Blue Sky Ecological Reserve & Lake Hodges
Poway · near Poway · San Diego
Wildlife Watching
At a glance
- Best season
- Year-round; dawn & dusk best for mammals; spring for birdsong
- Open year round
- Yes
What is here
- Wildlife
- land-mammals · birds
- Species
- Mule deer, bobcat, coyote, gray fox; acorn woodpecker, oak titmouse, wrentit, California quail; Lake Hodges heron rookery, osprey, western grebes, wintering waterfowl
- Amenities
- Flat, shaded valley-floor trail · Spurs to Lake Hodges & the dam · Sunrise-sunset access · Free
- Best for
- The county's best inland mammal-watching
- Features
- Best odds at deer & bobcat inland · Cool oak-shaded canyon · Lake Hodges heron rookery & osprey · Easy, flat main trail
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Rattlesnakes; mountain-lion habitat (encounters very rare) · Gates close at dusk · No dogs (protected reserve)
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Wildlife Watching detail
- Nickname
- The Mammal Canyon
- Viewing
- trail
- Effort
- easy
- Habitat
- mountain
- Sighting
- 3
- Viewing notes
- A cool, oak-shaded canyon offering the county's best odds at inland mammals - deer browsing the understory and bobcats slipping along the creek at first and last light - plus herons and osprey at nearby Lake Hodges
- Intl tip
- Arrive right at sunrise on a weekday and walk quietly - the first mile of the shaded canyon is where deer and bobcat are seen most. No dogs (protected reserve), and the gate closes at dusk. Continue to Lake Hodges for herons and osprey.
The guide
Blue Sky is a cool, oak-shaded canyon above Poway that offers San Diego County's best odds at inland mammals - mule deer browse…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Blue Sky Ecological Reserve & Lake Hodges — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 33.017, -117.016