52 Hike Challenge 2016 Adventure Series
3.75 miles | +160’
Los Peñasquitos Lagoon, one of San Diego County’s largest
coastal wetlands, spreads far and wide in Sorrento Valley, between La Jolla and
Torrey Pines. Nearly all of this marshy area belongs to Torrey Pines State
Reserve. The marsh trail skirts the southern edge of the wetlands for 1.5 to 2
miles, depending on how muddy you're willing to get.
Los Peñasquitos Lagoon is one of the known breeding grounds in
California of mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus.
Deer are found in the marsh area, and often carry ticks that
are left behind on vegetation that can brush against hikers, whereupon the
ticks are often inadvertently transferred to hikers. A warning sign along the
Marsh Trail reminds hikers that rattlesnakes are also found in the marsh area.
Although mountain lions (Felis concolor) are now rare in the
Torrey Pines and Los Peñasquitos Lagoon area, likely as a result of habitat
fragmentation, mountain lion tracks and scat were reported between Interstate
5's bridge and Los Peñasquitos Lagoon in 2000 by the Conservation Biology
Institute in Encinitas.
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