COWLES MOUNTAIN MAIN TRAILHEAD TO CLOSE FOR 7-WEEK RESTORATION; OTHER ROUTES TO THE SUMMIT ARE OPEN

March 17, 2013 (San Diego's East County) --  The trail to the top of Cowles Mountain from the Golfcrest Drive/Navajo Road trailhead is slated to be closed from Monday, March 25 through Friday, May 17 due to a trail restoration project.  The restoration is estimated to take seven weeks, though dates are subject to change, Jay Wilson with the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation told ECM.

"The trail will be completely closed while the project is underway, and there will be no alternative access at this location," he said. But he added, "Open alternatives are the Big Rock Trailhead, Big Rock Park Trailhead, Mesa Trailhead, the Barker Way Trailhead and the Barker Way Service Road.  All of these trails go to the Cowles Summit and are in good shape."

Here is a link to the Mission Trails Regional Park (MTRP) home page for the latest information about the status of the trail closure, and a link to the primary MTRP trail map for locating the alternative trailheads for Cowles Mountain.