San Diego City Hikes - Rose Canyon

Yesterday I took a hike in a San Diego Open Space park called Rose Canyon.  Rose Canyon's namesake, Louis Rose, bought 650 acres in Rose Canyon in 1853.  There he built a ranch, a tannery, planted a vineyard and mined coal and clay deposits.  The California Southern Railroad completed a track through the canyon in 1882.  Landowners in the canyon who came after Louis Rose expanded on the idea of using the canyon for commercial purposes.  The Sawday Ranch was the last ranch in the canyon and the last of it's structures were removed in the 1960's.

The clock is being turned back in Rose Canyon today.  A habitat restoration project that began in 2007 has helped to return the canyon's to it's natural state.