At The Backroads

Dixon Lake

Distance: 4.0 miles

Total elevation gain/loss: 750 ft

Best Times: during the cooler days as most part of the trail is exposed to sun

Difficulty: Easy

Lone Tree on a Hill @ Boulder Loop Trail

Directions: From Highway 15, exit El Norte Parkway, go East on El Norte Parkway, turn left on La Honda Drive and follow it one mile to Dixon Lake Recreational Area. Park is free on the dirt parking lot just before you enter the fee area of Dixon Lake. You would see the sign “Daley Ranch” opposite the entrance to Dixon Lake.

Boulder loop trail meanders on ridges dotted with gleaming granitic off white naturally sculpted boulders. Much of inland San Diego County has boulder strewn slopes, which were the result of magma cooling and crystallizing deep underground some 100 million years ago. The boulders are usually uniquely sculpted, the result of thousands of years of weathering and erosion.

Trough most part of the trail, a virtual boulder garden could be found, with rock outcroppings jutting upward from the ground. Many of the outcrops and boulders exhibit the effects of spheroidal weathering.

There are several other branching trails at Daley Ranch, this includes the Jack Meadow (5.6 miles with 500ft change in elevation), the Tour of the Ponds (3.5 miles with 600 ft change in elevation) and the Engelmann Oak Loop (5.1 miles with 800 ft change in elevation). Most of the slopes are dotted with mesa oaks, these are rare evergreen oak trees found only in interior Southern California.

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