Mission Trails Regional Park
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32°49′48″N 117°03′18″W / 32.830°N 117.055°W
Mission Trails Regional Park is a 7,220-acre (29.2 km2)
Description
The park consists mostly of rugged canyons and hills, with both natural and developed recreation areas, including beautiful flowers. It is the seventh-largest open space urban park in the United States, consisting of nearly 7,000 acres (28 km2). The highest point is 1,592-foot-high (485 m) Cowles Mountain, which is also the highest point in the city of San Diego. The San Diego River flows through the park. A one-way access road goes through the park, allowing hikers, bikers and pedestrians on one side and cars on the other. The park is open every day of the year.
The park has 60 miles of hiking, mountain bike and equestrian trails, a rock climbing area, and the
On December 17, 2014, West Sycamore was officially opened to the public. This increased the size of the park by just over 1,100 acres and includes 6 miles of trails. West Sycamore is located adjacent to the Scripps Ranch community and is at the very east end of Stonebridge Parkway. It is north of the main area of MTRP.
Special annual events at Mission Trails include the Amateur Photo Contest which begins in March, with entries due by the middle of April.
Natural history
The park is in the
New Conservation Plans
In July 2022, the City of San Diego purchased 25 acres to add onto the park. In September 2022, The Mission Trails Regional Park (MTRP) Foundation officially announced that it had received a 2 million dollar grant from the San Diego River Conservancy to extend the park into what is currently private, but uninhabited land. This proposed addition for adding more land would be within the uninhabited "planning area" of the East Elliott Community, north of State Route 52 and bordering the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.[2]
The MTRP Foundation itself acts as a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving, protecting, and improving the park and is receiving the grant from the San Diego River Conservancy (SDRC) since the San Diego River runs directly through Mission Trails, including the Old Mission Dam which is a historic conifer for the river. The SDRC operates as an independent, non-regulatory state agency established with a similar goal to the MTRP Foundation by intending to preserve, restore, and enhance protected regions or systems in and around the river. This seemingly may also include other watershed ecological areas such as adjacent canyons.
Due to the preserve already being one of the largest urban parks in the United States, both of the new acquisition efforts will purportedly obtain ultimately more than 100 additional acres of land for the park. Both purchases would support the park's "2019 Master Plan Update" and the City of San Diego's Multiple Species Conservation Program (MSCP), which aims to preserve essential landscapes and their (largely
The expected conservancy grant is estimated to take up to two years. During this time, the MTRP Foundation will work to secure additional funding to support other land acquisition opportunities in the East Elliott Community Planning Area. Altogether, this could result in roughly 600 additional acres which are now under private ownership.[2]
2003 Cedar Fire
A significant portion of the park was burned by the
See also
References
- ^ "The 150 Largest City Parks" (PDF). Trust for Public Land. 2010.
- ^ a b "Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation Receives $2M Grant to Acquire Additional Land for Mission Trails". Mission Trails Regional Park. Archived from the original on 2022-09-23. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
- ^ "Six years after the Fire". Mission Trails Regional Park. Archived from the original on 2012-05-05. Retrieved 2012-05-05.
Sources
- San Diego's Mission Trails Regional Park : Official Guidebook, by Pamela Crooks, 2003, ISBN 0-9706219-1-4