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Between food and flood
Over 100 years of history at the Sikes family’s adobe
The trail is within the agricultural preserve.
This is a chance to explore a colorful part of San Diego’s history. The hike begins at the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead, originally built by the Sikes family in 1872 and recently reconstructed after it was destroyed by the Witch Creek Fire in 2007. The farmstead has a small museum dedicated to the history of the American pioneer. The hike continues on into the San Pasqual Valley Agricultural Preserve, where many of San Diego’s local vegetables are grown.
After curving around the west side of the Sikes Farmstead, the trail doubles back toward Via Rancho Parkway, skirting a marshy area, then turns away from the highway and heads almost due south. Look for a monument and informational posters telling about the hill on your left, Mule Hill, where a battle was fought in the Mexican–American War of 1846. Further down the trail, just before it turns toward the east, another monument marks the site of the town Bernardo, which existed here from 1872 until the Lake Hodges Dam was completed and the reservoir was filled in 1916. At this point, the trail turns east and continues for another half a mile. The vegetation here does not appear to have made much of a recovery from the 2007 Witch Creek Fire, as there are only a few scattered patches of golden bush and broom baccharis plants, with sparse non-native annual grasses. Perhaps there will be more annual wildflowers in late winter and spring after the rains of this year.
At 1.4 miles from the Sikes Farmstead, the Mule Hill Trail joins the San Pasqual Valley Agricultural Trail. For the next mile the trail threads the border between the San Dieguito River flood plain, on the right, with carefully cultivated fields bearing vegetable crops, including tomatoes, winter squash, melons, chard, asparagus, and cauliflower, on the left. The flood-plain vegetation has thick pockets of willow and mulefat, others of salt grass, peppergrass, and salt heliotrope and Russian thistles. San Diego goldenbush also forms dense patches in places.
At 2.6 miles from the Sikes Adobe, the trail starts across the flood plain, now completely dry, and clothed with sparse vegetation composed mostly of annual grasses with widely scattered goldenbush and a few mulefat shrubs. Up ahead is a lush green wall of vegetation marking the channel of the San Dieguito River. The river, now lacking surface water, must maintain a substantial flow of subterranean water to support this abundance of native black willow, cottonwood, sycamore, and arroyo willow trees.
Shortly after crossing the river, the trail splits, with the San Pasqual Valley Trail continuing on the left. The trail on your right, signed “Old Coach-Coast to Crest Trail Link,” leads to the Poway trails and a different adventure. (See Roam-O-Rama trip of February 20, 2014, for information about the Old Coach to Raptor Ridge trip.) Take the trail on the right, cross Highland Valley Road, and in about 0.1 mile will be the Old Coach Staging Area. This is the turnaround point for this hike.
Note that the large parking lot near the Sikes Adobe is also used for a farmers’ market on Sundays and is the trailhead for the westbound Lake Hodges Trail, complicating weekend parking along Sunset.
Sikes Adobe to Old Coach Staging Area
- Distance from downtown San Diego: 28 miles. Allow 30 minutes. From SR-163 N, merge onto I-15 and drive to Escondido, exiting I-15 at Via Rancho Parkway. Turn right (east) on Via Rancho Parkway to the first signal and make a right turn onto Sunset Drive. Proceed down Sunset to the historic Sikes Farmstead, about a quarter of a mile ahead, on the left, where there is parking and the Mule Hill Trail begins.
- Hiking length: 6.7 miles out and back.
- Difficulty: Moderate because of length and no shade cover. Trails are wide, well maintained, easily navigated, and virtually no elevation loss/gain. Hikers, mountain bikers, equestrians, and leashed dogs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. No vehicles. No drinking water. Portable toilets only in parking area.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Between food and flood
Over 100 years of history at the Sikes family’s adobe
Between food and flood
Over 100 years of history at the Sikes family’s adobe
The trail is within the agricultural preserve.
This is a chance to explore a colorful part of San Diego’s history. The hike begins at the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead, originally built by the Sikes family in 1872 and recently reconstructed after it was destroyed by the Witch Creek Fire in 2007. The farmstead has a small museum dedicated to the history of the American pioneer. The hike continues on into the San Pasqual Valley Agricultural Preserve, where many of San Diego’s local vegetables are grown.
After curving around the west side of the Sikes Farmstead, the trail doubles back toward Via Rancho Parkway, skirting a marshy area, then turns away from the highway and heads almost due south. Look for a monument and informational posters telling about the hill on your left, Mule Hill, where a battle was fought in the Mexican–American War of 1846. Further down the trail, just before it turns toward the east, another monument marks the site of the town Bernardo, which existed here from 1872 until the Lake Hodges Dam was completed and the reservoir was filled in 1916. At this point, the trail turns east and continues for another half a mile. The vegetation here does not appear to have made much of a recovery from the 2007 Witch Creek Fire, as there are only a few scattered patches of golden bush and broom baccharis plants, with sparse non-native annual grasses. Perhaps there will be more annual wildflowers in late winter and spring after the rains of this year.
At 1.4 miles from the Sikes Farmstead, the Mule Hill Trail joins the San Pasqual Valley Agricultural Trail. For the next mile the trail threads the border between the San Dieguito River flood plain, on the right, with carefully cultivated fields bearing vegetable crops, including tomatoes, winter squash, melons, chard, asparagus, and cauliflower, on the left. The flood-plain vegetation has thick pockets of willow and mulefat, others of salt grass, peppergrass, and salt heliotrope and Russian thistles. San Diego goldenbush also forms dense patches in places.
At 2.6 miles from the Sikes Adobe, the trail starts across the flood plain, now completely dry, and clothed with sparse vegetation composed mostly of annual grasses with widely scattered goldenbush and a few mulefat shrubs. Up ahead is a lush green wall of vegetation marking the channel of the San Dieguito River. The river, now lacking surface water, must maintain a substantial flow of subterranean water to support this abundance of native black willow, cottonwood, sycamore, and arroyo willow trees.
Shortly after crossing the river, the trail splits, with the San Pasqual Valley Trail continuing on the left. The trail on your right, signed “Old Coach-Coast to Crest Trail Link,” leads to the Poway trails and a different adventure. (See Roam-O-Rama trip of February 20, 2014, for information about the Old Coach to Raptor Ridge trip.) Take the trail on the right, cross Highland Valley Road, and in about 0.1 mile will be the Old Coach Staging Area. This is the turnaround point for this hike.
Note that the large parking lot near the Sikes Adobe is also used for a farmers’ market on Sundays and is the trailhead for the westbound Lake Hodges Trail, complicating weekend parking along Sunset.
Sikes Adobe to Old Coach Staging Area
- Distance from downtown San Diego: 28 miles. Allow 30 minutes. From SR-163 N, merge onto I-15 and drive to Escondido, exiting I-15 at Via Rancho Parkway. Turn right (east) on Via Rancho Parkway to the first signal and make a right turn onto Sunset Drive. Proceed down Sunset to the historic Sikes Farmstead, about a quarter of a mile ahead, on the left, where there is parking and the Mule Hill Trail begins.
- Hiking length: 6.7 miles out and back.
- Difficulty: Moderate because of length and no shade cover. Trails are wide, well maintained, easily navigated, and virtually no elevation loss/gain. Hikers, mountain bikers, equestrians, and leashed dogs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. No vehicles. No drinking water. Portable toilets only in parking area.