Best San Diego Hikes
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Looking for some of the best San Diego hikes? Well, you’ve come to the right place!
I’ll be updating this post often since I’m lucky enough to be spending some quality time in sunny San Diego. Please comment below to recommend hikes near San Diego, and I’ll do my level best to put my hiking boots on those trails!
Let’s dive in!
Best San Diego Urban Hike: The 7 Bridges Walk
If you’re looking for an easy loop to get to know the city, this urban hike takes you through three neighborhoods (Hillcrest, North Park, and Banker’s Hill), through the famous Balboa Park, and across seven bridges!
Visit here for more info and a map for the 7 Bridges Walk, a six-mile loop through San Diego. Or watch the video below:
The latest on Youtube:
Best San Diego Hike for a Famous Photo-Op: Potato Chip Rock
The name makes no sense at all until you see the rock shaped just like a potato chip hanging out over the side of a cliff!
The Potato Chip Rock hike is near San Diego in Ramona – about a 45-minute drive out of the city.
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It’s a pretty famous photo-op and a beautiful reward at the end of a 3.5-mile climb to reach the rock.
I highly recommend the route via Mt Woodson. For more information on the Mt Woodson hike to Potato Chip Rock, visit here. Or watch the video below:
The latest on Youtube:
Best Hike for a National Park Passport Stamp: Cabrillo
The Cabrillo National Monument is the only national park in San Diego. And it’s a beauty.
The Bayside Trail at Cabrillo is an easy, two-mile down and back on Point Loma with panoramic views. For more info on the Cabrillo National Monument hike, visit here.
Where to stay in San Diego
For available hotels and homestays in San Diego, check out the map below:
I’m continuing to walk my way through the best San Diego hikes, so please do let me know where I need to go next in the comments below!
About the Author
Hi! I’m Jen!
I’m a freelance writer and travel blogger who quit my nine-to-five after my fiancé, Jeff, died of cancer at the age of 40. When he died, I realized that life is just too short to delay our dreams. Since my dream was to travel and write, I now travel and write full-time. Today I wear hiking boots instead of heels and collect experiences instead of things.
More posts on California
What a neat article about hiking near San Diego! I loved seeing the details on Potato Chip rock. I have seen a few people post this on their IG accounts. It is so cool! Have a great summer.
I’ve been dying to go to San Diego solely for the hiking trails! I think the 7 bridges walk would be my go to for sure. Can’t wait to see what other trails you post about so I can use it as a reference in the future!
These are great san diego hiking ideas. I love that trail is literally named potatoe chip rock, so silly and sounds so fun!
This is a great list. I haven’t spent much time in San Diego lately but will probably be going there a lot more once we move back to California. The 7 Bridges Walk looks really cool… trying to figure out how I can rally the kids for 6 miles though, haha! I’m going to check out the video and get more insight. Thanks for putting all of this together! – Linzey @thefamilyfuntour
There are some pretty great places to stop along the way since it cuts through the city. Maybe the kiddos won’t even notice the six miles! 😉