February/March 2009
Get Out and Get Active! 
  
 The San Dieguito River Park is hosting three upcoming guided hikes and invites you to Step It Up!  Free 10,000 Step A Day Pedometers will be given to all hikers!
 
 No Reservations Required   

For all hikes bring water and wear close toe shoes.  Visit our website at www.sdrp.org for more detailed information about these hikes and other activities on our Activity Calendar! Be sure to scroll through all four pages! All guided hikes are free!

Mike Thacker will be your guide on Saturday, February 28th, from 9:00 a.m. till 11:30 a.m. This hike is moderate to mildly strenuous and will take participants on a trail in the beautiful San Pasqual Valley that has been closed since the wildfires, but is now reopened, Ysabel Creek to Raptor Ridge.  From I-15 go east on Highway 78 past the Wild Animal Park.  Cross the bridge and turn right onto Bandy Canyon Road (marked) and travel about three miles to Ysabel Creek Road, passing the Verger Dairy.  Turn right into the Ysabel Creek parking and staging area.  
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Bring your camera and join Eric Aniversario on Saturday, March 7th, from 8:30 a.m. till 11:00 a.m. for a photo-hike.  We will be meeting at the Sunset Drive parking and staging area located across from North County Fair Mall.  Exit I-15 at Via Rancho Parkway and go east (right) for ¼ mile.  Turn right at the traffic light onto Sunset Drive and park along the street or in either parking lot.  We will meet in front of the Mule Hill/San Pasqual Agricultural Trail marker.    We will hike either underneath the overpass to Felicita Creek or down Mule Hill Trail, both rated easy!
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 Jack Pomeroy will lead us to Bernardo Mountain on Saturday,March 14th, from 8:30 a.m. till 1:30 p.m.  This is a  moderate to strenuous 7.5 mile roundtrip hike to the summit.  Park at the Sunset Drive parking area (see directions above) for the North Shore Lake Hodges Trail.  The trailhead for this hike is on the right side of the road at the kiosk and goes underneath the freeway.  Exit I-15 at Via Rancho and turn right onto Sunset Drive at the light.  Park at the end of the cul-de-sac.  If you've never been up on Bernardo Mountain overlooking Lake Hodges, now is the time!  
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 We are excited to announce that Sempra Energy Foundation has given the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy and San Dieguito River Park JPA a $60,000 grant for the first phase of designing a Nature Center at the San Dieguito Lagoon.  The nature Center will be sited on property located south of Via de la Valle and east of San Andres Road.  Teams of architects have been invited to present their plans to seek community input in the design of a "green" sustainable building that will provide public education about wetlands and wildlife that depend upon wetlands.  The selected architect or team will hold public workshops beginning in early summer.
 
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Special Reminder:  Don't Forget the Birding Class on Saturday, March 21st, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the River Park office.  (14103 Highland Valley Road, Escondido, CA 92025) Email Barbara@sdrp.org to let us know you're planning to attend!

     And . . .  Bridging The Gap . . .    
 
      The Lake Hodges Bicycle/ Pedestrian Bridge will open in April or early May!
            





 
            Photograph by Jim Coffee for the San Dieguito River Park





                        
 
 
 
San Dieguito River Park, 14103 Highland Valley Road, Escondido, CA 92025, (858) 674-2270