Читать книгу 50 Best Short Hikes: San Diego - Jerry Schad - Страница 19

Trailhead Location: North Carlsbad, just inland from the coast

Trail Use: Hiking, running, dog walking

Distance & Configuration: 1.5-mile loop when including all trailhead spurs

Elevation Range: From near sea level to 185'

Facilities: Water, picnic tables, restrooms, and playground structures near the trailhead; The Shoppes at Carlsbad lie 0.5 mile east.

Highlights: Easy hiking, shade-giving eucalyptus trees, and migrating monarch butterflies

Buena Vista Lagoon

DESCRIPTION

For better or worse, eucalyptus trees from Australia have become a major component of San Diego County’s contemporary urban forest. More than a century ago, entrepreneurs planted tall varieties of eucalyptus all over San Diego County (and in other parts of California) in a misguided effort to produce wood for railroad ties. These trees largely escaped the ax after people discovered that eucalyptus wood cracks and splits too easily for use as lumber. Thus, young and old eucalyptus trees still drape some hillsides just east of I-5 and above Buena Vista Lagoon in Carlsbad, at a place called Hosp Grove. Within Hosp Grove, the city of Carlsbad maintains a small nature park and trail system, providing a patch of serenity in an otherwise busy corner of North County.

THE ROUTE

You’ll find the Hosp Grove Trail rising on the slope behind the park’s tot play area. Alternatively, heading west from the small Jefferson Street parking lot (Trailhead 1 sign), you can ascend gradually to a view of Buena Vista Lagoon just above the first switchback. From several spots along this section of trail, you can peer over the tall, obscuring vegetation on the shoreline. Bring along binoculars—or, better yet, a spotting telescope—to observe the birdlife below.

The main Hosp Grove Trail goes left from the top of the short hill, contouring southeast, quite high along a steep slope, through the eucalyptus forest. Not much grows here other than eucalyptus because the leaf litter from these trees poisons nearly every other type of plant. Eucalyptus branches, though, are attractive to monarch butterflies. This colorful species migrates from summer homes in the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains, arriving at Hosp Grove and about two dozen other sites around San Diego County in November.

After less than 0.5 mile, the main Hosp Grove Trail descends, turns sharply left, and returns to Hosp Grove Park alongside city streets: first Monroe Street, and then Marron Road. If you choose the path to the right at this junction, you will pass a switchback and reach the high point of the grove along Crest Drive. Situated near the Trailhead 6 sign is a rope and board swing enticingly suspended from a stout eucalyptus that may tempt your inner child. Returning back down the way you just came, go right at the first fork and continue down toward the street in front of you. Just east of here, across Monroe Street, additional trails meander amid the eucalyptus trees overlooking The Shoppes at Carlsbad. Turn left on the path paralleling Monroe Street and follow it back to the parking area where you began your hike.

TO THE TRAILHEAD

GPS Coordinates: N33º 10.648' W117º 20.501'

From the west, exit I-5 at Las Flores Drive (Exit 51A) in Carlsbad. Go west on Las Flores a short distance, then turn right on Jefferson Street. Proceed 0.6 mile to Hosp Grove Park on the right, opposite Buena Vista Lagoon.

From the east, exit CA 78 at Jefferson Street (Exit 1C), proceed south, and continue on Jefferson 0.7 mile to the Hosp Grove parking lot. Jefferson Street makes a hard right turn at 0.5 mile from the CA 78 exit, and the road that goes straight transitions into Marron Road. If you reach Monroe Street, turn around and go back 0.2 mile to make a left on Jefferson Street.