1
Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve
Managed by City of San Diego
3,902 acres53.9 mi of trail
North Main TrailSouth Main TrailSan Diego Sea to Sea TrailLopez Canyon TrailNorth Side Trail
Dogs on leashMapped in OpenStreetMap
Outdoors · San Diego
San Diego, CA parks, trails & bike paths
About 25% of San Diego is conserved land, roughly 54,524 acres. There are about 723 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve (53.9 mi), Mission Trails Regional Park (51.2 mi), and Balboa Park (28.4 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in San Diego, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
San Diego outdoors
Conserved land
25%
54,524 of 218,100 acres
Trails
723 mi
2.1 mi per sq mi · 527 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
297
39 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
855.0 mi
632.5 mi lanes · 117.7 mi off-road paths
Conserved land is a share of the whole town area. Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number or a place below to zoom in© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Parks & preserves with trails
Ranked by mapped trail miles. Directions go to the nearest marked trailhead or public parking.
2
Mission Trails Regional Park
Nature preserve
6,652 acres51.2 mi of trail
North Fortuna Perimeter TrailFortuna Saddle TrailSouth Fortuna TrailPyles Peak TrailCowles Mountain Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the trailhead
3
Balboa Park
Park
1,215 acres28.4 mi of trail
Powerhouse Canyon TrailBridle Trail28th Street FootpathVelodrome TrailMonkey Trail
Dogs on leashMapped in OpenStreetMap
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Black Mountain Open Space Park
Nature preserve
2,350 acres23.7 mi of trail
Miner's Ridge Loop TrailMiner's Ridge LoopManzanita LoopNighthawk TrailBlack Widow
Dogs on leashMapped in OpenStreetMap
5
Tecolote Canyon Natural Park
Park
1,005 acres14.1 mi of trail
Tecolote Canyon TrailHillside Loop TrailBattle Trail
Dogs on leashMapped in OpenStreetMap
6
Mission Bay Park
Park
561 acres9.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
7
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
Managed by California Department of Parks and Recreation
1,501 acres9.1 mi of trail
Marsh TrailMargaret Fleming Nature TrailBroken Hill TrailSouth Fork TrailRazor Point Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
8
Marian Bear Natural Memorial Park
Managed by City of San Diego
447 acres8 mi of trail
Marian Bear Park TrailBiltmore TrailKroc TrailLimerick LoopStandley Trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
All 297 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 297 parks & preserves
Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve3,902 acres · 53.9 mi of trail · City of San Diego
Mission Trails Regional Park6,652 acres · 51.2 mi of trail
Balboa Park1,215 acres · 28.4 mi of trail
Black Mountain Open Space Park2,350 acres · 23.7 mi of trail
Tecolote Canyon Natural Park1,005 acres · 14.1 mi of trail
Mission Bay Park561 acres · 9.5 mi of trail
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve1,501 acres · 9.1 mi of trail · California Department of Parks and Recreation
Marian Bear Natural Memorial Park447 acres · 8 mi of trail · City of San Diego
Carmel Mountain Preserve333 acres · 7.9 mi of trail · City of San Diego
Border Field State Park518 acres · 7.6 mi of trail
Who protects the land
54,524 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 4,423 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. Public access isn't recorded for 3 of 1,212 parcels. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes632.5 mi
- Off-road bike paths117.7 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes104.9 mi
- Tecolote Canyon Trail (bike route)1.3 mi
- Hillside Loop (bike route)0.9 mi
- Carmel Mission Bike Trail (bike route)0.5 mi
- Oceanfront Walk (bike route)0.3 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis897
- Basketball508
- Baseball361
- Pickleball134
- Soccer117
- Beach volleyball78
- Golf52
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Nearby
San Diego and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about San Diego's trails yet. Muddy, icy, a bridge out, where to park: a quick post helps the next person.
Sources: trails, parks, preserves, courts and bike lanes © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), map data as of 2026-09-28. Conserved land: USGS Gap Analysis Project, Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US). Measured against the Census town boundary.
How we measure
"Trails" are OpenStreetMap paths, bridleways, public tracks and unpaved footways, plus footways inside a park or preserve or on a named trail route. Sidewalks are left out. Areas are counted on a 95.1-meter grid, so overlapping parcels count once. "Conserved" includes conservation easements, which protect land from development but are usually private property. Trailheads are the nearest marked trailhead, public parking lot or information board within about 150 meters of a preserve. Dog rules come from OpenStreetMap when someone has tagged them; otherwise we show what's typical for the land manager, or say the rules aren't recorded.