In 2012, the San Diego Natural History Museum volunteers shared a walk they created, 5.5 miles, looped, weaving through highly recognized areas such as Balboa Park, and then looping through neighborhoods with unknown and historical bridges. The article came and went, and when you ask a native San Diegan about the 7 Bridges Walk, most will not have any idea what you are talking about! We have done this urban hike 3 times now, and as we’ve shared it with friends, we have seen it’s popularity grow as people share their photos of this fun experience on social media.
When to go: You can enjoy this hike year round.
What to wear: Sturdy sneakers and comfortable clothing…if it’s sunny out, you’ll break a sweat.
What else you should know: The walk is 5.5 miles, so keep in mind the length, but as far as difficulty goes, it’s mostly flat, so many ages and athletic levels can enjoy it. If you have a wee one, you might consider bringing the stroller for him/her to hop in and take breaks as needed.
How to get there: The directions to get there, and step by step navigation for the 5.5 miles is all in this article. Keep in mind parking at the start (Balboa Park) can get very busy during high season (holidays, summer) and really year round, so allow time to park, and even look for parking spots on the street. Worst case scenario you can park nextdoor at the Zoo for free, and add an extra .25 miles to your hike.
We started our hike around 11 a.m. It was a late start but we were in vacation mode, as my in-laws (they are awesome by the way!) were visiting. We finished up around 3 p.m., which included stopping for a leisurely late lunch around 1 p.m. Typically I’d recommend starting this hike around 10 a.m. so you can get to the lunch spot around 12 p.m. for lunch.
The hike starts in Balboa Park which is a prime destination in itself and will be the subject of future blogs. What’s great about this is you can stroll right through the main drag of Balboa Park and catch a glimpse of what’s been labeled “The Jewel of San Diego.”
Official start within the park is the rose garden, which is right next to the cactus garden which is a ton of fun if you want to also stroll through it.
The Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden is of only four U.S. gardens that has received the Award of Excellence from the World Federation of Rose Societies. Who knew?
You then are quickly rewarded with Bridge #1, a slight bridge that goes over Park Blvd. Those are my people hanging out on the bridge.
You’ll now head down the main drag of Balboa Park. The kids love to run around this fountain…let them!
On most days, the main drag of Balboa Park is filled with street performers and other interesting (or in many cases, not so interesting) people setting up shop. Walk through and partake, or ignore, whatever strikes your fancy.
The Botanical Building and Lily Pond is always a nice quick stop. Of course Grant wanted to see if he could spot any fish!
If you happen to do this during the winter holidays, turning right into the Old Globe Theater area to see the Whoville Christmas tree is a must! Someday we’ll see the Grinch play that is there every year.
As you are leaving the park, you’ll arrive at Bridge #2, the 1914 Laurel Street Bridge, the first multiple-arched cantilever bridge built in California. This freeway below shuts down every June for the San Diego Rock-n-Roll Marathon runners (which is surely not me.)
Follow the directions to get to Bridge #3, the 1931 First Avenue Bridge. The only steel arch bridge in the city. Can you believe it was shipped to San Diego and then had to be reassembled? It’s really neat and overlooks a large canyon with some admirable backyard living…
…and some views of the water.
Bridge #4, Quince Street Bridge, is my absolute favorite! The wooden-trestle bridge was built in 1905 at a cost of less than $1000 to allow easier access to the Fourth Ave. trolley station. It’s just SO COOL. That’s all I can say! Can you spot Sydney and Grant on it?
It truly is the perfect spot for Sydney to do her infamous Irish Dance Leaps!
Exploring these bridges has you wind through really neat San Diego neighborhoods, where every house is different and fun to check out. We ran into to SO many dogs on our walk (and here a cat who left her yard to play with us) that we started calling it the 1,000,000 Dogs walk. If you are a dog lover, you’ll have a blast and of course when you chat it up with the owners they love the attention!
Walking through the neighborhoods you’ll also see very interesting plants!
And now for Bridge #5, 1912 Spruce St. suspension bridge, which is both their favorite bridge because, well, it bounces! It overlooks Kate Sessions Canyon.
And you kind of have to do your Irish Leaps on the bouncy bridge, now don’t you?
Bouncing away! Allocate some time for the kids to have fun on this bridge!
See what I mean by interesting houses and plants? Monkey head shaped bush, with the Santa hat on since it was Christmas-time.
5 bridges down, a little over halfway through the 5.5 mile loop, and you land in the heart of Hillcrest. This is a lively and fun place to stop for lunch (really the only place to stop for lunch on your hike), and there are many choices. We stopped at one of our favorite places (you’ll see it on the left hand side) Burger Lounge. Burgers, Veggie Burger for me, and a couple of beers to keep us going the rest of the way through.
Only 2 more bridges left. Bridge #6 is also top on my list, the 1995 Vermont St. bridge which is filled with inspiring quotes to read all along.
Finally, Bridge #7. This is an interesting one as it’s the least exciting of all the bridges, and somehow it is a local, state, and national landmark. When we arrived it was being rebuilt, so we’ll be anxious to see what this all looks like when they are done.
From there you walk about a mile back to the car, with still some interesting things to see as you stroll. After all that exercise, we rewarded ourselves with some ice cream, of course! I highly recommend this urban hike – it’s a blast, you feel great afterwards, and it’s a unique activity that most people have never heard of!
3 comments
This was a super helpful guide for the Seven Bridges walk! The link to the article helped with specific directions while your photos and information helped us visually and gave the bridges context. We have been to San Diego many times but this was our first time on this walk and while researching it, your blog came up and we appreciate it!
Hi Emily!
I’m so glad you found it helpful! It’s a perfect walk for this time of year and a great way to enjoy some San Diego neighborhoods. Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed it – makes what I do worthwhile!
This is a terrific guide. I would add that if you want to revive yourself with a break and a rest stop, a mid-Walk pedi at Uptown Nail Salon will make you feel brand new before tackling the last half of the Walk.