Tecolote Canyon - #TecoloteCanyon

Socal - San Diego County - San Diego NickNames: #TecoloteCanyon

The Visitor Center is the best place to enter the canyon. To get to the Visitor Center Take Interstate 5 to the Sea World Tecolote Rd. Exit. This is the exit just north of the Interstate 8 intersection. From the exit head east on Tecolote Dr. The drive will dead end at the visitor center. You can also park at the Tecolote Cayon Golf Course and begin your ride there.
There are a number of other side roads to enter the park from, but most do not provide parking lots or are difficult to reach from major roads. Thomas Guide page 1268 E2

17 Review(s)Login

• Trail UpdateTecolote Trails-The trails seem a little sandy in some areas and there aren't enough land features to make the ride super exciting but if you are eager to ride and live by Mission Bay it works out nice. There are a few short but steep pitches making the ride about as breath taking as you want to make it. By the golf course is some short but exciting singletrack when ridden at speed. There is more of the same only better once you cross Mt. Arcadia road on the way to Balboa. Some of the trails that once existed is too overgrown to ride but still enough to satisfy. Great if you live in the area and want to stay in shape by riding trails instead of roads. Also good for beginners not afraid of a wee bit of climbing.
  ICPAYDIRT a 32 year old Cross-Country Rider riding a Santa Cruz Superlight from Pacific Beach

  Posted:10/12/2005

• Trail UpdateOver Gowth!-I road from the visitor's center to teh Balboa crossing and its all these lill spiky thorns. Trail is sandy at parks and packed like rock at others.... Not very good riding at all :(
  protijy a 26 year old Die-hard Enthusiast riding a Independent Fabrication Beat Stick from San Diego

  Posted:09/01/2005

• Trail UpdateFlower Power Is Gone-I rode this trail last month and was relieved to see all the shrubs/flowers trimmed and groomed. I am a little dissapointed that they bulldozed all the creeks to a smooth rolling hill, but I'll take the good with the bad. I rode this bike trail in the beginning of spring after all the winter rain, and found that the plants really took over. I would literally come out of that trail looking like rainbow brite; full of colors from the polland and other flowers that I had to plow through. However the single track passed the golf course has always been solid except for some dung that is left over from people walking there dogs.
  grimace10 a 28 year old Weekend Warrior riding a F700 from Mission Valley

  Posted:08/03/2005

• Trail UpdateTecolote Rd To Balboa-Yesterday we rode from the visitor center to the Balboa Ave road crossing. It rained the day before and that morning so their was plenty of standing water on the trail but the trail was firm enough to not give you any trouble unless you care about staying clean. The surroundings were green and we noticed some interesting birds flying around us which made the ride quite enjoyable. During the first part of the ride as you come to the north half of the golf course is some rolling hills that are pretty rutted and somewhat muddy. How do you get through the golf course? We had to cross a creek between the pro shop and driving range and hike our bikes out. We then took the golf course's driveway out to Mt. Arcadia road and across to the trail on the other side. This point to Balboa was actually pretty interesting. Singletrack, BMX hills, and creek trails made this part enjoyable. We saw a really cool old magical-looking tree and farther north a neat little "beach" surrounded by trees along the creekside. We hiked out onto Balboa and then rode to the ocean and mission bay before heading home. If we had crossed Balboa the trail picks back up onto the other side and goes another few miles of singletrack to Clairmont Mesa Blvd but we wanted to get a closer look at a great sunset. This is an easy ride that offers a great alternative to riding roads near the beach and the bay.
  
  Ride rating: Novice
  Ride distance: 9 miles Elevation change: 400 ft
  Singletrack=60% Dirt Road=30% Paved Path=10%
  ICPAYDIRT a 31 year old Cross-Country Rider riding a Santa Cruz Superlight from Pacific Beach

  Posted:02/20/2005

• Trail UpdateTech-ole-oh-tay ? Canyon-Is that how you pronounce it? Anyway, quick update: Rode the lower half today. New construction going on at the welcome center. Gets congested with trucks, workers, ect. Those fast chutes up by the golf course are pretty rutted from rain and there is a lot of loose sand on the flats to slow you down. Otherwise, the trails and roads are in good shape. Didn't see any wildlife this time, aside from "migrating" lizards darting across the trail. Great riding overall.
  Ride rating: Novice
  SteeveOh a 37 year old Downhiller riding a 04 big hit from Rancho Bernardo

  Posted:05/19/2004

• Trail UpdateBoomin Wildlife-I regularly walk this trail from Linda Vista to Mission Beach, and sometimes I mtbk. On Feb 15,2004
  I spotted a red tail hawk flying with a rabbit in its claws. This is the third time I've seen such a thing in tecalote. The first was a snake, the second a healthy Falcon with a pidgeon dinner. It's a good thing to take along a camera, you never know what you'll see. If you visit the trail in the summer beware of Rattelsnakes!!! they are in this canyon Big Time!. Other than that it's safe unless of course you're afraid that the Rose Canyon Fault which is basicly Tecalote Canyon, Will awaken to swollow you and your $$$ cannondale or trek... Happy Trials.
  Ride rating: Intermediate
  Ride distance: 4 mi Elevation change: rolling
  Singletrack=75% Dirt Road=20% Paved Path=5% Truck Trail=1%
  Django Thompson a 32 year old Weekend Warrior riding a HUFFY from San Diego

  Posted:02/16/2004

• Trail UpdateTecolote Canyon-for best riding on this trail start at the nature center on tecolote rd, ride it hard until you get to the course then u gotta walk up the freaking hills stay left, once you see the driving range attempt to cross the river and follow the parking lot road to the north, the best part of this trail is just across the street, great singltrack fast action here. i recomend making noises when going through the bushes as i hit a bumb last weekend, lol. scarred the heck outta me. no use in crossing balboa but if you want to stay left at the t go up to the light at clairemont and balboa come back down the hill and do the rest of the trail up to clairmont park. have fun
  Ride rating: Intermediate
  Ride distance: 5 miles Elevation change:
  Singletrack=75% Dirt Road=20% Paved Path=5%
  aaron a 21 year old riding a specialized what else from san diego

  Posted:04/13/2003

• Trail UpdateTecolote Canyon-Much props goes out to Tony and Paul! This ride was straight out fun. My bud Paul was chased by a rabid pit bull. There are some bomb drops and with it came steep climbs! Gotta love it!
  Rod! a Die-hard Enthusiast from San Diego

  Posted:12/15/2000

• Trail UpdateTecalote Canyon-Much props goes out to Tony and Paul! This ride was straight out fun. My bud Paul was chased by a rabid pit bull. There are some bomb drops and with it came steep climbs! Gotta love it!
  Rod! a Die-hard Enthusiast from San Diego

  Posted:12/15/2000

• Trail UpdateGolf Course Drop-I did it once with a buddy. We dropped that last steep section by the fence, right above the tee box by the clubhouse. I biffed, he cleaned it & we got applause from the golfers on the box. Probably helped that we waited until they weren't driving.
  XcChris a 26 year old Die-hard Enthusiast riding a FSR from AV

  Posted:12/11/2000

• Trail UpdateGolf Bawls-Ever go through the golf course? I think it's fine, it's a public course, but expect some resistance. I did today and it was memorable. I somehow pissed off most every golfer I encountered despite riding on the main road, not fairway or green. To top it off, I got a flat front in the middle of the center of bad vibes. I was not in anyone's line; I was by a building for crissake. Had to replace tube, dodging golf course workers givin me heck on golf carts and TJMaxx golf hos aghast at the sight of mtber pumpin pump. I clearly was more appealing than the tee or what was next to it. Then some bungho said "hit him" (I guess with a ball; they are too wuss for real tango action, believe me). Granted it was a Sunday, but this is a public course, which aint no Sawgrass or whatever. What the? I guess they just pissed me off! Whew.

  Anyway, the part that sucks is you have to go through, at the very least, a few hundred feet of the course to go from the "hills" to the next section North of Mt. Acadia, unless I'm missing some access route by the driving range or elsewhere. Is there such an animal? I'm too scared of the big bad golfers and don't want to make them lose their balls with my BIG SACK.

  
  Ride rating: Intermediate
  Palindrome

  Posted:12/10/2000

• Trail UpdateCoyote In Tecolote-I also saw a coyote literally running up the trail toward me up near the top, not fearful at all, while I was coming down on a singletrack off the powerline trail. Today, like about an hour ago (I live close by); it's 11:45 a.m. July 4, 2000. Pretty neat stuff for an urban island!
  Ride rating: Intermediate
  MikekiM a Cross-Country Rider riding a lime colored bikey from OB

  Posted:07/04/2000

• Trail Updatethis trail is technical and expert if you stay off the breaks up by the high tension wires,fast chutes too!!!
  Ride rating: Expert
  Ride distance: miles3-10 Elevation change: rollercoster
  Singletrack=20% Dirt Road=60%
  white trash a 11 year old Cross-Country Rider riding a tri-cycle from t.j E-mail: www.boobs.com

  Posted:06/30/2000

• Trail Updatethere is a secret entrance to the trail at the golf course by where they park the golf carts go down,go over bridge then go right or left. if you go left advanced riding is to the left, up by the high tension wires be careful/steep slopes. c.k.

  Posted:06/30/2000

• Trail Updatei saw a coyote on this trail
  Ride rating: Intermediate
  Ride distance: miles9 Elevation change:
  chris kolb a 25 year old Cross-Country Rider riding a p.o.s from seattle

  Posted:06/30/2000

• Trail UpdateTecolote Canyon-i rode here this weekend and i must say it was pretty fun ,good singletrack and the fire roads on the way back to the visitors center are fun to bomb,i didnt see anyone out here except for some hikers . there is quite a bit of erosion from el nino but none the less
  some good fun riding.
  
  Ride rating: Intermediate
  Singletrack=95% Dirt Road=5%
  matt a 25 year old Weekend Warrior riding a gt timberline from spring valley

  Posted:09/20/1999

• Trail UpdateTecolote Canyon-Tecolote Canyon consists only of the one major trail, with a branch that runs to the east. The trail starts as an easy utility road that runds to the golf course. At the golf course, the trail runs up and down some steep rocky sections. You must make a right hand turn at the driving range in order to follow the trail up the eastern finger of the canyon. When the trail reaches Geness Dr., you must take a series of roads through the nieghborhoods in order to return to the trail. The single track then continues through the middle section of the park until you have to cross under Balboa Ave. through a tunnel under the road. After Balboa Ave. the trail continues up the center of the canyon until it raeches the Claremont Community Center. There are a number of places you can enter the park, but there are no real loops unless you ride from the top of the canyon into San Clemente Canyon, and back by Mission Bay. Right now, El Nino has taken it's toll on the trail. Look out for sink holes.
  Singletrack=75% Dirt Road=25%
  EddieX2 a 30 year old Die-hard Enthusiast from San Diego

  Posted:04/25/1998