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Piedras Pintadas Trailhead
4.6 ★★★★★ 513 Google reviews · Running trail in San Diego, California · Posted hours
Runner's snapshot
- Surface
- Mixed
- Loop distance
- 65 mi
- Shape
- Loop
- Shade
- Tree cover
- Access
- Posted hours
Confirmed from Piedras Pintadas Trailhead's own listing, the park or land manager's website, and runner reviews. Blank cells mean we could not verify that fact — we would rather say "not reported" than invent one. There is no Easy / Moderate / Hard rating on this page on purpose: a one-word difficulty score tells you nothing about whether a trail suits your run. Surface, distance, shade and hours do.
Mostly flat, kid-friendly hiking area with a stone/gravel trailhead and some hills.
What runners say about Piedras Pintadas Trailhead
“Great views and a couple of easy to find geocaches.”
“It is comfortable, relatively lush but very few trees for shade.”
“Definitely a fantastic, user-friendly, family-friendly, super accessible trail.”
Definitely a fantastic, user-friendly, family-friendly, super accessible trail. More of a walk than a hike, so it's manageable with kids. Beautiful views of Lake Hodges.
Nice community hiking area on the south east side of Lake Hodges. There is a dirt parking area just off West Bernardo drive about 30 second drive past Rancho Bernardo community park. Trails are good for hiking, mountain biking, trail running and most are good for kids.
A great starting point with so many options! We started at the trailhead by the dirt parking lot that's right before the Rancho Bernardo community Park. You can park on the street as well.
Parking on dirt, maybe enough for 40-50 cars. Between April-October open until 7:30, otherwise 6pm. Multiple trails, easy to go on a wrong one. We started at Piedras Pintadas but ended up going to the ribbon bridge. Still, no regrets. It is comfortable, relatively lush but very few trees for shade.
Trail conditions & character
“There is a dirt parking area just off West Bernardo drive about 30 second drive past Rancho Bernardo community park.”
“Ok views on Piedras Pintadas trail, more of a desert type setting.”
“It is comfortable, relatively lush but very few trees for shade.”
“I didn't get very far this time as my companion and I were not up for the uphill climb.”
“Starting out, the trail is noisy with traffic and hard on my arthritic joints as it's paved.”
“I kept going on Piedras Pintadas on a small trail and turned back after a couple of miles because I was unsure of the loop.”
“We did 6 miles across the footbridge and along Lake Hodges, out and back.”
Plan your run at Piedras Pintadas Trailhead
The practical stuff
- AccessPosted hours — posted hours below; park gates sometimes close earlier than the listing says
- SurfaceMixed — more than one surface along the route, so check the segment you plan to run
- Loop distance65 mi back to where you parked. Long enough for a real long run.
- ShadeRunners describe real tree cover here — it makes a summer afternoon workable
- At the trailheadparking — reported by runners
- Trail mapOfficial trail map
- Websitesdrp.org
- Social Instagram · Facebook
Hours
| Monday | 6 AM–7:30 PM |
| Tuesday | 6 AM–7:30 PM |
| Wednesday | 6 AM–7:30 PM |
| Thursday | 6 AM–7:30 PM |
| Friday | 6 AM–7:30 PM |
| Saturday | 6 AM–7:30 PM |
| Sunday | 6 AM–7:30 PM |
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