Annie's Slot Canyon San Diego

Annie’s Canyon is a fun slot canyon that the entire family will enjoy! This easy out and back trail is about 1.5 miles. The trail out there is flat and off road stroller accessible with beautiful views of the ocean. The canyon itself is steep and narrow and includes a metal ladder and steep steps to get back down. The slot is a beautiful natural formation nestled in the heart of Anza Borrego State Park, about an hour and a half east of San Diego. The park has no fees to enter and hundreds of miles to explore and off-road through. It even has unique areas such as the palm tree oasis of Hellhole Canyon, abandoned mines, and of course, the slot canyon itself.

2 miles 100 ft gain - Out-and-Back Trail

Added by Jussi Oksanen

Awesome short and easy hike. A fun place to explore with the whole family -- even the littlest kids -- and a great spot to watch the sun set!

If you're looking for a super short hike, this 10 minute flat walk couldn't be more ideal. Start at 840 N Rios Avenue, Solana beach and walk east towards the FWY 5 where you will see Annie’s Canyon on your right. There is only one way to go up the canyons and it gets pretty tight in places, but you'll discover some cool little hideaway spots along the way.

Annie's Slot Canyon San Diego

You'll notice a few trails going up the walls, but be aware that while they are fairly mellow heading up, coming down is a different story. And remember: it’s sand! It can get really slippery at times which is not ideal when you find yourself 30 foot high...

At the top of the canyons you will find some stairs that lead to the top. From there you get an amazing view of the canyons and the San Elijo Lagoon. It's the perfect place to take some snacks while watching the sun set over the ocean. Just remember to take your trash with you!

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Reviews

R G

over 1 year ago

Fun for all ages!

You start on the Rios Trail and end up over at Annie’s Canyon Trail. It splits into “View Point- moderate” (stairs) and the “One Way Loop- strenuous” (canyon). The canyon trail is definitely tight and a bit hard at points, but super fun and worth it. There were kids and toddlers going through the canyons with ease as well! There is a ladder at the end that you must climb to the top, but it is not difficult for adults or even children. The hike is generally flat/slightly downhill for .6 miles, until you get to the fork in the trail for the canyons and stairs. The stairs take you up to the top of the view point, which is also where the canyon loop leads as well. There were plenty of trees and brush which provided a great amount of shade along the Rios Trail. It was beautiful hiking along the lagoon and seeing it from the top of the view point! We all had fun and definitely recommend it.

5.0

Robyn Ayers

about 2 years ago

Short hike and fun for kids

We did this hike on a Saturday. So parking was a little challenging as it’s street parking in a residential area. I did this with a three year old on foot and a toddler in carrier on my back. There were so precarious moments as far as tightness goes. But it was a great time!

4.0

Michael Munger

over 3 years ago

My adventure

Great getaway for a needed adventure very easy yet 'strenuous'!

5.0

Mark Brechbiel

over 3 years ago

Waves, Wildlife And Canyons; Oh My!

When I first read about the mushroom caves I had no idea what to expect. I knew I was going to be taking my 4 year old so I figured it was gonna be pretty mellow. This place is rad! We actually ended going two days in a row and my little girl did the canyon loop 5 TIMES! It's best to go on a weekday as Sunday was really crowded. Highly recommended and will definitely be going back!

5.0

Elise Heimowitz

over 3 years ago

Short, Easy, Pretty

Short easy hike great for families, small children, and dogs. Highly recommend exploring the slot canyon area.

Annie's Slot Canyon San Diego Map

4.0

Leave No Trace

Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

We want to acknowledge and thank the past, present, and future generations of all Native Nations and Indigenous Peoples whose ancestral lands we travel, explore, and play on.

A short hike to Annie’s Canyon next to the San Elijo Lagoon.

Annie's Slot Canyon San Diego Ca

The recently restored Annie’s Canyon is a short hike of a slot canyon type of geography that is directly south of the San Elijo Lagoon. This was previously defaced with large amounts of graffiti and has been recently restored to it’s natural beauty.

We read about the newly re-opened Annie’s Canyon area via a Facebook post that just happened to float across our feed, and thought we’d make a quick trip up to check it out because the weather was absolutely beautiful and what we like to call “brochure weather”. In looking up the area on Google Maps we didn’t see anything that was actually labeled as Annie’s Canyon. Come to find out that it’s actually referred to as the Mushroom Caves in Solana Beach on Google maps. We selected to approach from the Solana Hills trail head.

The start of the trail head is not too bad, but there are a couple of moderately steep hills with some loose gravel so you will want decent shoes and to be careful. The trail follows the fence line that separates the I-5 interstate and you get a great view of the San Elijo lagoon marine preserve as well as the mountains in the back ground. It’s about a 10 minute walk to the first split in the trail. We opted to go left as this was a shaded route and Brick didn’t bring his hat.

After 3-4 minutes of walking the trail turns in to an impressively well maintained surface that is lined with wood chips. These provide a really great walking surface that doesn’t slip hardly at all when you walk on it. It’s obvious that a lot of money, time and effort were put in to this area to bring it back to it’s current state after it was severely vandalized for years.

You will arrive at a junction on the trail that will let you decide between a less strenuous or a more strenuous trail. The harder trail is one way, as it is a slot canyon and there is no room for people to pass by each other as you can see in the following pictures of Annie’s Canyon.

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While up until now the hike was pretty easy and fairly short, about 0.6 miles to this point, this is where it gets cozy. The length of the canyon from bottom to the top isn’t all that long, less than 100 yards and you can easily make it all the way up in 3-5 minutes. However for those of us that aren’t fond of tight closed in spaces it can generate a little anxiety.

After a short distance up Annie’s Canyon you will come to a shallow cave that you can stop in, sit down and just enjoy the view. There are sitting spaces that appear to be natural to the cave but also somehow seem a little too conveniently placed and created to be completely natural. I think that they may have been part of the restoration. As you can see on the cave walls some of the previous vandalism was left as a reminder.

There also are climbing holes that have been etched in to the face of the cliffs as you can see above. As you continue your ascent up the narrow and winding trail shortly after leaving the small cave you are presented with the following sign that just doesn’t inspire all that much confidence at this point while your’e in Annie’s Canyon.

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From this sign you’re only 1-2 minutes from the end of the canyon. All in all it is a really short canyon to hike through. But there is just so much natural beauty compressed in to such a small space it’s truly impressive.

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Once you reach the ladder you are at the end of Annie’s Canyon. You then pop out on the summit with a great view of the San Elijo lagoon as well as the Pacific Ocean in the distance off to the west. Seaside State Beach is just a thin sliver of sand in the distance where it yields to the vast Pacific only a few yards away.

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There is a small observation area at the top of Annie’s Canyon but there are no benches or tables to sit at. It’s a great spot to just stay and enjoy the view and maybe a snack while you feel to cool breeze and take in the awe inspiring beauty of the surrounding habitat.

The way down is much easier than the way up was, and it’s much faster as well. As you head back down to the main trail you will see one of the many signs along the trail that were commissioned from grade schoolers to advise people to stay on the trail and watch out for the odd snake or two that may be around as they do live in this area. We didn’t see any snakes on the trail but this is their natural habitat and you do need to respect that.

There are a set of switchbacks on the way down to help with the grade, they are well maintained but still present a little bit of loose gravel, so it’s best not to get going too fast and just take it slow and steady.

From the bottom of the switchbacks it was about a 20 minute walk back to the parking area, up and down the couple of hills with the same loose gravel that we crossed on the way in. In total the round trip hike was under 2 miles and was great for a quick and fun hike if you don’t have the time to dedicate half a day to making a hike. While there are other trail heads that will connect to this trail system we found that the Solana Hills trailhead was by far the closest to Annie’s Canyon and provided access to the slot canyon in only about 20 minutes of walking.

If you love exploring the outdoor treasures that Southern California has to offer check out our post on the scenic drive we took down state highway 74, or our day trip out to Potrero CA. Also if you want to keep up with us and our travels you can click the links to the right to Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or if you’re more the email type feel free to subscribe to our mailing list for updates when we publish a new blog post. See ya next time.