At Play in Kate’s Place

Hike and Relax in Kate O. Sessions Park in San Diego

Come for the trails, stay for the view! Kate O. Sessions Memorial Park is a dog-friendly urban park with 79 acres of open space where you can hike, picnic, toss a Frisbee, fire up a barbecue … and did we mention a view? From its crest, Kate O. Sessions offers a stunning vista of Mission Bay, the Pacific Ocean, and La Jolla and San Diego below. Bring a blanket and you can end your active day by enjoying one of San Diego’s famously stunning sunsets.

As for those trails, you can walk a 0.75-mile paved loop amid Peruvian pepper trees, ornamental pines, and eucalyptus trees in the park’s cultivated section. (Some of those exotics were planted by Ms. Sessions, a famed local horticulturalist known as “the mother of Balboa Park.”)

Or you can explore the park’s 55 acres of hilly, unmanicured land on a mile-long loop trail through the chaparral habitat filled with sage, yucca, and the occasional rabbit, gecko, and snake. Kids will gravitate toward the playground on the west side of the park near the trailhead, complete with swing sets and two jungle gyms. However you play in Kate’s place, you’ll enjoy this serene island in the middle of the city.

Kate O. Sessions Park is 1.7 miles west of I-5 between La Jolla and Mission Bay. From southbound I-5, take Exit 23 to Bluffside Ave. From the off-ramp continue straight onto Mission Bay Dr. and then turn right onto Garnet Ave. From northbound I-5, take Exit 23 A to Mission Bay Dr. Then turn left on Garnet Ave. Turn right on Soledad Mountain Rd., left on Beryl St., and right on Lamont Rd., which becomes Soledad Rd. and leads to free parking on Park Dr. Dog friendly!

Trending Stories NorCal

View all Stories
  1. Taking the Stage: Tyler Ranch

    Hike the recently opened Tyler Ranch Staging Area in Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, with 18 miles of new trails. This 6.5-mile loop up Sunol Peak is a challenge and rewards with exceptional views of seasonal iridescent hills.

    View
  2. A woman stands at Dante's View in Death Valley, looking out to Telescope Peak and Manly Lake, Badwater Basin below.

    Sunset Hike (and Manly Lake Vista!) at Dante's View

    It’s one of the world’s best places to watch a sunset. Dante’s View is a 5,476-foot vantage of the whole southern basin of Death Valley from the top of the Black Mountains. On clear days you get views of both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous U.S. 

    View
  3. Swing into Spring

    Swing into this 7.1-mile hike in the hills of Half Moon Bay! It’s got gorgeous views, fields of spring wildflowers, and a hidden rustic tree swing.

    View
  4. The Carson Show

    Carson Falls is ready for primetime. This three-tiered, 100-foot stunner is hidden back in a canyon outside of Fairfax and reached on a 3.25-mile (round-trip) hike.

    View

Trending Stories SoCal

View all Stories
  1. Lava Lava

    Once a land of volcanic activity, Mojave National Preserve shares plenty about its past via a quick yet adventurous hike to the Lava Tube in the Cima Dome Volcanic Field.

    View
  2. Kelso Dunes

    The hike to the top of Kelso Dunes in the Mojave National Preserve is only 3 miles (out and back), but you’ll feel like you’ve hiked much farther by the time you’re done.

    View
  3. William Kenyon Overlook

    Some of the best vistas of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park are easily accessible via a short and sweet 1.25-mile (round-trip) hike just off the CA-78. Enter your next favorite desert viewpoint: the William Kenyon Overlook.

    View
  4. Beaudry Bountiful

    There are no cars allowed on Beaudry Loop, but this 6-mile hike takes you on a wild ride. You’ll be climbing 1,500 feet up the southern Verdugos along a chaparral-lined trail with gorgeous mountain and urban vistas every step of the way.

    View