Climb Black Mountain -Cowles Mtn. Without the Crowds

Today we hiked up Black Mountain, located about a 10 minute drive from our home in Scripps Ranch. We have lived near Black Mountain for more than 25 years but never took the time to climb her until today, why did we wait so long?

Black Mountain Open Space Park protects more than 2,000 acres between Rancho Penasquitos and Rancho Bernardo. At more than 4,000 ft, Black Mountain dominates the area and can be seen from communities along the I-15, along SR-56 and from the coast. She has been there patiently waiting for us to climb her for way too many years. The Black Mountain Preserve is loaded with trails and we took the Nighthawk Trail to the top, about 4 miles round trip and a 2,000 ft. elevation gain.

We started from the parking lot at Hilltop Park just a few minutes off Black Mountain Road. The trail up was rocky but not too steep. The uphill stretches were good excercise and were broken up with some nice level stretches where we caught our breath.

We were hiking in a Sunday morning at 11 am on a sunny day. So where were the crowds? The trail up was empty, we only saw about 10 other hikers on the way up and maybe 10 on the way down.

Sunday hikes up Cowles Mountain are far from solitary, they start with a search for a parking space and then you find the trail packed with other hikers. Go hike Black Mountain and enjoy getting away from the crowd.

The best part of this hike are the amazing views of San Diego, in all directions. As we got near the top, the views began. First we were treated to views looking east over the open space toward Ranch Bernardo and beyond to Mt. Woodson in the foreground to Mt. Laguna in the distance.

And, once you reach the summit, you are treated to a panoramic view of the coastline, from Mexico in the south all the way to Camp Pendleton in the north. We were in awe from the clear view of downtown, the Coronado Islands, Point Loma, Mt. Soledad, Torrey Pines, and on up the coast. We sat at the summit talking about all of the new development over the years that has changed the view before us. This iPhoto just doesn't capture the scope of the view you get at the top of this hike!

So I highly recommend this hike! If you want to get out in the fresh air, get some good excercise and enjoy a unique and amazing view of the San Diego region, enjoy a climb of Black Mountain. We will be back soon, after some more rain, it should green up and we look forward to some flowers in the early spring.