1
San Diego River
Nature preserve
103 acres2.9 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
Outdoors · Santee
Santee, CA parks, trails & bike paths
About 11% of Santee is conserved land, roughly 1,145 acres. There are about 65 miles of mapped trails, and the biggest networks are in San Diego River (2.9 mi), Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve (1.4 mi), and Walker Preserve Trail (1.2 mi).
Conserved land, trails, parks and bike routes in Santee, measured from OpenStreetMap and USGS data.
At a glance
Santee outdoors
Conserved land
11%
1,145 of 10,653 acres
Trails
65 mi
3.9 mi per sq mi · 6 on conserved land
Parks & preserves
13
19 conserved acres per 1,000 residents
Bike routes
26.6 mi
22.9 mi lanes · 3.1 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
Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve
Managed by Padre Dam Municipal Water District
183 acres1.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
3
Walker Preserve Trail
Park
9 acres1.2 mi of trail
San Diego River TrailWalker Preserve
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
4
Mast Park
Park
29 acres0.5 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
5
Sportsplex USA
Managed by City of Santee
16 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
6
Shadow Hills Park
Park
5 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the parking lot
7
Big Rock Park
Park
5 acres0.4 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
DirectionsTo the trailhead
8
Town Center Community Park East
Managed by City of Santee
33 acres0.3 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
All 13 parks & preserves
Showing 1–10 of 13 parks & preserves
San Diego River103 acres · 2.9 mi of trail
Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve183 acres · 1.4 mi of trail · Padre Dam Municipal Water District
Walker Preserve Trail9 acres · 1.2 mi of trail
Mast Park29 acres · 0.5 mi of trail
Sportsplex USA16 acres · 0.4 mi of trail · City of Santee
Shadow Hills Park5 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Big Rock Park5 acres · 0.4 mi of trail
Town Center Community Park East33 acres · 0.3 mi of trail · City of Santee
Woodglen Vista Park10 acres · 0.3 mi of trail
West Hills Park11 acres
Who protects the land
1,145 conserved acres
Who manages it, from PAD-US. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Conserved doesn't always mean open to visitors. 175 acres are conservation easements, which are usually private land. The places listed above are parks and preserves people visit.
Biking & sports
Bike routes, courts & fields
- Painted or protected bike lanes22.9 mi
- Off-road bike paths3.1 mi
- Shoulders & shared lanes0.6 mi
Courts & fields
- Tennis34
- Baseball26
- Basketball19
- Pickleball8
- Soccer4
- Football3
- Equestrian2
Counts include school and college facilities, which aren't always open to the public.
Nearby
Santee and its neighbors
Towns whose outdoors data has been built so far.
| Town | Conserved | Trails | Parks & preserves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santee | 10.7% | 64.6 mi | 13 |
| San Diego | 25% | 723.3 mi | 297 |
| El Cajon | 2.6% | 3.2 mi | 12 |
| Eucalyptus Hills | 1.7% | 2.8 mi | 0 |
Trail talk
Conditions & tips from neighbors
No recent posts about Santee'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 20-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.