Looking for a day of adventure in San Diego county that will make you feel like you are worlds away from the chaos of downtown? I highly recommend this pairing of trails and ales which will expose you to beautiful forest landscape and one of San Diego’s most famous breweries.
TRAILS: Laguna Mountain Area, Cleveland National Forest
Trailheads:
Laguna Campground, Mt Laguna, CA 91948
Big Laguna Trailhead (Sunrise Hwy) Pacific Crest Trail, Mt Laguna, CA 91948
Penny Pines Trailhead, 12031 Sunrise Hwy, Julian, CA 92036
Phone: (619) 445-6235 (Descanso Ranger Office)
Website: Cleveland National Forest: Laguna Mountain Area
Parking: Side of road or at campgrounds
Fees: Need an Adventure Pass for your car ($5/day; $30 Annual)
I love this area of Cleveland National Forest so much that I am almost hesitant to recommend it.
The Laguna Mountain Area feels very un-San Diego like as far as hikes…and that’s a good thing. In lieu of the usual chaparral and rocky exposed trails typical of San Diego, this area offers a forest and a meadow that feel almost enchanted at points, particularly if you catch some solo miles in the snow like I did over the weekend.
The multi-use trails allow bikes, dogs, and are family friendly if you keep your hike short enough. The nicely packed Big Laguna Trail near the meadow is nicely packed making it prime for trail running. Most of the areas rockier sections are found on connecting trails like Sunset Trail and Noble Canyon Trail.
The main day hike trails accessible from the trailhead options (with AllTrails links) above are:
Big Laguna Trail (13.3 miles)
Sunset Trail to Laguna Meadows Loop (8 miles)
Noble Canyon Trail (19.2 miles)
Indian Creek Loop (8.6 miles)
Garnet Peak via Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) (4 miles)
-You can cut and combine trails to make the day as long or as short as you want. A few additional notes to help you have a smooth trip:-You may lose service driving into the Cleveland National Forest area so download or print your maps ahead of time. On the trails, I was largely able to connect to the map on AllTrails.
– You can buy your Adventure Pass on the day of at the Laguna Mountain Lodge and Store (opens around 9AM) or make your life easier and buy it ahead of time at your local San Diego REI or one of these other locations.
– If you want to do one of the shorter options around Laguna Meadows, start at Big Laguna Trailhead or Laguna Campground Trailhead rather than Penny Pines.
– On nice weekend days, there are quite a few people out and about but it is still a far cry from the trails closer to San Diego proper that can be downright crowded on weekends. Enjoy emptier trails by embracing weekdays and less than ideal weather.
A little video summary of my adventures this past weekend:
You can see some more photos from my adventures in the area on the Sunset Trail/Laguna Meadows Loop (here) and knocking out 15 miles on multiple trails (here).
ALES: Alpine Beer Company
Address: 2750 Dewey Rd #104, San Diego, CA 92106
Phone: (619) 501-9989
Website:
The Pub
The Tasting Room
Instagram: @alpinebeerco
Parking: Easy in front of each location
Beer Offerings: Alpine Beer Company Brews (Plenty of Options)
Like the trails, you’ve got options here. Option 1: You can check out the classic location, Alpine Beer Company’s Tasting Room which is a small, quaint space with a nice back patio. It only serves beer, no food. Option 2: You can relax at Alpine Beer Company’s Pub, a relatively large space with a full service restaurant with an indoor and outdoor bar serving their beer. If you haven’t had Alpine beer before, you have to get The Nelson, a beer you once had to drive to the brewery to get.
If you want food with your booze, you can either grab Mexican from Tapitio’s (2335 Alpine Blvd, Alpine, CA 91901) and walk it over to the tasting room or go to the Pub and choose from a full menu. I’ve done both. At Tapitio’s, I went with the carnitas burrito was a solid choice. At the Pub, I went with fried pickles (fun fact: I only like/want them post workout, likely the salt) but eyed the larger meals people ordered which looked great.
MAP
I created a map of the key places mentioned to make things reaalllly easy for you
