About Torrey Pines State Reserve
Torrey Pines State Preserve should be on everyone’s list to visit in San Diego, whether you are in town for a day or you have lived here your whole life. There are two ways to hike through Torrey Pines – on the beach below the cliffs or up in the cliffs themselves. We recommend the latter, starting up at the Torrey Pines Reserve Lodge and Visitor Center. Parking in the main lot by the visitor center is usually open, though it can fill up on weekends and sunset. There is overflow parking at the bottom of the hill by the beach.
From the visitor center, you’ll be presented with a network of beautiful trails through small canyons and sheer cliffs overlooking the beach. The Razor Point trail leads to a beautiful overlook, while the Beach Trail leads to… you guessed it, the beach below the cliffs. Just know that at high tide you will not be able to walk back along the beach to the lower parking lot, so you have to time it right if that is your plan.
Succulents, native plants, and wildflowers dot the landscape, along with the famed Torrey pine trees, a critically endangered species only endemic to this part of the world. A certain Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel is from nearby La Jolla and when you look at the Torrey pines you get an idea for the inspiration behind his funky cartoon trees.
Great For
• Getting outdoors
• Sunset
• Dr. Seuss plants
A Closer Look
The modern history of this park starts in 1899 when the city of San Diego purchased the land from cattle and sheep grazers and turned it into a public park. Various environmental advocates over the decades wanted to put in place stricter environmental protections for the species in the park, including the Torrey pine, but the San Diego Department of Parks & Recreation did not have any legal authority to do so. Then in a special election in 1956 San Diego voters decided to give the park to the state, which could enforce more legal protections for the fragile ecosystem covered in this small plot of land by the coast. In 1959, Torrey Pines State Reserve was born and is now the only place in the world where Torrey pine trees grow wild. It also contains one of the last salt marshes and waterfowl refuges in Southern California.
