Fall Oasis : Big Laguna Trail Opens New Path to a World of Scenic Beauty

Dozens of volunteers under the auspices of the Laguna Mountain Volunteer Assn. labored for two years to create the newest trail in the Laguna Mountains. The 6-mile Big Laguna Trail, opened last month, wends its scenic way over gently rolling hills and grassy dales, never dipping below 5,400 feet nor rising to more than 5,900 feet. By combining the “BLT” with a 4-mile segment of the “PCT” (Pacific Coast Trail), you’ll be able to make a 10-mile loop hike that is one of the finest in San Diego County.

If you like relatively flat terrain, varied scenery, remoteness, and a bit of challenge, this trail is for you. There are all sorts of ways to plan a shorter route as well, especially if you can arrange to be dropped off at one point and picked up at another.

The cool, dry days of autumn are a perfect time to go. You’ll walk under battered, 200-year-old Jeffrey pines and spreading black oaks now turning a crispy golden yellow.

Don’t let Santa Ana conditions deter you. During strong Santa Anas, the Lagunas are an oasis of coolness, with average temperatures about 30 degrees less than in the coastal region. All traces of moisture and air pollution are swept away during these episodes, producing surrealistically blue skies that contrast nicely with the sun-bronzed earth.

The lowest point of the hike, Penny Pines parking area, is a good place to begin. From Julian, drive south on California 79 for 6 miles, then southeast on Sunrise Highway approximately 11 miles to Penny Pines--mile 27.3 as reckoned by the green mile-markers posted at 1-mile intervals along Sunrise Highway. Don’t leave without a quart of water and some snacks for lunch in your pack.

Start by walking west on Noble Canyon Trail. After 0.1 miles, there’s a split: the signed Big Laguna Trail goes left. After another 0.8 miles through open pine and oak woods, BLT turns south to skirt the margin of Laguna Meadow, a complex of shallow depressions that partially fill with snowmelt and storm runoff during the rainy season. By 2.5 miles into the hike, you’ll be opposite Big Laguna Lake. Summer thunderstorms filled it to a depth of about 1 foot a month ago, though it may well be dry again by late October.

Next, the trail turns east to enter an east arm of the meadow containing Little Laguna Lake and the Laguna Campground. When you reach a wire fence at 2.8 miles, don’t go through the gap in the fence, but turn abruptly right to follow the fenceline over to the wooded area on the meadow’s east side. A spur trail branches left toward Laguna Campground, where water is available if you need it.

The main trail continues south along the meadow’s edge, then east to follow a shallow ravine. After a turn to the north and a short bit of steep climbing, you cross the graded Los Huecos Road (4.5 miles) and hook up with an old roadbed marked by white-painted arrows (as of this writing).

You ascend easily through chaparral--mostly ceanothus, which puts on a great floral show in the late

spring. Look for the shiny-leaved chokecherry bushes, which may bear prodigious quantities of ripe red fruit by late this month. As the name suggests, the cherries consist mostly of a hard, round pit.

Enjoy the view of the dark, wave-shaped crest of Cuyamaca Peak in the west, but don’t miss the next junction. When the roadbed makes a hairpin turn to the right (at 5 miles), stay left on the footpath that continues through a gap in a wire fence.

The path curls down through more pine and oak woods, crosses Sunrise Highway, and continues east, uphill, to join Pacific Crest Trail at 6 miles.

Make a left there to return to your starting point by way of the rambling, scenic Pacific Coast Trail. Along the way, you’ll pass several overlooks offering panoramic views of the desert floor 3,000 to 4,000 feet below. At about 8 miles into the hike, you’ll pass Foster Point, where a direction-finder can help you locate various peaks on the horizon.