Biltmore Trail: San Diego, CA

Biltmore Trail is a 1.22 mile trail with 108 feet of elevation gain and is part of Marian Bear Natural Memorial Park located in San Diego, CA. If you are looking to get into nature without leaving central San Diego, this is a great option. Although I will admit that you can hear cars in the background.

Parking & Getting There

Getting to the park is easy, just click on the link and it will take you to the parking lot. Directions can be found here: Google Maps. As you can see there is plenty of parking outlined by the RED below. It is a gravel parking lot and has some divots, but for the most part all cars will be able to park here. At the end of the parking lot in green, we see the the trail head!

The Trail

As the name lightly implies, if you start at the main parking lot, once you get to the end of the trail before heading back you will have reached “Biltmore Street”. The trail is very easy to access and has bathrooms at the start of the trail head. There are also some benches scattered in this area where you could have a quick picnic. I have been here during lunch hours and see that people will come spend their lunch here, especially if they are not office workers.

This trail also shares the start of Marian Bear Trail then diverts a little way into it. Both trails are worth exploring. There is plenty of trail signage to get you headed in the right direction and the path is very clear to help keep you on track.

As you start the trail you will be in a open area between the freeway and some hills. Once you divert to Biltmore Trail you will find yourself in a light forest area with nice tree coverage. When visiting this place it’s funny to think about how many people drive by this location on a daily basis and don’t even realize what they are passing.

This is a great hike for someone who is trying to figure out if they like hiking and not too challenging. From the parking lot to Biltmore Street you gain all of your elevation, then completely downhill on the way back. The final 25 yards uphill is probably the hardest and a good test of uphill hiking. Could you do this for 1hr? You might be ready for some larger hikes!

Lookback

Biltmore Trail is a great entry level hike in San Diego that give you a feel of nature without traveling far. I like to come here when I am in the area and looking for something quick. There are also some very photogenic spots on this trail. If you own a camera bring it!

Photo Gallery

Whats Next?

Is there a specific hike that you would like to see next? Leave a comment down below or reach out via the Contact Form and hopefully I will be able to get a recap and virtual hike posted soon! Thanks for stopping by, enjoy your adventure.