Ride 8 and 9 of my 52in25 challenge was a double header at Lake Hodges in Escondido, north San Diego.
The ride around Lake Hodges is one of my favorites in the North County area. Starting from Sikes Adobe Historic Farmhouse, you first take a pathway down underneath the I-15 freeway and up on the other side. At that point you are immediately out onto trails which run for many miles.
In years past, the lake water would be almost visible at this point. There is a pedestrian bridge that you’ll quickly come to, and by there water would certainly have been visible, but due to a needed repair job on the dam, and almost zero rain for so many months, you won’t really see any water for about another 2 miles.
These two pictures were taken one week apart. One on Superbowl Sunday, and the other on Feb 16th. The rain we got last week has made a small impact on the water level, but my guess is it could be years before it fills back up!
Hodges used to be my go-to lake years ago for fishing and kayaking. It’s one of the only larger lakes in the area, and it was fun to explore on the water. My speed is more mountain biking these days though, and that is equally as enjoyable.
The trail is a mixture of mostly double track and a shorter single track area and it’s pretty well maintained.
There is a ton of wildlife to be seen here. I’ve seen coyotes, snakes, all kinds of birds, bobcats and more. In fact on our ride just this past Sunday, we spotted 2 deer down by the water. You probably can’t see them in the pictures, but you might be able to see them running in the video below (around 45 seconds in).
Enjoy!