Calling all hikers!
The National Park Service is seeking input on a plan to expand and improve the trails at San Diego’s Cabrillo National Monument at the tip of Point Loma.
The proposed management plan aims to develop and manage a trail system for the next 20 years, but the plan must also protect the historic park, Eileen Martinez of the National Park Service said.
The plan adds access to tidepools and creates new trails, including a route that would run parallel to Cabrillo Road. It also proposes improvements to existing trails and restorations.
The team coordinating the project will take comments on the plan until April 16 through the park’s website. Next, they will develop alternative proposals and then draft a final recommendation.
Martinez said submitting a comment is a good opportunity for visitors to get involved at the park.
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Don Edicott volunteers at the park and hikes regularly. He said looks forward to the upcoming park upgrades and hopes they will include the coastal trail.
"There isn’t really signage, and there are places where there are steps and others where folks just sort of walk over, so that’s an opportunity to make it more obvious where to go and probably put natural wood steps," Endicott said.
The park is named in honor of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European to set foot on what is now the U.S. west coast. It offers breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean, San Diego Bay and Coronado and is also home to the old Point Loma Lighthouse.
“It’s one of the last places here you can see what San Diego is like,” Martinez said.
She said any suggestions from the public are welcome, but no zip lines, please.
