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San Marcos Creek, San Elijo, CA (part 1)

Some of you might know that I love to explore! We have many hiking trails in North County San Diego. You can meet a lot of hikers and their families out enjoying nature on any given day here. There are so many people that love to hike now days, that you will see bikers, dog walkers, whole families out which is great. Most of the trails are very easy, even wheel chair accessible. They are great, and safe! A little too safe for my liking. 

Most of the trails take you around some really pretty places, where you can view rivers, streams, lakes and waterfalls from afar. They are hot hikes, not much shade, and like I said you will see a lot of people out and about. 

I prefer the off the beaten path, and this is where Google Maps come in handy. 

If you stay on the water shed areas, you are not on private property. The county of San Diego maintains these areas, but are off limits to the public.  

If you remember my post El Salto Falls, you have seen one of the off limit waterfalls. The county of San Diego closed off all trails to the many waterfalls we have in this area due to the fact that they didn’t want to waste resources by rescuing  people that had fallen or try to dive off the bluffs into the falls so they just closed them. They put up no trespassing signs, and you can get fined up to $1000 if they find you on these water sheds. 

This is a risk I am willing to take. (I only been ran out of two places in 10 years) NO fines, they just tell you that you are not allowed to be there.  I can also pull the race card if need be to keep me from being fined. Native Americans are still allowed to go to any of the waterways as long as they carry a fishing pole, and not on private property. 

My son always has his fishing pole with him. He has one of those handy ones that break down and fit in his back pack. 

First off we are under a severe drought in Southern California. It has not rained since early spring! Most of the creeks that usually flow year round have dried up, the water goes under ground and pops up in places, then goes back under. 

Looking at google maps, you cannot tell if they still have water flowing, since the photos are not current. 

Some of the hikes are hit and miss, but boy we were not disappointed last week! 

We found this waterfall. I do not have the name of it. I cannot find it anywhere. The creek is San Marcos Creek.  I did find the original rancher that owned this area, he only had cattle on it and no permanent structures were built. Not much history can be found online. 

Sorry this was so long winded, but I felt the need to explain. 🙂 

Now for the falls! Are you ready? 

#1 The bluff.

After we had walked about a mile we came upon this sight.. Looks promising... The trail is well used by wildlife and other hikers. Yes, there are more than just me out exploring. 

#2 That trail ended..

So we picked our way to the dry creek bed. The water has gone underground here. This is a great flash flood area. You never want to be here if there is rain anywhere in the county. 

  1. I bought a pair the first time I got hiking sticks, but ended up preferring to carry just one. However, having a spare one came in handy as a loaner when walking with friends.

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#3 The rock bluff

That bluff sure is getting steep! It was hard walking on these rocks. You really had to make sure not to turn your ankle. 

#7 Boulders

Just teetering on the top! 

Sadly this waterfall has been tagged. (painted) I thought about editing it out, but decided to leave as is.. 

#8 Spike

I don't know what this is, but loved the pattern of the leaves. Its hard and thick like Holly. 

There is wildlife everywhere around this creek. Do you see the pack rats hole? 

#10 The climb..

The dogs have been off leash for about an hour. I haven't seen much of them, but then I hear it. The splashing. They found water! And by the sound of it, a pool deep enough for them to swim in. 🙂 

I just have to make it up the last few feet. 

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Written by Kim_Johnson

18 Comments

  1. I would love to go hiking, but to to having Fibromyalgia I feel it might be impossible. enjoyed hiking with you though, Sorry I can’t seem to comment on each photo. I get some error and wait message then the problem never resolves. I enjoyed them all though

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    • Oh LaJenna, I didnt know you had that! I am so sorry, I had a great co worker friend a long time ago with it. I will hope for a lot of good days to come.
      Thank you for coming along with me! Sorry about the locking up issue, they are aware of it. Hopefully it can be resolved soon. I am going to put part two in story mode.

    • I have a really nice pair of hiking shoes, the grip is amazing. I feel like spider man out there. I am also a big chicken, very careful, afraid of heights, and spiders… We saw a lot of the later…yikes. Thanks for coming along with us on another journey. 😀
      PS. I couldn’t reply to your comments on the photos.