right down the street from my house and if a quick little walk is all I have time for this is the perfect solution for that! There are multiple locations to enter the Slough and I have used them all at one time or another. read more

Famosa Slough - Cactus blooming in late November - Hiking Near Me - San Diego, California

"So is it pronounced 'sloo'? Or is it more like 'slow'? Or kinda like 'slaow'?" According to Merriam-Webster, it's "sloo", but Dictionary.com claims it can also be pronounced "slaow" (rhyming with cow). What I actually say when I'm around Famosa Slough is "SHOOO!!!!" because this place is a mosquito haven. It is the perfect environment for them so they just hang out here and do a number to my dogs and I. I live nearby so these bastards get into the house sometimes, too. It is beautiful, though. Yes--I said it--it's beautiful. Famosa Slough is more than just a place where the local high school potheads "hang out". There are some short paths around the wetland that dogs surely enjoy. They even provide high quality dog poop bags at the entrance, which has a dirt parking lot and a port-o-potty. I don't know much about birds, but apparently the bird-watching is great in the area, too. There is some construction going on in the area to fix some leaky sewer pipes to stop further pollution to our slough, so hopefully the beauty of the area will be preserved for years to come. When you look around, you can tell that this area was THIS close to becoming just another condo or apartment complex, but I'm really glad it didn't. I'll take the mosquitoes over concrete and drywall. read more

I used to live next to Famosa Slough and when it didnt smell it was a cool place to watch birds. There would be a Belted Kingfisher that would sit on the power line, he was cool to watch diving in the swamp for a fish. The south side of the slough has been cleaned up luckily, during the 80's you would find piles of old concrete and dumped tires there. read more