Urban Rec

Morley Field entrance to Florida Canyon boasts lengthy trail

By Priscilla Lister

SDUN Columnist

The Morley Field gateway to Florida Canyon offers some of the longest continuous hiking trails in Uptown. For a bonus, there are even some fine views of the Coronado Bridge and the Coronado Islands.

The Balboa Park Web site says it has a new map for the Morley Field gateway trails. But I was unable to open that link, so I’m assuming it’s not quite ready for downloading yet.

However, you can find good maps at the actual trailheads. There are two main trailheads: one at the top of the trails (northern end) at Morley Field off Morley Field Drive, and the other at the bottom of the trails (southern end) at the intersection of Pershing and Florida drives and 26th Street.

Since there really isn’t any parking at that southern intersection, it’s better to start at the northern end, where there’s a generous parking lot at the trailhead. You’ll find that starting point at the off-leash dog exercise area next to the nature trail parking area, just east of Florida Street off Morley Field Drive.

There are over three miles of trails along Florida Drive from Morley Field to 26th Street. The trails crisscross each other at points, allowing you to make a loop out of your journey.

The map at the trailhead shows a few points of interest that were cosponsored several years ago by the city and InSITE 97 to beautify this East Mesa area of Balboa Park through a combination of public art and native habitat restoration. I went in search of the “coiled paths.”

I started from that northern trailhead, taking the high road, so to speak. I descended on the trail from the dog park area and soon took a left turn to go to the top of the mesa. From there I walked south all the way to 26th Street, walking part of the way along the edge of Pershing Drive.

It is from up there that hikers can get a fine view of the Coronado Bridge and two of the three Coronado Islands.

Then I took the low road back. According to the map, the coiled paths should have been off this southern area of the trails, near the intersection of Florida and Zoo drives.

I asked a couple of regular hikers if they’d seen the coiled paths. Valentine Viannay had not, but she did say she creates fabrics and plans to design one after Florida Canyon (check her Web site, vvfabrics.com). Gina Varela and her beautiful Golden Retriever, Betty, hike there often, Varela said, and she had never seen the coiled paths either. It became a treasure hunt.

Meanwhile, the trail offered plenty of pleasure anyway. It’s a coastal sage scrub habitat, so there aren’t any trees to offer shade. In the summer, it’s very hot. But the trail is a marvelous escape from urbanization, and since it’s open to dogs on leashes as well as bicyclists, it’s a favorite for lots of locals.

I finally returned to my starting point, still in search of those coiled paths. I drove through the Morley Field parking areas to the bicycle Velodrome, where there is another trailhead into the Florida Canyon trails. There I spoke to a park ranger who solved the mystery: the coiled paths no longer exist. She said they had consisted of bales of straw meant to evoke ancient Kumeyaay designs. But since the public art projects originally incorporated native habitat restoration, the natives evidently won and that public art project was absorbed into the landscape.

The ranger said she had begun efforts to update those trailhead maps to point out that the coiled paths are no longer there.

But imagine them, if you like, and enjoy that coastal sage scrub that makes Florida Canyon such an urban oasis.

BEFORE YOU GO: Check to see if the Morley Field maps are available by going to balboapark.org/in-the-park and clicking on “Trails.”

TRAILHEAD: The best trailhead is just off Morley Field Drive at Florida Drive. Parking is at the off-leash dog area.