>>1075651I know im totally shooting myself in the foot by continuing to reply to this, but whatever im moving away as soon as I can afford to, so here goes nothing:
Mount Laguna has some of the best trails that arent just high desert advertised as forest. I recommend pouring over the plethora of trails out there for a good hiking experience. It will require an adventure pass to park anywhere on the S1 and the majority of San Diego backcountry. I recommend just biting the bullet and getting the annual national parks pass for $80, because it covers all the stupid little fees everywhere you would want to go in san diego and pretty much everywhere else in the US for hiking.
When it cools off for a split second in january, the desert east of san diego has a ton of neat random trails and slot canyons to explore. Just dont go when its raining or you will literally die.
Everything west of cuyamaca is crowded as hell 24/7/365. The closer you get to the beach, the denser the trail traffic is. There are some cool trails in the lagoons in mid to north county as well as further east in the mountains, but again -I cant stress this enough- you and everyone else that is here or visiting are all looking to get outdoors so prepare to wait in line and have to pass lines of people on nearly every established legal trail in the county.
Good luck. Bring gallons of water and snacks in a backpack. Don't make us rescue you and your stupid dog off cowles mountain because you thought it was a good idea to hike in 95 degree weather with no water. Yes this happens multiple times every weekend and is no longer a joke.
Good luck!
