Hiking Calavera Hills Community Park

Calavera Hills Community Park

Hiking around Calavera Hills Community Park was not our smartest idea, but not our dumbest idea either. The day before the Carlsbad half marathon, my husband and I went on a short hike through Calavera Hills Community Park. Our motive for California was never the half marathon, it was to see more of the state.

I have no regrets about walking around Calavera Hills Community Park and community center, and it was a fun exploration. It was also the first time I’ve hiked a Volcano before! At one point, it was active; it’s now extinct. The lake surrounding Calavera Hills Community Park, Lake Calavera, also attracts many different birds, plants, and other waterfowl.

When we went to Calavera Hills Community Park on a Saturday, there were plenty of people but it never felt overwhelming and we didn’t run into a lot of people.

At Calavera Hills Community Park, we started on what seemed like a more rigorous trail. It went completely downhill. I was a little worried because what goes down must go back up, and then I saw it level off.

About .5 we saw the Lake in the background and headed in that general area. We could see people climbing the top of what appeared to be a mountain.

But it wasn’t a mountain at all! In fact, it was an extinct Volcano. After careful consideration (on a scale of 1-10, how dumb is this?), we decided to climb to the top of Calavera Hills Community Park. We knew it might affect the race but were over it.

Looking Down at Calavera Hills Community Park

View from the volcano and Calavera Hills Community Park

We climbed about 500 feet at Calavera Hills Community Park so it was cool to see that on the Coros watch.

In all, Calavera Hills Community Park was an enjoyable hike and I have no regrets. It took us about 75 minutes to go roughly 3 hours, but we tooled around and took our time too. Do I think I was probably more sore during the half for doing it? Probably. Am I sad? No.