donm1967

Hey all,
I'm moving to San Diego (Tierrasanta) this year and will be very close to Mission Trails and wondering about biking there. I currently have Giant Defy and an older Quick 4. The quick 4 has 35s, and I think I can squeeze 35s on the Defy. I was thinking about getting a separate wheelset with 35mm gravel tires to swap out. Are there any trails where either of these would work? Or do I need a mountain bike for Mission Trails? FYI I am not, and have never been, a mountain biker. I just want to ride, not interested in very technical terrain.

Thanks, Don

diphthong

hay don,

welcome to insane diego. the island in the sky/tierrasanta is indeed directly adjacent to mission trails park so you will either be diving in, skirting or cutting across the park for many rides.
many of the roads are fire roads-wide, non-technical and relatively hard-packed dirt. there are some skinnier pathways/trails but nothing open to bikes that either you or i would consider mtb singletrack.
there are some technical points here and there but they seem to announce themselves pretty well in advance. you should be good with '35's for a vast majority of the park. you can do either gravel or mtb
there. mtb def covers it all but will slow you down on the flatter/more open western and eastern sides of the park. the steepest stuff is generally in the center of the park. the '35's will serve you well and cover
most of the park. a hybrid or road bike rocking '28's would cover nearly all the immediate areas surrounding the park. for what it's worth, have done approx 25% of the (dirt) park on '23's-albeit slowly. there are
some nice trails in the park that are best experienced as a hike so a decent pair of hiking boots recommended. hiking season there is best dec-march when there's some water, color and flowers.

donm1967

Thank you ooga-booga. Island in the sky? I'll remember that
Based on your reply, i think a second wheelset to make my Defy a pseudo gravel bike sounds reasonable. I'll test some trails with my old hybrid first.
Is there a good source for maps/description of trails?

Don

diphthong

don,

this is the best trail map i found of the area but no descriptions. there may be a mtb website for trails, ratings, details, highlights, access routes, parking, etc that covers mission trails but not aware
of one offhand. figure there's gotta be one tho.

https://mtrp.org/wp-content/uploads/..._2021-3-10.pdf

pretty hard to get lost in mission trails. ca hwy 52 (no access to/from this freeway from mission trails) forms the northern border. mission gorge rd forms the southern border, tierrasanta the western
border and the outskirts of the town of santee is to the east. the park is big but not huge with father junipero serra trail and mission gorge rd (both paved) cutting through. a word of warning...the
miramar air force base southern boundary is just on the other side of ca hwy 52 and there is a use trail that goes under the freeway overpass and heads towards the usaf boundary. some years
back, there was much brouhaha with multiple mtb'ers venturing onto the base/property supposedly unbeknownst to them. seems like it wasn't fenced off/signed as no trespassing. anyway, bikes got
confiscated (not sure if they ever got returned) and some cyclists learned the hard way not to venture onto the base. unsure if the applicable area is now fenced off/correctly signed but wanted to make
you aware of it in case it hasn't been.

santo rd is the only through north/south road in tierrasanta. at the northern end, it goes over ca hwy 52 and you can pick up the separated bike path that runs on the north side of ca hwy 52. the paved path
runs east/west and takes you from santo rd. to the outskirts of santee. fairly gentle climb heading east with the wind at your back but a decently challenging (steeper) climb heading west into
a headwind. path comes in handy tho.

diphthong

donm1967

sorry…it’s the “island in the hills.” just rode thru yesterday. my bad.