Lake Murray, CA: A Day Trip for Running and Hiking
Summary
I wanted a day trip that didn’t require much planning, just running shoes, a hydration pack, and a lake to circle. Lake Murray is technically part of San Diego, and it’s only about 16 minutes from La Jolla, but it felt like I’d driven into a completely different city, maybe even a different state. Lake Murray is one of the most popular running paths in San Diego for a reason: a smooth, paved 5.7-mile out-and-back with water on one side the entire way. I went for a mix of running and hiking, no fixed plan beyond finishing the loop, and ended up staying longer than I meant to just taking it all in.
Table of Contents
The Lake Murray Trail: 5.7 Miles of Paved Path
The trail is fully paved, which makes it an easy switch between running and walking whenever I felt like slowing down. It stays close to the water almost the entire way, so there’s rarely a stretch without a view of the lake. What stood out most was how many different people were out on it at once: runners, people walking their dogs, cyclists, hikers, and groups just walking together catching up. It’s not a trail that belongs to any one type of person.
A Popular Spot for a Picnic and Chill
Even early in the morning, people were already showing up to claim picnic spots along the water. It made sense once I saw the setup: shaded areas right on the shoreline, close enough to the trail that you can run or walk and still keep an eye on your group.
Lake Murray is a genuinely peaceful spot, easy to forget how close it is to the middle of San Diego. Between the trail, the water, and Cowles Mountain across the lake, it’s the kind of place worth coming back to just to sit with a book and get some quiet.
Ducks, Geese, and a Few Cowboy Hats Learning to Fish
The water stayed calm most of the morning, with ducks and geese working the rocky edge near the trail. Further along, I spotted a few older men in cowboy hats who looked like they were just learning how to fish, comparing notes and adjusting their lines. It added a nice, unhurried texture to the morning, somewhere between the runners moving fast and the water sitting still.
