Take a hike: Del Dios Highlands Preserve

For a hearty workout, blue-water views and a plethora of wildflowers, head to Del Dios Highlands Preserve in Escondido.

The views may include the Pacific Ocean, but only if the skies are really clear. Much closer and always in view are the waters of Lake Hodges and the Olivenhain Reservoir.

And when I was there this month, the wildflowers were casting their colors with abandon. I spotted large swathes of golden yarrow and yellow wallflower shrubs, as well as the blue blooms of fragrant sage and the darker blue clusters of ceanothus, also known as wild lilac.

With eyes peeled for close-ups, I marveled at the beauties of bright magenta canchalagua, scarlet monkeyflowers, purple wild pea, yellow sunflowers and yellow rock roses, red Mexican pinks, yellow and orange deerweed and white morning glories and bright white daisies.

These blooms are worthy rewards for a fairly tough climb straight uphill, with at least a 500-foot elevation gain in just the first mile.

But even if you make it only for just the first half-mile, you’ll see those views back toward Lake Hodges.

Make it the 1.3 miles all the way to the top, and you’ll see the Olivenhain Reservoir.

Go another 1.8 miles to the Lake Hodges Overlook, and you’ll see the Olivenhain Reservoir on one side and Lake Hodges on the other.

The Del Dios Highlands Preserve is 774 acres of open space consisting of coastal sage scrub and chaparral habitats and this one 1.3-mile trail. The county of San Diego, partnering with the Escondido Creek Conservancy and the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority, acquired the parkland in 2004 as part of its Multiple Species Conservation Program.

The program preserves San Diego’s unique, native habitats and wildlife in a regional conservation effort. It also protects watersheds and water quality, and both the Olivenhain Reservoir and Lake Hodges are part of the county’s water storage.

The Olivenhain Reservoir was built between 1998 and 2003, the region’s first major new dam constructed in 50 years. A connection between it and the Lake Hodges Reservoir makes Lake Hodges water available to the region when needed, according to the San Diego County Water Authority. “It is the cornerstone of San Diego County Water Authority’s Emergency Storage Project, helping to protect the region from severe water supply shortages.”

The Del Dios Highlands Preserve trail straddles the San Dieguito and Escondido Creek watersheds.

When you reach the top of that uphill climb after 1.3 miles, you’ll connect with the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve trail system that’s managed by the Olivenhain Municipal Water District. That connecting parkland offers 11 more miles of trails.

The Del Dios Highlands and Elfin Forest Reserve’s trails are open to hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians.

After the workout of that Del Dios Highlands trail, I reached the top and passed through the gate that separates it from Elfin Forest. Just after that gate, opposite a sign to the right for the Quail Trail, take a left onto the maintenance road to head to the Lake Hodges Overlook Trail.

The Lake Hodges Overlook Trail begins just after the Escondido Overlook viewpoint. This trail is a narrow single-track that switchbacks and winds around through the chaparral for eventual views of Lake Hodges.

You’ll see a sign noting that this part of the area was burned in the 2007 Witch Creek fire, but it’s making an amazing comeback.

Those wildflower shows continue and soon you’ll see expansive views of Lake Hodges, a reservoir created by the Hodges Dam on San Dieguito Creek in 1918.

Priscilla Lister is a freelance writer.