Stay up to date on trail news 🥾

With summer comes more opportunities to enjoy outdoor activities like hiking some of the city’s beautiful and diverse trails. In this edition of Happy Trails, we're sharing some upcoming ways to get involved, including an exciting hiking contest, and some tips to keep you safe on our trails.

Summer hiking contest

We're excited to be running an internal summer hiking contest for our volunteers to stay active on our trails this summer! Log miles walked along any City of Carlsbad trail from now until September 28th, using the same process to log your hours in our portal. Prizes to be determined.

For more information email Sarah Czech at sarah.czech@carlsbadca.gov.

Upcoming trail volunteer events

Our next event is our quarterly trail volunteer meeting on Thursday, August 15 at 5 p.m. at Pine Ave. Community Center. Learn more about the city's trails program and upcoming events.

If you're looking for other trail volunteer events this summer, Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation and the Batiquitos Lagoon Foundation are both holding events.

Rattlesnake safety

Hikers are more likely to see rattlesnakes when the day is getting warmer. But when it gets too hot, snakes retreat into cool spots. Avoiding an encounter with a rattlesnake simply requires using common sense and keeping in mind these tips:

• If you see a rattlesnake on the trail, back away from it.
• Be sure to see where you’re putting your hands and feet. Don’t reach into shaded crevices or step in between rocks. Walk in the center of the trail if there is brush or grasses hanging over the sides.
• Wear boots or gators to protect your lower legs.
• If bitten, stay calm and seek medical attention. Try to remember the type of snake that bit you so doctors can treat you accordingly.
• While rattlesnakes can be frightening, they should not be harmed. They are an important part of the ecosystem and control the population of rodents.

GoHike

Love our Carlsbad trails? Our trail app, GoHike will put you on the right path! Bookmark our trails page and have instant access to everything you want to know about Carlsbad’s trails in real time, such as: 

• Points of interest for each trail 
• Trail length 
• Surface type of trail 
• Degree of difficulty 
• Trail connectivity 
• Parking locations