Double Peak Park

Can’t go wrong with a nice evening or early morning walk to the Peak.
Plenty of people around all the time, with «walking bubbies», a dog or by themselves taking in all views and fresh air.
If you’re into breaking a sweat, I recommend you start at the bottom of the hill, by Discovery lake. Bring some water and walking sticks and enjoy your «you» time. :)

It just doesn’t get more beautiful than this! We love heading up the hill and taking in the gorgeous views. It reminds me just how lucky we are to live in such an awesome place. Looking out at the sweeping views, gorgeous clouds and ocean make me feel revived and cleansed! The fresh breeze smells so good! If you’re having a bad day… head up there and have a little break from life and just take it all in. I promise you will leave feeling better! :D

Double Peak Park is our go to when friends and family visit. Such an amazing view of the ocean, downtown San Diego and other parts of SD. Nice trails and playground for the kids. Great spot to take a picnic. If you’re really active park at the bottom and hike to the top. Haven’t tried but looks like a good workout.

First off, spectacular views! Thank you YT San Marcos for recommending this beautiful spot! Due to the cold, we were not in the mood for a hike, so we decided to just enjoy the views and take pictures instead.
We drove all the way to the top and maybe walked 1 minute to the tip top with the best views.
Depending on how clear the sky is you can see a great distance. The sky was average for us, but we were able to see Downtown San Diego. They also have a telescope for your convenience.
San Marcos seems very pet friendly, which became obvious to me by how many people bring their dogs here for a walk. Overall, Double Peak Park is a must see, free, pet friendly with absolutely stunning views. I can’t wait to visit my friend again so we can enjoy a hike here.

Outstanding 360 degree viewpoint in north San Diego County. It’s a great idea to have at least one hill top not festooned with track homes. Best of all it’s free of charge and there’s no hiking involved! lol
A must visit if in the north county.

I love so much about this place. It’s clean, there’s plenty of parking, the view is great, and it’s not very busy at all. Go to just get away from the rest of the world and just breathe.
Tranquil… That’s all there is to say

Super clean park. I did the hike with my wife starting at the lake. We did a warm up lap around the lake thinking the hike/​walk was not going to be long. We were wrong. Round trip is roughly 5 miles. The beginning is a steep incline next to a road and then across the street of a neighborhood. Where you then begin to walk up another steep hill up the mountain. The trail is maintained very well. We saw a few horses on the trail which was really fun. When you hit the peak, it makes it all worth it. With a breathless view. I would recommend after hiking. To go back on a day with clear skies. Drive up to the park and watch the sunset.
The hike itself is moderare, but beware of the inclines. Those will tire you out quickly.

Double Peak Park is my sanctuary. Like church on Sunday, minus the sermon and collection box. Refreshes the soul, or reminds you that you have one.
When the ugliness of world news, traffic, financial woes, and other negatives hits me like a collective splat of pigeon poop, I go for an easy jaunt around the idyllic lake, or sometimes, if feeling vigorous (or furious), a trek up to the top of the world. It’s all right there, from Lake View to Double Peak. It feels secluded, yet is smack dab in the middle of the city. The amazing thing is, it seems so wholesome… I’ve yet to see vagrants, flashers or punks loitering there. Maybe the park rangers scare them off? It’s not a desolate park… There are plenty of joggers, families, leashed dogs, kids on bikes, and people who at least appear to be «normal.» Truly a refuge. An Island of calm amidst chaos.
Ducks, grebes, and Mother Nature, sandwiched between a housing development and a granite quarry, what more can one ask for?

This park is an amazing resource and the views keep me coming back again and again! If you have not been here yet — it is well worth the trip. Always inspiring.
Last time I was here, we were surrounded by hundreds of butterflies!
Bring a lunch and enjoy the breathtaking views of the channel islands, lagoons, inland mountains and Mexico. Yahoo!

Great park overall! What’s so great about it is that you can grade it to make it as difficult or as easy as is fit for you! Beginners can make it a short hike less than 1 mile to the peak along a paved road (there is car access all the way to the top). Intermediate hikers can take the long way along the ridged trail and make it a multi hour long trip if they’d like. From the top I could see multiple terrain trails starting from the very bottom by the nice neighborhood houses for those advanced hikers. It really is a great customizable place for everyone! I am so lucky to have this place pretty much in my backyard now. I’ll definitely be back. It’s not too crowded (even after going on a Sunday) and the amenities at the very top are very nice — lots of clean picnic tables, bathrooms, and a telescope to look out at those 360 views of San Marcos.
I thought it was incredible that I could see the downtown San Diego skyline all the way to the south, the ocean to the west, and Catalina Island to the north! The views alone make this spot worth 5 stars

Double Peak is a beautiful place with a fantastic top of north San Diego county views. On a clear day, this rewarding hike will give you views all the way to the mountains and the ocean to the west. There are some decent nicely landscaped trails that lead you to the side of the mountain and a nice viewpoint area at the top. Overall, Double Peak is not a bad way to spend an afternoon…

This place is absolutely beautiful! Great view of the entire surrounding area, and it’s a very short drive from the local communities. There is a looking glass at the top that you can use to survey the countryside.

Beautiful views from up here, and it’s just strenuous enough that I can’t do it on a hot day.

This is a trail that is not too strenuous but not a walk in the park, either. I enjoyed myself and the top of the peaks was cute.

I haven’t written a review in a long time, but felt like this needed an update.
Started this hike from Lakeview Park/​Discovery Lake at around 8:30 AM on a Saturday. There is a public restroom in the park before you start for those of us driving in from far away lands with small bladders. There was plenty of parking both when I arrived and when I left. The lake is beautiful! There’s a little dock here where a grandpa and his grandson were fishing and another family was looking at turtles/​ducks.
The signage is much improved based on the reviews I’ve seen here. There are now small, but very clear signs at every fork along the way pointing to Double Peak Trail. As people have said, start from the lake, walk across the Spillage area, then up through the neighborhoods toward the water tower.
The trail is wide and mostly paved. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. I would rank it as easier than Iron Mountain/​Elfin Forest and possibly slightly more difficult than Los Penasquitos just because of the steepness. I brought along a small dog who sniffs something every 30 seconds and we did the full round-​trip hike at a very leisurely pace in approximately 2 hours. I’m guessing without dog the trip would have been just a bit over an hour.
There is no shade (like most hikes in the greater SD area), so wear sunscreen and bring some water for you+dog.

Starting at Discovery Lake Park in San Marcos, this loop trail combines moderate steepness with restful views. At the top of the 1,644-foot summit, hikers are treated to a spectacular 360-​degree view of the North County area. A majority of the trail was effected by the fires, so don’t expect much shade. The first mile is paved and then turns into a rougher single track. Dogs are welcome!
Length: 5 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Getting there: Start at Lakeview Park off Foxhall in Discovery Hills. Cross the spillway bridge and the Discovery Lake Dam, and head up the paved road that winds up the hill.

Fresh air. Great outdoors. Sunny skies. Early morning. People you pass on the trail and actually say, «Good morning!», with a smile.
A most excellent hike to do with friends, even if you have to walk through a fancy schmancy neighborhood, starting from Discovery Lake. Once you break past the paved areas, you’ll hit that rugged terrain.
There was some confusion over where «that fork in the road» that everyone was talking about. Sometimes the signage wasn’t helpful. Like this one:
Also, the confusing notices that you wouldn’t see on your hike up, unless you turned facing downhill to look:
So, are the trails closed or what?
We eventually made it to Double Peak, with it’s pretty 360 degree view, taking the short route. Well, pretty if you ignore all that housing development. At the start of the hike, it was still pretty cold. But, by the end, I was melting. Layering is recommended. Also, remember to bring water to keep hydrated. Definitely a hike that I’d like to do, again.

This trail has so much potential! My GPS took me right to the top of the Double Peak Park and the views were phenomenal! And nice, clean bathrooms. But that is not why I was out looking for an adventure, so I drove down to Discovery Hills Lake/Park.That is a must! Directions (despite reading fellow Unilocalers tips) were tricky and I took the path that wasn’t going to get me to the top of Double Peak.
On my return loop I did see the trail that leads up, and even though I bypassed one gate that had closed off the trail (due to fire repair), I came to a gate after 1.5 miles that was almost impossible to get past and move along the trail. I’m hopeful the work here will be done soon so we can summit Double Peak from our Lake start.

Wanted to come by and hike some trails in the San Marcos area. Unfortunately due to fire maintenance a lot of the hikes were closed (
). Oh well, maybe next time. Other than that, this place has a beautiful view of the surrounding area.

Great vantage point to see all the new homes going up the in the surrounding natural habitat.
There are a few hiking trails, more like coyote trails. If you can stomach driving through the snooty community of San Elijo than this is a great point of interest.
— Bring a jacket if you’re watching the sunset