Welcome to the Islands Project. The rapid development in San Diego County has dwindled much of our open space in what was previously rural areas. While there has been lots of open space preserves established. They have for the most part become isolated islands of open space with fragmented trail systems. Individually each open space offers hikes and rides that can be accomplished in an hour or two but by combining or connecting these islands a whole new world of options arises. An ordinary trail network can become part of a greater whole and reach “epic” status.
This first attempt to link two of the northern most open spaces can become a stepping stone and template for creating “a destination ride”. This is a vision we need in San Diego to help foster a more vibrant trail culture. Gas will soon be $4.00/gallon and the hole in the ozone isn’t getting any smaller. We have to stop driving to go ride or hike “epics” when one could be sitting in our backyard. Imagine starting at Box Canyon and then onto La Costa, Elfin Forest, Lake Hodges, the San Dieguito River Park, Santa Luz and on into Penasquitos Canyon. You could grab refreshments and and for five bucks you could hop on the Coaster and head back up North. That is at least a 50 miler. The permutaions in each area would go up astronomically.
This project is an attempt to connect two of these islands together. The Elfin Forest Reserve and the Ranch La Costa Preserve in Costal North County.
Here are our early documents
Support Slides Version 1.5 (MS Power Point) (3.3MB)
GPS Data of the Elfin – La Costa Connector (KML Format) (62KB)
There is much left to do but this is a start.