ride around Balboa Park

May 13, 2010

I'm going to hike and ride my mountain bike around the periphery fo Balboa
Park

[GPS] odometer 0.00 I start at corner of 28th St and Upas St [about 9:42 AM]

I go S on 28th St, riding through Bird Park, noticing the bird names etched
int the pavement

0.14 I leave Bird Park at corner of 28th St and Thorn St and continue S on
28th St

0.27 I cross Redwood St

0.58 at Maple St and 28th St I enter a signed trail for Switzer Canyon Open
Space and go down a steep path

0.67 L into Switzer Canyon

1.12 miles I come to the culvert under 30th St, it has a lot of grafitti, and
is big enough to crawl through, but not to walk through

I continue on a rough path going sort of to the N

1.16 I turn around, by bushwhaking I could probably get up to 30th St, but I
don't want to do that while dragging my mountain bike

most of this path goes along a rocky creek bed that is too rough to ride

1.42 back on main trail next to golf course, I continue S on the trail along
the edge of the golf course

1.49 I turn away the golf course onto an unpaved path through a wooded area

1.60 path goes uphill and crosses a small gully and becomes rather narrow

about 1.66 the main trail is covered with gravel, steep and unridable, there
is an informal single track to the R

1.75 enter a small part of 28th St where there is a dog park to the R

Grape St is to the L

the park to the R is signed as Grape Street Park

1.83 this part of 28th St ends, and I continue on an unpaved path

the path runs through a eucalyptus grove

1.87 I begin the descent into a canyon so steep that there are steps on both
sides

1.99 the path emerges on Golf Course Dr, which is to the R, Date St is to the
L, and 28th St continues approximately SA

I continue on 28th St

Cedar St to the L, and a small playground to the R

2.14 rest rooms to the R

2.23 at the end of the park, I turn R into an unpaved alley

2.28 at the end of the alley, I veer right and ride near the fence around the
golf course

2.30 I enter an extension of the alley which is paved

this part is signed as Russ Blvd

27th St is to the L

rest rooms to the R

2.47 I cross 26th St and continue on Russ Blvd, which still looks like an
alley

Golden Hill Park is to my R

2.60 I cross 25th St, access to Golden Hill Park to the R, I continue SA on
Russ Blvd

Golden Hill Community Garden is to the R

2.72 street turns L, there is access to a view point to the R

R from 24th St to B St at 2.86

3.65 R on Ninth Ave

4.03 L on Date St

Tweet Street Park with a little playground, is on my R

4.11 Eighth Ave to L, and Date St becomes one way the wrong way, I continue SA
riding on the sidewalk

Seventh Ave to L, I continue roughly SA on a narrow sidewalk next to the
freeway right-of-way fence

4.15 path emerges on a street, I turn R and ride on the sidewalk

4.26 I cross Elm St at a traffic light, turn R and go up a flight of stairs into
Balboa Park

4.30 I go up another flight of stairs to a parking lot with a flagpole in the
middle

I enter the pakring lot and follow a sidewalk along the L, this is, the W side

4.36 to my L is another sidewalk around the parking area that I could have
taken to avoid that second stairway

4.63 I cross Juniper Dr

4.76 I cross El Prado

to my L is the Founders Plaza

4.92 rest rooms to the L

5.14 I cross Quince DR

5.43 I stop to eat my lunch

5.47 corner of Sixth Ave and Balboa Dr

I cross Balboa Dr and turn R into Trail 5 on a sidewalk

correction, I should continue to Upas and turn R on Upas

5.55 Seventh and Upas, the Marston House Museum and Gardens are on the L, and
I continue E on the sidewalk

5.66 I cross C-163 on a narrow bridge

on the far side, there is an unpaved side path to the L through Marston Canyon

I continue SA

about 0.03 miles farther on, another unpaved path on the L, which is a
completion of the loop [through Marston Canyon]

5.85 Vermont St and Upas St, I continue E on Upas St

the path continues to my R, but it is unpaved and more like a sidewalk

5.95 I cross Richmond St and now there is a paved sidewalk to my R and a very
small single track path

6.38 I cross Florida Dr and enter a small, steep sidewalk

6.41 I rejoin Upas St

6.43 I cross Alabama St, jog to the R and go E on Upas St

6.97 11:45 AM back at the starting point, end of this part

11:55 AM back home 7.96 miles