Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is of coastal state park located in the community of La Jolla, in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, off North Torrey Pines Road. Although it is located within San Diego city limits, it remains one of the wildest stretches of land (8 km²) on the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

coast. It is bordered immediately on the south by Torrey Pines Municipal Golf Course and on the north by the city of Del Mar. The reserve was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1977. The reserve consists of a plateau with cliffs that overlook

Torrey Pines State Beach Torrey Pines State Beach is a public beach located in the San Diego, California community of Torrey Pines, south of Del Mar and north of La Jolla. Coastal erosion from the adjacent Torrey Pines State Reserve makes for a picturesque landscape. I ...

, and a lagoon that is vital to migrating seabirds. Many different kinds of wildlife and flora are found within the reserve, including

bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the ...

, fox,

skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or gin ...

, raccoon,

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological nich ...

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit sp ...

cacti A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

, coastal

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranea ...

, and the rare

Torrey pine The Torrey pine (''Pinus torreyana'') is a rare pine species in California, United States. It is a critically endangered species growing only in coastal San Diego County, and on Santa Rosa Island, offshore from Santa Barbara in Santa Barbara ...

. During Whale migration, it is sometimes possible to see several species of

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

from the cliffs, including

humpback whale The humpback whale (''Megaptera novaeangliae'') is a species of baleen whale. It is a rorqual (a member of the family Balaenopteridae) and is the only species in the genus ''Megaptera''. Adults range in length from and weigh up to . The hu ...

and

gray whale The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. gray back whale, Pacific gray whale, Korean gray whale, or California gray whale, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and bre ...

. The of trails within the park offer an attraction for hikers and beach-goers and a small museum sits at the top of the hill. From the cliffs or many places along the beach, it is possible to see La Jolla to the south and Del Mar to the north. At the southern end of the beach is a large rock that projects into the ocean, called Flat Rock. South of the rock is San Diego's unofficial nude beach,

Black's Beach Black's Beach is a secluded section of beach beneath the bluffs of Torrey Pines on the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, San Diego, California, United States. It is officially part of Torrey Pines State Beach. The northern portion of Black's Beach is o ...

Establishment

The area was once home to the

Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...

people. George Marston persuaded the San Diego City Council in 1899 to pass an ordinance preserving of the pueblo land as a park. Later between 1908 and 1911, newspaperwoman and philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps bought additional land and donated it to the city. In 1916, Guy Fleming visited the park and after examining the current condition, pushed for preservation of the park and eventually became the District Superintendent for the Southern California State Park System. The Torrey Pines Lodge was completed in 1923 and a year later, more lands were added to the park. Now consisting of over of cliffs, beach, and more, the park became open to the public. In 1956, it was decided that the park be handed over to the State of California for higher protection because it is a state reserve. In 1970, and 1,500 trees were added due to fear of human expansion. Later in 1975, the Torrey Pines Docent Society was started to help promote preservation of the park, in addition to the Visitors Center. In 2007, the park's name was changed to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. The park size is now over . The official Torrey Pines website provides more detail on the establishment of the Torrey Pines Reserve

Ecology

Torrey Pine

The Pinus torreyana torreyana, also known as the Torrey pine, is the rarest pine in North America. The plant has vanished over time due to the drying period over the last 10 years and has an intricate root system that helps attach it to the overbearing bluffs. Torrey Pines is the sole location worldwide where this subspecies grows (including a small coastal strip immediately north of the Reserve in Del Mar. A closely related subspecies occurs on Santa Rosa Island.

Other species, climate

While chiefly known as habitat to this extremely rare and endangered species, the Torrey Pine Reserve also is home to a wide variety of vegetation and wildlife. The Torrey Pines Reserve has a rather unusual climate due to the Santa Ana winds causing the vegetation to be drier. Plants such as

Coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...

, Coastal Strand, and

Salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

also thrive at Torrey Pines. More information on the different plants that grow at this park is provided on the official Torrey Pines website

Trails

The Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve offers 8 trails to hikers that vary in terms of length, difficulty, and scenery. San Diego Tourism Authority says that three popular trails at the park are Guy Fleming Trail, Razor Point Trail, and Beach Trail. The Guy Fleming Trail is and is the easiest trail at the park. The trail provides diverse scenery from Peñasquitos Marsh to views of La Jolla and is well known for whale sightings in the winter. The Razor Point Trail is a loop that provides hikers with a view of

ravines A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, mi ...

while overlooking the ocean. The Beach Trail is a walk that leads one down to the Torrey Pines State Beach. Although it is the least scenic trail, it is very popular due to taking hikers straight to the wide-open beach. Other trails at the park are the Parry Grove Trail, Yucca Point Trail, High Point Trail, Broken Hill Trail, and Discovery Trail. The official Torrey Pines website provides more information on the other trails

Accidents

In 2008, a 57-year-old tourist from Henderson, Nevada died from a cliff that gave way. The man was struck on the head by basketball-sized boulders, and after the victim was dug out of the debris, a crew performed

cardiopulmonary resuscitation Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spont ...

to try to save his life. The man died hours later. Torrey Pines is known for its sandy, unstable cliffs and this was not the first time a cliff had collapsed. On January 18, 2014, a 65-year-old hiker fell about down a trail at Torrey Pines and broke his ankle. The injury was so drastic that the man needed a cliff rescue.

Gallery

File:Torrey pine.jpg, A

exhibiting salt pruning in its windswept native habitat File:Torrey Pines State Reserve.jpg, Torrey Pines State Reserve File:Torrey Pines Park.JPG, Torrey Pines Park File:View on one of the trails at Torrey Pines State Reserve.jpg, View on one of the trails at Torrey Pines State Reserve File:View of Torrey Pines Road from Torrey Pines State Reserve.jpg, View of Torrey Pines Road from Torrey Pines State Reserve File:Sunset at Torrey Pines.JPG, Sunset at Torrey Pines File:Pines9.jpg, Beach at Torrey Pines

References

Notes Bibliography * Torrey Pines State Reserve (2008
Torrey Pines State Reserve
* Hogan, C. Michael (2008) ''Torrey Pine: Pinus torreyana'', Globaltwitcher, ed. Nicklas Stromber

External links

Official website

Torrey Pines Association

Torrey Pines SR California State Park
{{authority control California State Reserves Parks in San Diego Protected areas of San Diego County, California National Natural Landmarks in California Nature reserves in California La Jolla, San Diego Landmarks in San Diego 1977 establishments in California