At The Backroads

Rolling Hills at Blue Sky Ecological Reserve from the trail to Ramona Dam

Blue Sky Ecological Reserve is a very pleasant little urban hike. It is nestled on the western slopes of Mt. Woodson, and just a few steps from the parking lot one would forget civilization already. The sound of the speeding cars are replaced by the sound of the croaking chorus of frogs and toads. The preserve protects one of the finer examples of riparian vegetation in Southern California.

Hikers @ Blue Sky Trail

The trail starts with the riparian habitat along the creek. One can take either the narrower creekside trail, or the wider trail which serves both hikers and horseback riders. The hike passes through a succession of riparian, oak woodland, mosses and ferns, mixed chaparral and coastal sage scrub environments.

Oak Woodland, Mixed Grasses and Some Wildflowers About to Bloom

The first 1.3 miles of the trail is flat with only 100 ft elevation gain. Here, the trail is under the cool shade of oaks and sycamores. At about 1.0 mile from the trailhead, a side trail goes South towards Lake Poway. This would be another beautiful extended hike from Blue Sky Ecological Reserve. What is great about this trail system is that, one can choose either the relaxing entry level hike at Blue Sky Ecological Reserve along the creek side or continue uphill for a more challenging hike to Lake Poway ( 400 ft change in elevation, with additional 1.2 miles one way) or to Mt Woodson ( 2500 ft change in elevation, with additional 4.8 miles one way, this one would be the best work-out) or to Ramona Dam ( 800 ft change in elevation, with additional 1.5 miles one way ).

California Poppies and a Blue Canterbury Bell, at the sunny slopes of the Blue Sky trail

This time of the year however, with the profusion of wildflowers on the hills to Ramona Dam, it is very pretty to continue hiking to Ramona Dam. Though of course, Lake Poway and Mt Woodson trails also has wildflowers which I featured in my previous posts here and here , but I find the greatest concentration here at the trail to Ramona Dam.

A Carpet of Wildflowers, right after the Woodland Habitat

Emerging from the Oak Woodland and riparian habitat, continuing to Ramona Dam, at present (spring time), one would be greeted by the phantasmagoric display of wildflowers, opening towards the sky as if pointing out, you are in BLUE SKY Ecological Reserve.

A Mixed of Wildlfowers on the Hills at Blue Sky Ecological Reserve to Ramona Dam

The mix of wildflowers provide an almost rainbow display of colors, red, orange, yellow, green and blue. Blue Sky just blooms beautifully right now, really a wonderful sight while hiking. Nature’s wonderful gift and bonus to those who seek it.

Mix of Wildflowers ( Mustards, Poppies, Blue Bells, Purple Phacelias, Lupines, etc)

Lovely Mix of Wildflowers that Nature Landscaped

The whole hike to Ramona Dam is just a sight to behold right now, hikers, horsebackriders, and runners in the trail, while wildlfowers mix with sage scrubs and chaparalls on the trail side and the hills.

Hiker and Horseback Riders

This work-out is many times better than the gym for me, a real uphill walk, with the blue sky above, and wildflowers fluttering with the wind, just lovely. And even the low key grasses put on their competitive display too, their white flower actually sparkle with the sun.

Grass Flower

Hiking Distance of Blue Sky Ecological Reserve to Ramona Dam: 5 miles round trip

Elevation gain: 800 ft

Direction: From I-15, take the Rancho Bernardo Exit, go East on Rancho Bernardo Rd, Rancho Bernardo Rd becomes Espola Rd, make a left turn at about 3.5 mile from the I-15 exit (pay attention to the sign), you know you passed it when you see Lake Poway Rd, which is about 0.6 miles South of Blue Sky Ecological Reserve.

Twin Peaks from a Distance

Trailhead: Silverset Park, Poway

Hiking Distance: 2 miles round trip

Elevation Gain/Loss: 700 ft

Difficulty: A short ( 1 mile to the peak) but steep trail of hard-packed dirt road and very steep narrow trail of jagged rocks.

Directions: From I-15, take Ted Williams Parkway Exit, then drive East on Ted Williams about 2.5 miles, make a right turn at Twin Peaks Rd, and then make a left turn at Silverset Rd. Drive North at Silverset Rd until you hit Silverset Park which is the end of Silverset Rd. You can park inside Silverset Park if you think you would be back before sunset, but if you think you would still be at the trail by sunset, park outside of the park since the park closes at sunset. 

Boulder Strewn Promontory, Twin Peaks from the Trailhead

The first time we went hiking at Twin Peaks, we spent more than an hour to the peak because we combined it with geocaching. We saw three geocaches, and it was fun.

One of the 3 Caches we found, @ Twin Peaks

We combine hiking and geocaching sometimes to add fun to our hike, that is if we are doing a short hike. Sometimes, finding the cache takes a lot of time, in fact, there was supposed to be a cache at the peak of Twin Peaks, but we never found it, and we tried 3 times! Geocaching is like a treasure hunt using GPS where we have to enter the coordinates of the geocache in the GPS. It is fun finding the treasure or the cache, I saw a lot of kids having fun with this activity, together with their family.

However, without geocaching, hiking at Twin Peaks is a very short one. It will take less than an hour to reach the peak! Though short, but it does not seem really that easy because of the steepness of the trail and some portions are on jagged rocks. I know my 12 year old niece enjoyed the hike tremendously though. For her, it was fun, fun and fun, for she had to scramble on the rocky portion of the trail, sometimes, would have to use both her hands to assist her on the way up. The hard packed dirt trail is good for biking,

Trail for Hikers and Bikers

but to go to the peak, one must park the bike at the end of the dirt trail since the last section of the trail is very narrow and on jagged rocks. One may end up with a flat tire if he continues to bike, or I doubt a bike can go up at all without harming the biker. At the summit, one can enjoy the fractured rocky outcroppings and the view of Poway and its environs.

From the Top of Twin Peaks (1)

Looking Northeast from Twin Peaks