They’re not furry and cute, like baby otters. Or solemnly photogenic like a redwood. And as for that certain “hug-me” appeal, I don’t expect to see one on a greeting card any time soon (Seaworld’s Shamu–or maybe it’s Son-of-Shamu by now–is definitely ahead in that category).
But the whiskery, gnarled pines at Torrey Pines State Reserve, their spindly trunks buffeted by offshore winds blowing over the bluffs south of Del Mar, have a loyal cheering section just the same.
“The more I see them, the more I think of them as graceful survivors,” says Dennis Thoms, a Del Mar resident who jogs through the park after work. “With those feathery needles and scraggly bark silhouetted against a sunset they’re an artist’s dream.”
Even strangers who expect Goliath but find only David, and one with wizened limbs at that, agree that the pines are unique. Found in only two places on earth–here in San Diego County and on Santa Rosa island in the Channel Islands–Torrey Pines are the rarest species of North American pine, a category that all by itself confers status.
Which is good, says Thoms. Without tree-huggers and botanists fighting the good fight, the pines would have been chopped for firewood long ago, and houses and golf courses would have invaded the fields of sunflowers and mariposa lilies cascading down to sculpted and weathered sandstone bluffs.
Instead, the 1,750-acre reserve is now and forever part of California’s state park system, and the trees’ only competition are the constant wind and rocky soil. With foresight surprising for the year–1889–and for a small town council, the city of San Diego created the first park with the purchase of 369 forest acres.
In the intervening century, man-made “improvements” have added two roads, two beach parking lots, seven lifeguard stations, signed trails, restrooms and the Visitors Center. Today, 1.5 million visitors pass through the gates each year.
“I’d say half the people who stop in are travelers going somewhere,” says Stephanie Widmann, a park aide in the Visitors Center. “They’re driving by on their way to Mexico or La Jolla and they see the sign and wonder what it’s all about. Or they’re doing a long weekend in La Jolla or San Diego.
“The other half live around here and use the beach or jog on the trails. We get lots of local people who run on the trails at lunchtime or before work.”
The park has five miles of trails looping along the top of the bluffs and zig-zagging down to the beach, not a hiker’s bonanza exactly, but enough for young families, day outings, nature walks and bird watching.
The park’s chief support in this time of budget cuts is the 100-member Docent Association, which assigns guides to the Visitors Center to answer questions and give directions. The docents, men and women both, hand out hiking and self-guided geology walk maps, and a color flower chart and identification list of the 235 birds sighted in the park. Park rangers lead nature walks and monitor the health of the forest.
After picking up a trail map, we load film into our cameras and wander along the Razor Point Trail where we meet Phoenix residents Linda Spencer and her 8-year-old twins, Amanda and Anthea. The Spencers, vacationing in La Jolla, are staying at the Sheraton Grande Torrey Pines, a mile south, because the hotel has a daily children’s summer day camp. Now Linda’s helping the girls put names and flowers together.
“Does this look like a yellow pincushion, or a gold yarrow?” she asks, pointing at two photos on a brochure. The girls look at the color pictures–15 on this page alone–and back at the flower.
“It’s a pincushion,” says Amanda. “The petals are all squished up.”
“Uhn-uhn,” counters Anthea. “It’s a daisy. See, the petals are too big.”
We plead ignorance and hike down switchbacks toward the beach to a place called Flat Rock. From here, the park’s sandy beach runs north for five miles. At one end is Black’s Beach, a popular local hangout.
Nearly 20 years after San Diego established the park, Ellen Scripps, La Jolla’s first and most important benefactor, bought the adjacent stand of trees to prevent developers from subdividing the property. In 1911 and 1912 she bought two more sections and in 1921 she hired Guy Fleming–for whom the Loop Trail is named– as a naturalist and custodian.
The following year, with the park and attendance growing, Scripps built an adobe roadside lodge, named the Torrey Pine Lodge. When she died in 1932, the city inherited the land and the lodge, now used as the Visitors Center.
A few pines were cut down in 1930, when San Diego routed old Highway 1 through the park. A mile of the original concrete road, closed to vehicles, still runs south from the Visitors Center. In 1940, with war looming, 710 acres were leased to the army for Camp Callen, land that later became a golf course.
Otherwise, despite pressure from developers and road builders, the park’s supporters continued to campaign for increased protection until 1959, when the city transferred the land to the state park system. A 200-acre addition in the early 1970s added a marshy habitat, known as “the extension,” on the north side of Los Penasquitos Lagoon.
Because the movement to protect the Torrey Pines began early, grazing and timbering did little damage. One of the last stretches of virginal coast, the park blooms with diverse ecosystems, unusual for a relatively small area.
Never mowed, plowed or graded, Torrey Pines is a sort of time-machine, where you can drift back two centuries to the years when San Diegan Indians fished off the beach, and the Spanish soldiers marching north were little more than bobbing points of light on the horizon, rays of sun glinting off polished helmets.
As you walk along the headland in the late afternoon, keep your eyes peeled for one of the park’s many full-time residents: a gray fox, a bobcat, a blacknecked stilt or a great horned owl on a limb.
With a furry creature, a tree and a California sunset, who knows? A Torrey Pine might make it onto a greeting card after all.
DETAILS ON TORREY PINES
Getting there: Torrey Pines State Reserve is 1 mile south of Del Mar, Calif., on North Torrey Pines Road at the north end of La Jolla.
The basics: The park is open daily from 9 a.m. to dusk; the museum is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entrance fees good for the entire day (you can leave and return) are $4 per car ($3 for seniors). Camping, picnicking and pets are not allowed.
Staying there: The Sheraton Grande Torrey Pines, a luxury property just south of Torrey Pines State Reserve, overlooks the ocean and Torrey Pines Golf Course’s 18th hole. Tennis courts, fitness center, outdoor heated pool and sauna are on site. The Shiley Sports and Health Center (massage, exercise, sports medicine) is next door. Double rooms are $215-$285 per night. Children 14 and under stay free with their parents. The Grande Kids day camp, for children ages 5-12, runs daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Children under 5 can attend with parental supervision. A full day of activities with field trips and lunch is $45 per child. A half day without lunch is $25 per child. The “Grande Kids Camp” package, good Wednesday through Sunday for $230 per night, includes a double deluxe room for two adults and one child and enrollment in day camp. An additional child is $45 per day.
The Sheraton is two miles from La Jolla Village and the Stephen Birch Aquarium, nine miles from Seaworld and 15 miles from the San Diego Zoo and downtown San Diego. Call 800-762-6160.
The beachfront Del Mar Motel has double rooms from $90 to $120. Children can stay free with their parents. Within walking distance of La Jolla Village. A restaurant is next door. Call 800-223-8449.
In Carlsbad, 10 miles north, the Ramada Inn Suites has double rooms from $45 to $85 per night. Call 800-272-6232.
Park information: Call 619-755-2063.
