San Diego’s Tecolote Canyon Trail Run
There is a true trail running treasure right in the heart of San Diego and it is called Tecolote Canyon. To get to Tecolote Canyon take I-5 to Sea World Drive/Tecolote Road. Exit east onto Tecolote Road and go about 1 mile to the Tecolote Nature Center. Park and access the trail head just to the left of the Nature Center.
Option 1
Gain access to the trailhead just to the left of the Nature Center and follow the jeep road east for approximately one mile. Bear left onto the single track trail the follows alongside Tecolote golf Course. At 1.5 miles you can turn right up the hill, then an immediate left to go back down the hill and return the way you came resulting in short 3 mile run.
Option 2
At the 1.5 mile mark continue to your left following the single track along Tecolote Golf Course. During your run you will descend and ascend 2-3 short but steep hills. Each time make sure to bear left whenever possible to stay along the golf course. The single track will turn slightly to your left at around the 3 mile mark and you will find yourself underneath some dense forest cover. Continue east crossing back and forth over dry stream beds (they can be wet in the rain season). At approximately 2.8 miles take the fork to your left and run uphill. At the top of the hill turn right and take this trail all the way to Boyd street trailhead. If you make it to the Boyd Street trailhead and back to the Nature Center you will have completed a 10K (6.2) miles. This trail is the site of the Dirt Devils Coyote 5&10K held every May.
Option3
At approximately 2.8 miles take the fork to your right. Cross over the river, wet or dry and continue east until you emerge at Genesee Ave. Options #2 and #3 can also be linked but you will have to run 1.5 miles on the road. When you emerge at Genesee make a left on Geneses Ave so that you are running north. At the second light make a left onto Boyd Street and run up the long slightly steep hill. Eventually you will see the Boyd street trailhead on your left. Enter the Boyd street trailhead and follow the single track back down into Tecolote Canyon. Combing options #2 and #3 will result in a 7.8 mile challenging run mixed with jeep road, streets and single track trails.
Tecolote Canyon is a great trail to run and is 10 minutes from almost anywhere in San Diego. The Nature Center has restrooms that typically open at 8am and close at dusk in addition to ample parking right at the trailhead. Tecolote Canyon is also part of the Tri-Canyon system in Clairemont. For those of you who want to run even longer distances the Tri-Canyon trail system can provide you with many additional miles. Check out their website for trail maps and other information.
This map is the route if you do Option 2 and the new single track section that has been added near the visitor center.
If you ever want to explore some of San Diego’s finest trails call the San Diego Running Institute at 619-265-7374. The Running Institute is owned by Dr. Victor Runco. Dr. Runco is an avid trail runner, coach of the San Diego Dirt Devils and Ultrarunner. He can typically be found with some Dirt Devils every Tuesday morning at Marion Bear Park and Thursday mornings at Tecolote Canyon between 6am-6:30 am depending on daylight savings. If you want to run with the Dirt Devils and Dr. Runco call the San Diego Running Institute to find out what time to be there. See you on the trails.
