Autumn color appears near Lake Hodges.

It’s late October. Trees near the San Dieguito River and Lake Hodges are showing a little Autumn color.

The leaves of willows and cottonwoods have begun to turn yellow.

I took these photographs today as I walked down the Coast to Crest Trail from the Sunset Drive Staging Area in Escondido. I headed south, turned west under Interstate 15, and turned around when I reached the long pedestrian bridge that is visible from the freeway.

It was a perfect day for a leisurely outdoor stroll in San Diego’s North County!

Fall comes to Del Mar in a colorful display!

Walking in Del Mar today.

As I passed the old Del Mar Post Office on 15th Street, I noticed the Del Mar Garden Club has put together a colorful box display that celebrates the fall season and Dia de Los Muertos.

Thought you might enjoy seeing this…

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San Diego police car smashes pumpkins!

Yikes! What happened here? Looks like a vintage San Diego police car has smashed into a bunch of pumpkins!

Not surprisingly, the incident took place in the courtyard of the old historical police headquarters in downtown San Diego.

Looks like The Headquarters at Seaport Village is getting ready for autumn and Halloween with this and other fun displays!

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Balboa Park’s roses after the rain.

In Balboa Park today the rain stopped shortly after noon. I happened to get off the bus right then, and I started my afternoon walk through the Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden.

Beads of water gleamed on leaves, and on the flowers that were still in bloom as winter approaches. Many petals had already fallen to the soil.

Some of the roses, having grown taller than my head, mingled with the storm clouds that were passing to the east.

Here are a handful of photos…

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

As playoffs begin, downtown roots for Padres!

Hard to believe it’s almost October. Major League Baseball Postseason 2025 begins tomorrow!

The San Diego Padres will be playing in Chicago against the Cubs in their MLB Wild Card Series matchup. Our hometown team ended up with another 90 win season. Let’s go Pads!

I walked around the Gaslamp Quarter, Petco Park and East Village this afternoon, and found indications that small businesses, restaurants and many others in downtown are rooting for the Padres!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

The colors of Autumn in Balboa Park!

The colors of Autumn are beginning to emerge in Balboa Park. The days are shorter, temperatures are cooling, and some of the foliage is turning.

Enjoy photographs from my late afternoon walk today through the park.

First up, these were taken at the Japanese Friendship Garden…

Is blue really a color of Autumn?

It is, if you’re visiting the Blue Gold exhibition at the Mingei International Museum!

Inside the House of Mexico cottage at the International Cottages, Día de los Muertos decorations were being put up, including a beautiful altar!

Orange is not only a harvest color–it’s the color of marigolds!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

An autumn hike in San Diego’s Tecolote Canyon.

A special Autumn hike was enjoyed this Sunday in San Diego’s beautiful Tecolote Canyon Natural Open Space Park.

The hikers, equipped with plenty of water and sturdy shoes, started at the Tecolote Canyon Nature Center and proceeded north up the main trail.

The dirt trail passed under sycamores whose leaves were beginning to turn; it proceeded under ancient coast live oaks, past bright yellow bush sunflowers, and roller coastered up and down sun-drenched hills and through shady tunnels of wrinkled gray willows.

Much of this special hike skirted the narrow Tecolote Canyon Golf Course, whose green fairways could be viewed from above.

A southern alligator lizard with a very long tail sunned at the edge of the path. Birds flitted nearby. As the hikers approached the Genesee Avenue trailhead, an impassable stream forced the half dozen adventurers to turn back. And then we saw three amazing, perfect spider webs suspended up there above our heads.

Those webs made this hike special. As did the San Diego sunshine and a cool October breeze. And the fluttering leaves. And footbridges and wooden fences. And aromatic sage, and monkey flowers, and the call of a red-tailed hawk, and hikers and mountain bikers who passed by smiling. And, of course, the fact that the hikers with me were friends.

Trailside sign explains: This area is being filled with plants native to this canyon. Plants such as toyon, California wild rose, blue elderberry, black sage and others will increase not just plant biodiversity but also animal diversity…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Colorful signs of Autumn in Balboa Park!

Trees change color in the lush Lower Garden of the Japanese Friendship Garden.

Autumn officially began in San Diego last Saturday. There are plenty of signs in Balboa Park that Fall, with its rich harvest of colors and traditions, is well underway!

I took a walk through Balboa Park late this afternoon. Clouds were gathering. Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

Enjoy a few photos…

Prado Perk is in Love with the Season!

Holiday productions are coming to the Old Globe, including Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big San Diego Christmas Show. (I didn’t realize Scrooge surfs!)

Spooky Spinners for sale in the Balboa Park Visitors Center.

A leafy Welcome at Studio 3 in Spanish Village.

And a pumpkin, too!

An “Autumn Memories” Ikebana Flower Exhibition is coming in October.

Fallen leaves near the giant Moreton Bay Fig tree.

A fun Balboa Park Spooktacular is coming the weekend before Halloween!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Autumn beauty on Pacific Crest Trail in Warner Springs.

Today I headed out to Warner Springs in northern San Diego County. I wanted to experience an authentic stagecoach ride at the historic Warner-Carrillo Ranch House.

I arrived too early, so I drove a few miles further up State Route 79 to the Eagle Rock Trailhead, near the Warner Springs fire station. There I parked under some shady oak trees and began a slow hike south along the Pacific Crest Trail.

The short (perhaps half mile) segment of the PCT that I walked followed a dry creek bed. It passed through several swinging gates, but I encountered no grazing livestock.

In addition to many ancient oaks, I saw the autumn yellows of a few riparian trees–mostly willows it seemed. A couple sycamores I noticed had lost most of their leaves.

I also spotted interesting rock outcroppings and a distant woodpecker. And only a few hikers.

Had I time, I might have continued all the way to Eagle Rock–an impressive outcropping three miles from the trailhead that looks exactly like an bird with spread wings. I’ll do that some other day.

Enjoy these photos of autumn beauty along a very small part of the Pacific Crest Trail…

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Autumn morning harvest in Little Italy.

Early this morning I walked through Little Italy hoping to capture some colorful Thanksgiving photos.

I found no turkeys, but I did encounter many pumpkins, a friendly scarecrow, and beautifully changing leaves.

Please enjoy this small harvest of photos collected on a crisp autumn morning…

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!