The Observatory Trail

Overview

    Beyond its beautiful forests and meadows, Palomar Mountain is most famous for its Observatory. Established in 1928, the Palomar Observatory contains several telescopes, including the 200” Hale Telescope, which is open for visitation from 9am to 4:30pm. The campus, which is beautiful in itself, is operated by the California Institute of Technology. More importantly though (at least for our purposes), one can hike up to the Observatory from the nearby Observatory Campground through oak and pine woods that put on a great foliage show during early- and mid-November. Mendenhal Valley on a cool November morning The Observatory Trail is one of four National Recreation Trails in San Diego County. The trail runs one-way along South Grade Road between the Observatory Campground and the entrance to the Observatory campus. The route climbs moderately through varying oak woodlands, conifer woodlands, and chaparral, and it occasionally opens up to offer some nice views of the Palomar Mountain range. There are a number of California black oaks present from start to finish, and the leaves on these oaks turn a brilliant gold during mid-November. A grove of black oaks near the campground The classic way to take this hike is to start from the campground, as it allows one to get the uphill done on the first half while enjoying the downhill and on the back end. However, the campground is usually closed between December and April, leaving the only parking to be at the Observatory. During the winter months, one can hike down to the campground and back up, or if you have a willing participant who does not mind nosing around the Observatory while you hike, you can do this trail as a one way shuttle hike. However, you will not earn your calorically-dense treats at the end if you take the easy way. Black oaks at Observatory Campground This write-up will present the track as if being taken from the campground, although you can easily read it from the back to the front to reverse the course. Fortunately, the trail does not intersect wi

Trail Stats

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