Blue Sky Ecological Reserve in Poway offers one of San Diego County's best hiking destinations because four native habitats coexist there:
Chaparral, also called the elfin forest, survives in hot, dry conditions and features plants that have thick leaves to minimize water loss and animals that have thick fur to protect them from rough undergrowth.
Coastal sage scrub, sometimes called the scented forest, low-growing aromatic shrubs, including white sage, buckwheat and laurel sumac.
Riparian, a canyon oasis along a creek, where sycamores, willows and cottonwoods give shade to wild roses and poison oak and wildlife.
Oak woodland, just away from the water source, featuring magnificent live oaks spreading their branches.
Each of these habitats has its own beauty, and when you toss in the elevation gains heading to both the Lake Poway and Lake Ramona dams, you get wonderful views, grand boulder-scapes and lots of quiet.
The trail begins off Espola Road on the Green Valley Truck Trail, a wide unpaved road where only official vehicles are allowed. It continues for about one mile to the first turnoff, and is popular with equestrians as well as hikers with dogs on leashes. Bicycles are not allowed in the preserve.
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Blue Sky Ecological Reserve
Trailhead: Off Espola Road in Poway
Length: 2.1 miles one way
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Hours: 6:30 a.m. to sunset, June through October; sunrise to sunset, November through May
Fee: Free
Before you go: No bikes, but pets on leashes are allowed.
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About a quarter-mile from the trailhead, a smaller, narrower trail veers left into an oak grove along the creek, aptly named Oak Grove and Creekside Trail. It meanders along the creek through the black oaks and white-trunked sycamores for about a half-mile and then connects again to the Green Valley Truck Trail.
Horses and dogs are not allowed on Creekside Trail. That protects wildlife as well as pets, because there is lots of poison oak. Hikers should know how to identify it and steer clear.
At just shy of one mile from the trailhead, a main fork heads right to the Lake Poway Trail. It's about 1.2 miles until you reach the lake.
If you head straight instead of heading right toward Lake Poway, you will reach Lake Ramona. It's a steeper climb over about 1.4 miles.
The Lake Poway trail is much narrower and steeper than the truck trail at the start of the hike, so you won't see any vehicles. Be sure to take plenty of water because it's hot and dry in this chaparral territory.
The reserve was saved from development in the early 1990s and now the 700-acre canyon is managed by the city of Poway, the state Department of Fish and Game and the county.
Docent-led hikes take place just about every weekend and meet at the south end of the parking lot. They are free and reservations are not required. At 9 a.m. Oct. 26, naturalist John Kordela will share his knowledge about how the Kumeyaay thrived in the area.
Priscilla Lister is a freelance writer who lives in San Diego.
