Walker Preserve Trail | Santee, CA | Kid & Dog Friendly

Walker Preserve Trail is a 6.1 mile out and back trail with 59 feet of elevation gain and is located in Santee, California. You can start this trail in multiple locations which makes it easily accessible. Also the trail is in great condition so you could easily go for a run, walk, bike, or even take the stroller!

Parking & Getting There

Getting to the trail is very easy. Depending on what side of the trail you are coming from, there are many different places to park. For myself, I park on the Magnolia street entrance as seen in the image below. You can park on Magnolia street, or head into the residential neighborhood and find some parking and trail access there. The beauty of this trail is there are so many places that you can start / park. You can even start from the parking in Lakeside and work your way to Santee. If that doesn’t work… You can park at the Lakeside Baseball field located around the halfway point of the trail.

Magnolia Street Directions: Google Maps
Lakeside Baseball Field Directions: Google Maps
Lakeside Entrance Directions: Google Maps

The Trail

Walker Preserve Trail is a very flat trail which makes it great for walking or riding bikes. Even better, you could use a stroller on most of the trail as well. Keep in mind though, this trail is compacted dirt, so your stroller will get a little dirty.

At the beginning of the magnolia entrance you can take a quick right under the bridge and find some pretty cool artwork. This is also a nice place to catch some shade. Santee can be VERY HOT and having some shade is a good thing. Keep this in mind when packing water and the time of day you plan to visit.

After leaving from under the bridge and connecting back to the main trail, you will notice a HUGE rock snake. It is along the right side of the fence and stretches a decent amount of length. You can see some more about it in the video above. If you are feeling artsy, you could bring a rock to add to the collection! Kids will be sure to enjoy looking at all the painted rock designs.

The trail is dog friendly, so feel free to bring your furry friends. You will see signs posted, they do need to remain on leash. While there are not any posted hours for the trail, I would think the trail is most enjoyable when there is light out. I wouldn’t be on it the dark.

As far as the bathrooms go, the only one I saw is a port-o-potty at the Magnolia entrance. I have not used it, so can’t comment on how clean it is.

There is a lot of history here and if you take your time on the trail you will see a lot of information signs. These signs talk about the sand dredging that was done at this location, and the major projects in San Diego that is was used for. Pretty Cool!

Lookback

Overall I highly enjoy this trail. If you are in the area I recommend checking it out. If you catch it during snow season you can see some of the surrounding mountains covered in snow which is really cool! I would love to hear what your favorite part of this trail is! Drop a comment below to get the conversation started!

Photo Gallery

Wrap Up

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.