Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

Perched above a long expanse of beach is Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, a sprawling stretch of wilderness just north of the city of San Diego. With 8 miles of trails, it’s a wonderful way to get up close and personal with San Diego’s diverse nature. 

The park’s preservation began in 1899, when a city ordinance protected 364 acres. A decade later, local philanthropist and journalist Ellen Browning Scripps bought up some adjacent land and subsequently donated it to the city. More land was added in 1923, making the park over 1,000 acres, and it soon opened to the public. In the last decade, the protected land has nearly doubled in size to 2,000 acres. 

The park’s titular tree, Latin name Pinus torreyana, is the rarest pine in all of North America. This critically endangered species only grows on the coast of San Diego County and on an island off of Santa Barbara. They often resemble oversized bonsai trees, thanks to the way that coastal winds twist and turn their branches. Set against the seaside cliffs of the park, they make for a dramatic and visually striking landscape. 

The park’s trails are well maintained, and many of them are accessible to hikers and walkers of all ages. The Guy Fleming trail, a breezy ⅔-mile loop, takes visitors through the greatest variety of cacti, wildflowers, and habitat diversity of all the trails, and its two scenic overlooks both offer panoramic views of the sea and surrounding land. Razor Point Trail, which sounds more hazardous than its meandering route really is, offers dramatic views of the park’s sculpted sandstone gorge, and leads up to Yucca Point Overlook, which boasts yucca flowers in springtime and year-round views of tafoni, a type of sandstone erosion that makes some of the surrounding rocks look like honeycomb or Swiss cheese.