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Saturday, December 31, 2016

Hike #33 Los Peñasquitos Lagoon

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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