Top three running routes
in San Diego, California
Posted January 28th, 2007 at 2:00 PM by Warwick Ford
Section: Running & Training, Columns, Fun on Foot
Warwick Ford is a guest contributor to The Final Sprint and author of “Fun on Foot in America’s Cities,” the book that details and maps the best on-foot routes in 14 major US cities. Check out FunOnFoot.com for more information and to purchase the book.
San Diego, famous for its beaches, zoo, Navy and Marine Corps bases, sea craft, and golf, is also a winning place for on-foot exercise for various reasons. The main one is the weather, which is recognized by many as the best in the U.S. The average daily maximum and minimum temperatures lie within our preferred range of 40-to-80 degrees every month of the year. Furthermore, on average, there is precipitation on only 42 days per year and 41% of days are brilliantly cloudless. Add to that some gorgeous seaside scenery, historic sites to make runs interesting, and a low violent crime rate, and you have arguably the nation’s most pleasant location for year-round running.
For a training or recreational route to be motivating and enjoyable it needs to have four attributes:
- Comfort from both the safety and underfoot perspective;
- Attractions to make it interesting;
- Convenience to city center and public transit; and a worthy
- Destination to help motivate you to finish the route.
Applying this model to San Diego, we came up with the following three winning routes:
Balboa Park (5.5 miles)
For anyone staying downtown and in need of an hour-or-two break, this is an easy and very pleasant escape from city life. Balboa Park is San Diego’s answer to Central Park—big, green, interesting, popular, and close to downtown. It has a variety of plant environments, ranging from wildflower fields to canyons, and a choice of underfoot terrain, ranging from level, paved paths to steep, wilderness trails. This 5.5-mile route is one example of what you might do, avoiding the more adventurous options.
We assume a start and finish at C Street and 6th Avenue, on the Trolley line and less than a mile from the Convention Center and the main hotels. Go north on 6th Street to Fir Street, where there is a path angling into the park. Pass the picnic area and pick up the paved trail up the west side of the park. Near the northwest corner, there is a trail down into the canyon and over the creek and highway via a footbridge. Follow Upas Street along the park’s north edge to Park Boulevard. Here you can switch to a lovely sunny trail over wildflower-covered hillsides to emerge back on Park Boulevard at the desert garden, near the museum area. Return to your starting point via the sidewalks of Park Boulevard, A Street, and 6th Avenue. If you want a wind-down drink or snack afterwards, you happen to be just a block away from the Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego’s premier eating and drinking area.
San Diego Bay (3.9+ miles)
San Diego is famous for its maritime links. Not only is the city host to the largest naval fleet in the world, but it is also a major commercial port, fishing port, and hub of recreational sailing. There is also a Maritime Museum, complete with active tall ships, and the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum. You can see it all by taking a run around the harbor via a paved trail, in some parts pedestrian-only and in other parts shared with bicycles. You can do an out-and-back run from downtown, whatever distance you want to go. Another option, which ensures you see everything while keeping the distance down to 3.9 miles, is to take a bus to historic Spanish Landing and run back to downtown. You can plan to finish at Seaport Village, where there are restaurants and bars for a wind-down snack or drink, if that is what you want.
Mission Bay, Mission Beach, and Old Town (10.6 miles)
This route pulls together several very appealing parts of San Diego. If you were a stranger to town and had but one spare afternoon to get out and experience the city’s offerings, this is what you absolutely should do. Start and finish in historic Old Town, three-to-four miles north of downtown. You can conveniently get to and from here via the Trolley. From the Old Town Transit Center, take the sidewalk of Pacific Highway to just before the river, where there is a trailhead for a paved trail westward along the south bank of the river. Follow the trail to the Sports Arena Boulevard bridge. Cross the river here and go around the Quivira Basin marinas. Follow West Mission Bay Drive over the Ventura Bridge and pass the Bahia resort hotel.
Head north now, making your own choice as to whether to follow the western edge of peaceful Mission Bay or to go a couple of blocks further west and follow the oceanfront along popular and scenic Mission Beach. If you choose the latter, get back to Mission Bay at or before San Raphael Place. Continue around Mission Bay to Ingraham Street, and follow that street south across two bridges. Pick up the paved bike trail past Sea World. There are various ways to get back to Old Town from here. One is to work your way, keeping north of the river, to the Morena Boulevard bridge. Cross this bridge and find Juan Street, which leads directly to Old Town State Historic Park. There is much to see here, plus some good wind-down eating and drinking establishments. If you have the time to spare, spend it here before leisurely catching a Trolley back downtown.
© Warwick Ford, 2006 and © 2005-2006 The Final Sprint, LLC
***Note: We encourage EVERYONE to see a doctor before altering their diet, taking a supplement and/or performing athletic, fitness or other strenuous physical activity. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness and usefulness of any information, instruction, opinion or advice contained in the content. Please also see our complete disclaimer.***
Tags: attractions, California, comfort, convenience, destination, fun on foot, fun on foot in americas cities, route, running routes, san diego, warwick ford
Like what you see? Subscribe to our feed!
The Final Sprint