Trail Running in San Diego’s Torrey Pines State Park
Many of you may only know of Torrey Pines from the golf course or the Torrey Pines State Beach that is down below the course. What you may not know is that there are miles of fantastic trails right in the heart of the park.
For this great San Diego trail run, I recommend parking at the bottom of the hill along the beach or in the pay lot. Now, get your legs ready because you are about to go up! Head up the road that leads up the hill into the park, just be sure to stay on the dirt shoulder to avoid cars and cyclists doing hill repeats. As you climb the hill the first trail you will get to is the Guy Fleming loop on the right side of the road. Personally, I like to hit this on the way up and then run it again in the reverse direction on the way back down the hill. If you can time it right, I have yet to find a better section of trail to be running at sunset.
After you leave Guy Fleming trail, continue up the hill to Parry Grove Trail. This trail will have some rather steep stairs to take you down to the loop. The loop is a nice trail, just be careful on the way down! Complete the loop then head on back up the stairs.
After this you will head up the road just a bit further and hit the main stretch of trails. This becomes a bit of an adventure because there are lots of little out and back sections and ups and downs for you to choose from. I can give you step by step directions, but where’s the fun in that. I would highly recommend just heading into the trails and exploring for yourself. The great thing is, the trails all lead back out to the main road so it’s just about impossible to get lost.
Once you hit the end of the trails you will be at the main road that runs through the park and looking at the Torrey Pines golf course. You can easily take the road back down the hill if you are in a time crunch or head back the way you came to see the trails from the other direction. Besides, the trails are always a nicer run than the roads!
Looking for others to Run Trails with?
If you want do trail running in San Diego but do not know where to go or want to run with a friendly group look no further than the San Diego Trail Running Club, the San Diego Dirt Devils. They run 3 times a week from San Diego to Mount Laguna to Anza Borrego Desert to Lake Cuyamaca. Go to www.meetup.com/dirtdevils or call the San Diego Running Institute at 619-265-7374 for more information.
