Cuyamaca Rancho State Park

[WasatchWill]

On day four of our Spring Break trip we explored the nearby Green Valley Waterfall trail near our camp at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park outside of San Diego in Southern California.

Wednesday - April 5, 2017

As usual, I woke up before everyone else, eager to get out and explore our camp's surroundings. I also wanted to scout out what would be doable and worth returning to with the rest of the family later in the morning. I walked down to the other end of the campground and found the trail down to Green Valley Falls along the Sweetwater River.


Sweetwater River


Upper Green Valley Falls


Lower Green Valley Falls


Lower Green Valley Falls


Lower Green Valley Falls


Lower Green Valley Falls

Green Valley Falls proved to be very pleasant and was definitely something worth returning to with the family later on. From the falls, I made my way back up through the campground and then found the Pine Ridge Trail leading off from an unoccupied campsite. The Pine Ridge Trail lead to some nice views down into Green Valley and wild flowers were abundant along the side of the trail.


Green Valley from Pine Ridge Trail


Looking west from Pine Ridge Trail


Sweet Pea


Unknown wildflowers


Manzanita?


Unknown wildflowers


Flower bud


Penstemon?

After traveling up the Pine Ridge Trail for about a mile, I decided to turn around and head back to camp to rejoin the family.


Our tent


Waking up

Within our campsite was an odd looking formation. It was actually an old rotted out tree trunk. The kids and I had fun thinking up all the different animals it looked like. Bird, dinosaur, and more specifically, a raptor, were all mentioned. The kids also got to play around a bit while I worked on getting camp cleaned up.


Raptor


Or a bird


Playing at camp


Playing at camp

Once camp was all cleaned up and everyone had eaten some breakfast, we drove on down to the trailhead for Green Valley Falls and made the short hike down.


On the trail to Green Valley Falls


Green Valley Falls Trail


Upper falls


Group shot


Lower falls


Lower falls


Playing at the falls


Lower falls

After the falls we got back on the road and continued our travels eastward and northward.

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[gnwatts]

We used to visit Cuyamaca quite a bit when we lived in Escondido. I saw my first mountain lion there. Brings back memories. Beautiful report.

 

[Tim Valentine]

Nice report. You captured one of my local destinations really well with your early morning waterfall series. Yes those are manzanita flowers.

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