{"id":273693,"date":"2026-04-18T04:18:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T04:18:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/273693\/"},"modified":"2026-04-18T04:18:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T04:18:21","slug":"new-ruffin-canyon-hiking-trail-connects-mission-valley-and-serra-mesa-after-decades-of-delay-nbc-7-san-diego","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/273693\/","title":{"rendered":"New Ruffin Canyon hiking trail connects Mission Valley and Serra Mesa after decades of delay \u2013 NBC 7 San Diego"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new hiking trail in San Diego\u2019s Ruffin Canyon<\/a> is now open, connecting the neighborhoods of Serra Mesa and Mission Valley after nearly a decade of planning, funding challenges and permitting delays.<\/p>\n

The nature trail, which winds through the canyon\u2019s rugged terrain, officially opened Friday morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking a milestone for community members and outdoor advocates who pushed to make it happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way we have come to love and know our natural spaces with plants and animals that inhabit them is because of a trail,” said Peter Hulbert, executive director of the San Diego Mountain Biking Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Ruffin Canyon trail stretches from Taft Middle School in Serra Mesa south toward Mission Valley, reaching the Escala community. While Escala is a gated neighborhood, a tunnel under Friars Road provides full public access to the trail during daylight hours.<\/p>\n

The canyon itself has a long history. Once a cobble-filled creek bed with steep slopes, it was home to native plants, wildlife and the indigenous Kumeyaay Nation.<\/p>\n

While giving a short tour, Friday, to members of the media and the community, Supervising Park Ranger Carey Goldstein pointed out some of the beauty and history of the canyon. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese are some wild cucumber growing here in a vine,” Goldstein said. \u201cThe seeds are somewhat toxic [and the Kumeyaay fisherman] threw them into a shallow pool of water and it would stun the fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Supervising<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tM.G. PerezM.G. Perez<\/p>\n

Supervising Park Ranger, Carey Goldstein, points out some of the native plants hikers can now see along the new trail in Ruffin Canyon on April 17, 2026.<\/p>\n

Construction of the trail was anything but simple.<\/p>\n

Plans date back to 2007, but progress stalled for years as the city worked through permitting requirements and searched for funding. The project was eventually financed through a combination of state grants and taxpayer money designated for park improvements, along with cooperation from the Escala Homeowners Association.<\/p>\n

Residents say the effort was worth it. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is really my connection to God to be in nature and feel connected to the planet,” said long-time Escala hiker, Ron Shephard. “It’s nice we can just come out our back door and be here.”<\/p>\n

The newly opened path is now designed for hikers, walkers and cyclists, offering safer access through the canyon while preserving its natural beauty for the public to enjoy.<\/p>\n

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new hiking trail in San Diego\u2019s Ruffin Canyon is now open, connecting the neighborhoods of Serra Mesa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[6791,2268,74,76,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-273693","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-mission-valley","9":"tag-nature","10":"tag-san-diego","11":"tag-san-diego-headlines","12":"tag-san-diego-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273693","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}