Blue Sky Ecological Reserve

This is a nice little park! I walked up to Lake Ramona — to the back gate and back for a distance of a little over 7.5 miles. The «trail» is a road and it is nearly all flat until you get to the dam, then there is a climb up the road for about a mile.
There are some very nice signs that tell what the vegetation is — and if you check out the parking lot, you can go on guided tours. There was a flyer for an upcoming «star gazing» walk at night that also looked interesting.
There were a few interesting birds — but I didn’t see anymore living creatures except the hikers that kept passing me up.
I enjoyed this place and may come back!

I hiked the trail through blue sky ecological preserve and the sights and trees there were worth the trek. I then hiked all the way up to lake Ramona which is a hike! I recommend that you don’t do what I did and bring water and don’t wear jeans! It’s pretty hot there, it is one heck of a view and is very peaceful. It is mountain lion territory so be vigilant and careful. I even saw a deer there.

We hiked Lake Poway Trail and it was some workout. It starts off flat but there are many inclines. It’s a great workout, but be advised, the heat and sun can get to you. Bring proper attire, sunscreen and plenty of water. Some folks had to be rescued off the mountain this weekend. We took our dog, but she was really overworked and overheated… so we wouldn’t bring her during the hot summer months. It was 81 degrees on our hike. We had lots of water and food. It’s a great outing and workout. Just go prepared. The lake is beautiful — no swimming allowed — but you can rent boats, fish and there is a concession hut by the lake.

I was wondering if now is allowed to swim at the lake Ramona at the top of Blue Sky trail? We witnessed several young people swimming and jumping freely into the lake, despite the many signs stating NO SWIMMING AND NO TRESPASSING. More people were walking towards that site with towels and in swimming attires. Another strange occurrence was that some private vehicles were transiting around this area, they were Chinese tourist driving inside the reserve. My comments centers around the fact that there is NO one around to enforce your laws and regulations. Dog’s feces everywhere, people swimming at the lake Ramona, protected as a water reservoir and people driving freely around the reserve as well, what a joke of management and poor planning of such place. The directors and organizer should resign now and allow real professionals take care of this natural reserve.

It’s a beautiful trail, what more can I say? The more you explore the more secret spots you can discover. The best parts of the trail are the ones off of the main spots. I live close so I frequently come here (once a week, some weeks every day) to read and relax. Of course depending on your preference this can lead to Ramona lake, which is AMAZING and you can swim in it, or Poway Lake, equally amazing though no swimming but it has a family picnic area.
Would recommend to any San Diegans to come check it out!

Came here last weekend and boy was that a hike. Not as crazy as ones I’ve been on. But that uphill, gets me every time. We went on both trails, to Lake Ramona and to Lake Poway. Lake Ramona was much more uphill than Poway. My knees were giving up on me by the end. We should have taken Lake Ramona first.
But it’s a beautiful hike first walking in, and the end game is even better. Good thing we didn’t bring our little dog, he would hate us and have us carry him. Hah

This is a great hike.
As others have mentioned, there’s a dedicated parking lot, which is a huge help. After we arrived, it was almost full, but thankfully a couple of early-​morning hikers left in time for a spot to open up for our friend to arrive and park.
We did the hike to Lake Ramona, and it seems there is another route out to Lake Poway. The hike to Lake Ramona starts out like a flat nature-​walk, but the last ¹⁄₃ to half of the hike starts turning into a incline with some challenge. At the top of the paved road, there’s a flat spot where you can observe Lake Ramona. We saw some people fishing or relaxing, and a few houses in the distance. We were definitely winded by the time we reached the top, which is the point of a hike, right?
Although it’s a bit of a drive for us, we’ll be back to Blue Sky. We brought #klunkersthedog and she did great at well. There were many hikers with their dogs. Some lizards were skittering around, but other than that, which adds to the nature feel. Definitely bring lots of water!

First time here — excellent! The parking lot is roomy and easy to get in and out of and offers plenty of spaces. Trails are clearly marked, clean, and well defined. The first bit is great as a trail run until it splits off into two directions.
Today I took the Lake Ramona hike and, man… what a workout that was. A steady grade on the way up offers a tough workout, especially the last bit at the end!
Not terribly strenuous, but recommended if you want to run portions of it, or for a first-​time hike!

This hike has very easy terrain, but is still challenging towards the half end. Aslo, it is very hard to get lost on the trail, with the trails leading only to the dam, or marked. It’s 5 miles round trip, beginning with half of the hike heavily shaded with trees and flat, and half of it uphill with switchbacks and zero shade. Good to bring dogs and kids, but bring hats, sun block, and plenty of water. My favorite part about the hike is what’s behind the wall of rocks, it’s a beautiful lake! The lake is fishable, if you have a fishing license. Sadly, no swimming is allowed, but I’m sure on a hot summer day it’s worth the risk. Will hike again!

Blue Sky Reserve is awesome. I did the hike to the Ramona dam with my dad and it is great. The trees provide a lot of shade and the area is teeming with nature.
The hike also has great views; and as you get closer to Ramona Lake, a long paved path uphill gives you a great workout! We took some pictures by the lake when we got there (which was beautiful due to the recent rain San Diego had).
The hike back down is pretty much downhill and flat, so it was a lot faster. This hike is great for families and kids, as it isn’t too difficult. Have fun! :)

As far as a jumping point for multiple hikes go, you really can’t get much more convenient. It’s free, which is really nice especially during the summer when you have to pay for parking at Lake Poway down the road. There also is plenty of parking whenever I go. What’s nice about the main trail is that it is very wide and trees hang over portions of it, providing some shade even in the middle of the day. There are tiny little offshoots of the trail that reconnect back with the main trail along the way. Those little offshoots take you a little farther off the main trail into the reserve.
From Blue Sky, you can hike forward until you reach a fork in the road. If you go right, you’ll pass by a shaded picnic area before eventually joining up with the trail that goes around Lake Poway (and onto Mt Woodson if you are feeling really adventurous, though for that one I’d probably recommend that you just start at Lake Poway). If you continue straight, you’ll eventually make your way to Lake Ramona. As far as difficulty goes, neither trails are especially hard. The Lake Ramona one is a bit tough towards the end, just because you wind up a relatively steep section of trail that has little to no shade and then finish off the journey on a paved road with absolutely no shade and a decent incline. There’s not really much to see or do there, but you can find a rock to sit on and relax.
If you want a scenic hike, keep in mind that the trail will be relatively brown and green (basic San Diego plant life) for most of the year, except for a couple months in the spring when the trail is usually flanked by wildflowers.

Nice place to walk — with several options for where to go. Parking is plentiful and free (and there are restrooms). The area nearest the trail head is fairly flat and there is a nice grove of trees with shade close by. Walks can be short and easy — or if you are more ambitious, extend to other areas further away.

Lovely preserve. I would walk through it on weekends. One of the connecting entrances was across the street from my home, so it was convenient. It is a beautiful hike/​walk; it truly feels like it is away from the city, an oasis.
Lots of shade. Walking along the reserve is quite pleasant.

Pretty quiet trail for the most part which I appreciated. Not overrun with people like Cowles and Iron Mountain. There are also a lot more people on Mount Woodson. (Which I have an extreme hatred for … my experience was NOT a good one… I should write up that review next!) For being an ecological reserve, we didn’t see anything particularly out of the ordinary.
For the start of the hike, the trail is nicely covered with some shade and is relatively flat. Towards the middle, it splits off to either Lake Ramona or Lake Poway. From the trail heads, Lake Poway I believe was 1.2 mi, and Lake Ramona was 1.4mi — so, not much of a difference in between the two.
We ended up taking the Lake Ramona trail, which has a few switchbacks, but in general was a fairly good and moderate climb. It’s only when you reach the end where the hike becomes steep, and then part of that is also paved. I would imagine the view on the Lake Poway side would be more beautiful.
There’s a small Oak Tree Trail that one can almost pretend they are hiking in a different city where it’s relatively «lush». We hiked this trail on our way back and it was a welcome reprieve from the very sandy dirt path.
And as always, go earlier so the heat doesn’t start to hit you in the middle of the day.

This is one of the most «lush» areas of San Diego that I have found… and I really enjoy a long walk here. It’s in my hood, so that adds to it’s happiness rating. Take the small Oak Creek trail to stay off the big road trail… it makes the walk that much nicer. You can miss this path easily on the way back, so keep a look out. If you wanna go for a LOOOONG walk you can end up at the Ramona Dam. The last little bit a FREAKING killer steep uphill (way worse than Torrey Pines, but a bit shorter in length).

Blue Sky Ecological Reserve is a decent place for a trail run.
As far as amenities go, there are port-​a-​potties in varying states of disrepair at the trailhead, the junction with the Lake Poway trail, and at the top of Lake Ramona. Always good to know if Mr. Deuce unexpectedly calls. Unlike Lake Poway, you can actually park for free on the weekends at the trailhead, which is nice. Unfortunately, there’s no running water at the trailhead, and no mile markers along the trail, which would be nice though not necessary.
If you don’t mind the quad-​searing incline to Lake Ramona, Blue Sky offers a great portal to a wicked long run. The connection to the Lake Poway/​Mt Woodson trail system gives this criterion a boost as well in the long run department. The flat portion of Blue Sky will get you a nice three mile run round trip if that’s your thing.
Another good thing is the absence of mountain bikers on the trail. No need to worry about crashing into a biker as you round a blind corner.
The main trail is a wide, well-​kept fire road. The trail becomes a bit more unkempt as you hit the incline toward Lake Ramona, but it’s fairly well-​maintained.

The area seems vegetatively pretty well recovered from the Witch Creek Fire. But the species count seems unusually low. Which may be a vestige of the fire. Or more likely, it’s because the scores of people who seem to primarily use the area as an exercise venue, are so numerous and so loud that they scare off anything interesting.
With 50+ parking spaces full and overflow parking in the aisles, the place was jammed when we got at 8:30am on the 4^th of July, and still was when we left at 11:00am. But with all those users, we passed only two other people in this «ecological reserve» who were clearly there to be birding or botanizing.
It’s a sad commentary that we’ve set aside these small islands of habitat to mitigate for too many people and too much development … then the ‘islands’ themselves have become over-​crowded with too many people out for a place to exercise, dog-​walk, or walk-​talk far to loudly on their cell phones.
At any rate, not a place we’re likely to re-​visit. There are just too many other quieter, more ‘natural’ places to go around here.

The trails are incredible! There is plenty of shade among the trees, so if you get a late start, you are fine with keeping cool. The main trail here is about a mile long and then you can take some steeper hikes up to Lake Ramona or Lake Poway. No matter what, you can get in the good workout that you want according to your needs.
Also, there are plenty of rangers wandering around to make sure things are on the up-​and-​up. Be sure to clean up after you and your dogs!!!

My favorite hiking trail, it’s right where espola road takes a long wide 90 degree turn in the road. The first part of the trail is 1 mile long under the shade of oak trees, and it’s flat. This is a great place to jog if you’re like me and don’t like running on sidewalks or roads. After hiking 8 tenths of a mile you can turn right and take the hiking loop around lake poway or continue going straight all the way up to lake Ramona.
Another cool hike in this area, especially for training is the Hike up Mount Woodson. It’s best to start from the Lake Poway parking lot, then hike around to the far side of the lake to the woodson trailhead. I’ve seen deer in the early morning hours on the Blue Sky Reserve trail and a rattlesnake sunning itself on the Mt Woodson trail one morning at 9am

A few friends and I hiked around Blue Sky this weekend and we loved it. It was a nice change of pace and the nature was pretty. The actual hiking in Blue Sky is quite easy, but still relaxing and gets the blood going. We took the «Creekside» trail which is a sun-​dappled trail that takes you through some lovely vegetation and I would imagine it would be very nice in the summer since it’s mostly in shade. The damage from the Witch Fire is still quite evident and it’s sombering to see the devastation.
If you reach the end of Blue Sky, you can actually take the Lake Poway or Lake Ramona trails up the hill and go to the respective lakes. My friends and I went up the Lake Poway trail, which got quite steep in some parts, but the views were beautiful once at the top. We saw families, hikers young and old, and people with dogs, so I think this is suitable for all. This was a great weekend hike with beautiful views.