Walkers Preserve

This is a great new park I just found out about. It has pleanty of benches and picnic tables scattered along the way. There was an abundance of rabbits I saw a few birds too. The signs say there are coyotes, fox, rabbits deer and bobcats. A beautiful place to spend time with family friends since I didn’t make it to the very end I made it to where I thought was the end so I cant say if there are any restrooms or not. There are lots of signs to read all along the wide trail. As other reviews have pointed out there is a bicycle repair station complete with airpump, tools, a rack to hang your bike on while making repairs and a misting station.

This new trail system just recently opened in the later part of 2015 and follows along the San Diego river in Santee. The main entrance for this park is off Mast Blvd. where you’ll find a big lot that is gated off leaving to resort to street only parking. Also in the main lot are chairs, tables, doggie bags, and a fixit station for your bike. The map for the trail shows that it stretches all the way out to lakeside on Channel Road. So it’s a 1.5 mile walk to Lakeside and can continue for up to 3 miles total. I was stressed for time so I only made it half the way this day, but I will definitely come back to finish the entire thing maybe when running.
The trail road itself is very defined and wide surrounded by a logged fence. The trail is super easy to follow and there are benches for breaks along the way. Because the path is so wide it can easily be shared by runners and bikes at the same time. The path is relatively very flat, so in my opinion it’s a super easy run. The road does open up when it reaches the baseball fields but turns back into a trail. The trail system itself is pretty nice and has some great views of the river along the way. The plants and dirt along the way give it a desert-​like feel.
I’m rather impressed at all the work and effort that went into making this trail system possible for the residents of east county San Diego. In my opinion there can never be enough of these open space preserves within city limits to give people a chance to enjoy our nice weather we have here. I was very glad to see that Santee was able to make this area possible. Although it’s a very short urban-​style trail, it is great having another one close by. I suppose during the summer months, it will get quite hot out here though. There is no real shade along the path at all.

This is a fairly new Open Space area so it still has that new car smell — meaning the place looks great like construction just finished yesterday. Walkers Preserve is a very nice area with a versatile trail and river access that will be usable by everyone from runners, mountain bikers, to hikers.
There were a variety of native plants and trees represented that once established will fill in the blank spots along the trail really well and will do a great job of attracting native wildlife.
My real disappointment with this open area is with the city /​county planners; in that several of the more water-​loving native trees (Western Sycamore for example) were planted on the far side of the trail up away from the river. Long term this is a problem because those trees will always need a greater amount of water that has to be supplied artificially; whereas, had a better decision been made and more drought tolerant trees (like the native coastal oaks) were planted in those areas, less water or no additional /​special water source beyond nature would have been needed.
Drought tolerant trees and shrubs planted up from the river would reduce the long term costs for watering (saving the tax payers money and the regions already depleted water) and they would have better reflected the flora of the southern California Chaparral, Riparian, and Coastal scrub communities that the preserve is meant to reflect.
Just as bad as not paying attention to the specific needs of the vegetation planted are the informational signs. Several of the signs list the wrong scientific names for the plants shown and /​or show pictures of the desert varieties wherein the Coastal scrub /​chaparral species should have been listed.
Despite these unnecessary mistakes on the part of the planners this is a great open space for the local residents and visitors alike.

Love this trail It’s clean & beautiful with friendly people to say hi to along the way. Dog friendly environment with doggy station (water, poop bags,&trash) There is access to the lake to let your dog splash around too.
For bike rider’s, they have a station to fix a flat tire or take a break under a mister to help cool down.
I’m really impressed with this trail there is so much to say but go check it out yourself