Hiking: Balboa Park

Before we begin here, we should say that this entry is by no means meant to be a comprehensive guide to all things Balboa Park. There are many things, both free and not free, to do there. We plan to cover some of those things in later posts, but today we're going to focus on hiking. There are lots of trails in balboa park.  On the map at left we've highlighted several. (click on it to see a larger view)

The dark green line shows Alan's favorite hike, which has a mixture of green grass, shady trees, and a bit of Urban hiking through the main museum area of the park. Total loop length: about 3-4 miles.  Like most of San Diego, the shade is not complete - perhaps 30% of the hike has shade. At the southern tip of the left-hand loop you will get the thrill of seeing planes fly overhead, almost close enough to touch, as they come in for a landing at nearby San Diego International Airport. It's a bit noisy, but also pretty cool.

The red line shows Jymm's "favorite" hike. It's down in the canyon, which grants lots of shade, and is mostly wooded, with eucalyptus and some evergreens. Actually, Jymm only likes the lower half of the hike - the upper 

half is way too noisy, due to the very close proximity of the 163.  It's about a mile long, one way. 

The yellow line shows a more urban hike, which runs along Upas street, hanging a right onto Park Blvd, and then heads into Florida Canyon. We took a little bit of this route today, and it's a little noisy for our tastes. Florida Canyon also has the disadvantage of being completely without shade and devoid of any but the most scrappy plants due to lack of irrigation. On the map we've only shown the ~1 mile urban part of the hike; follow the arrow to get into Florida canyon. A loop of another 2-3 miles awaits you if you decide to do the canyon part. 

None of these hikes feature "his" and "hers" bushes. But they do have occasional public restrooms, if perhaps the most scuzzy examples of such facilities you will ever see.

Today's Gorp:

banana chips

ginger chips

peanuts

honey roasted peanuts

almonds

pepitas

dried cherries

dried currants

raisins

dried blueberries