Hike at Mission Trails Regional Park with Kids
You can feel their excitement as my twins scamper off down the trail ahead of us. Even though we have been outside a LOT since we moved to San Diego almost two months ago, this is the first time we’ve been able to get out of town for a hike.
My twins might be city kids like their mama, but they also love wide open spaces.
Fortunately for them, the Mission Trails Regional Park is full of open space and is a short drive from our house.
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Field Trip to Mission Trails Regional Park
This was our first trip to Mission Trails Regional Park but we will definitely be back. The park encompasses 7,220 acres and is teeming with beautiful views, rocky hills, and trails of all different lengths and difficulties.
related projects
- Birds Unit
- Observing Nature
- Rivers
also read: adventure supplies i can’t live without
Before the Field Trip
My kids have been very interested in birds since we moved to San Diego. They haven’t seen any beyond the occasional pigeon much in the past year, so the great variety in our backyard alone is fascinating.
I got a laminated Local Birds Guide for our county a couple of weeks ago and it has gotten a lot of use. I thought that getting outside the city a little might give them more opportunities to discover even more birds.
On a sunny Sunday, we packed our bird guide and other adventure supplies and headed to Mission Trails.
During the Field Trip
When we got there we looked the big map by the Visitor’s Center and decided to start with the easy Visitor Center Loop.
My kids have big plans to scale the mountain peaks at some point, but this seemed like a good place to start.
Almost immediately my daughter spotted a bird. We pulled out their binoculars for a better look.
After watching for a few minutes and consulting their guide we determined that it was definitely a hummingbird. Can you spot it on the tree? It’s bright green is pretty well camouflaged among the leaves.
Eventually we continued down the trail.
Climbed a tree. Watched more birds.
Took on a moderately difficult crossing trail that took us across the San Diego River.
This diverged more into water play in the river.
Eventually we made it back to the Visitor’s Center, which you should not miss if you’re visiting with kids.
Upstairs there are incredible views of the park.
And both down and upstairs has a variety of interactive exhibits for the kids to learn more about the animals that are native to the area.
read also: 12 walk ideas for toddlers
All said, we spent about 2 hours exploring the park and loved every moment. It is amazing to feel like you are in the middle of nowhere when you are just minutes from the city.
Mission Trails Regional Park is an amazing resource for families!
Good things to know about Mission trails regional park
- Bathrooms are located in the Visitor’s Center.
- Trails are well marked. The Visitor Center Loop is definitely stroller (with some off road capability) and toddler friendly.
after the field trip
I can see other interests developing from a trip to Mission Trails, but our kids went in with an interest in birds and that has definitely not diminished. We will be reading about, observing, and learning about the birds in our area more in the weeks to come.
We are already planning to;
- Buy a hummingbird feeder for our backyard.
- Try to get a good picture of several hummingbirds.
- Draw pictures of the hummingbirds.
- Try to identify the specific kinds.
- Learn more about their specific homes.
- Finding more books about birds. Does anyone have a good one with hummingbirds in it to recommend?
read our bird unit for kindergarten and first grade
