Family Hike By Lake Cuyamaca & Trip To Julian, California

It has been a while since have posted on our blog and part of that is simply just life.  As our family has grown and Ashley and I raise our two kids, time sometimes just slips by when you have young kids.  Our kids are of the age where we have started to go on short hikes again as a family and work to instill in our kids a love and appreciation of the outdoors as well as travel.  We have found that both our kids love the outdoors and enjoy spending time hiking, seeing wildlife and traveling.  Here is a little bit about our weekend trip to Julian on August 20, 2022 and our hike by Lake Cuyamaca.    

This past weekend we went to go hiking by Lake Cuyamaca in the San Diego Mountains.  Obviously, we first stopped in Julian on our way into the mountains.  We spent a couple hours in Julian and enjoyed lunch at Romano's Restaurant and had some apple pie at Apple Ally Bakery.  Romano's Restaurant is one of our favorite places to eat when we visit Julian and Ashley and I have always enjoyed eating there over the last 10 to 15 years.  And for apple pie, we always go to Apple Ally Bakery, who has a great selection of apple pies and other baked goods!  Further, the owner Debbie and her son Matt are usually there and they are always friendly and provide the best service.  For those that like hard cider, Julian Hard Cider is located there and has lots of craft brewed ciders to try and take home.  And yes, we usually buy a few to take home and enjoy.  Julian is a great place to visit any season of the year and we typically visit Julian and go hiking in this area a few times a year.  

After our pit stop in Julian, we traveled up to the Lake Cuyamaca area.  Along the way we encountered a beautiful summer thunderstorm with a lot of rain.  We enjoyed the pie we had purchased in Julian in our truck as the rain poured and thunder crashed around us for about 30 minutes. Once the rain had stopped, we went on our hiking by Stonewall Mine in Cuyamaca State Park. For our full trail write-up on our prior hike at Stonewall Mine please click HERE. Stonewall Mine in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park is a great day hike near Lake Cuyamaca outside of Julian, California.

The Stonewall Mine Hike in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park is a fun short hike that goes through some of the most scenic areas of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. The trails are well maintained and you are likely to see other hikers while out on this trail around Stonewall Mine. The hike also goes through an area that is heavily traveled by the park's wildlife, the Montane Meadow. The hike is under a mile long with minimal elevation gain and thus is one you can do with the whole family. You can make the hike longer by exploring some of the nearby trails if you like. Overall, this is an easy, but fun hike in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.

During our hike, we had the opportunity to see multiple deer, numerous wild turkeys, turkey vultures, hawks and ground squirrels.  On previous occasions we have seen coyotes and bobcats in this area as well.  Our kids had a great time and we did a hike that was just about a mile and a half long.  Once finished, we began the drive back home.  There are more advanced hiking trails in this location we have done and you can read all about them on our other trail write-ups.  Below are some additional pictures from this fun day trip with the family to the San Diego Mountains.