The Ho Chi Minh Trail is also known as the Saigon Trail, it descends from the northern neighborhoods of La Jolla to Black’s Beach in La Jolla. It’s a short, but exciting hike with beautiful views and beach relaxation rewarding you at the end.

• Trail length: 0.7 mi, 282 ft elevation gain 

• Time it takes: 1-2 hours, considered “difficult” 

• What to bring: wear bathing suit (if don’t!), towel, water, snacks, and flip flops or tennis shoes.

• Why we like it: it’s a short, challenging, but fun and beautiful hike that gives you a lot of bang for your buck.

Hiking Ho Chi Minh Trail in San Diego – Episode Transcript

0:52

Today we’re going to be bringing you to our own backyard here in San Diego, CA to talk about the Ho Chi Minh Trail, also known as the Saigon Trail.

It is a rite of passage for a lot of San Diego locals and anybody who’s coming into San Diego to do a little bit of hiking and beach activities.

1:11

So this trail is actually a really fun, it’s kind of like a good trail that’s like good bang for your buck.

You know, in a previous podcast episode, I think I remember what we were talking about, but Kim said she liked this trail, not Ho Chi Minh, but another one, because it was quick and dirty.

1:27

And this is a quick and dirty trail, that’s for sure.

It’s quick and it’s dirty, that’s for sure.

The trail itself isn’t that long, it’s only .7 mile round trip and the elevation gain also isn’t that bad.

It’s only 282 feet in elevation gain.

1:45

But this trail is marked as difficult and it was said to take possibly one to two hours.

Before you head out onto this trail, you’re going to want to pack differently than you would another hiking trail.

Bring your swimsuit or wear your swimsuit.

Bring a beach towel.

2:01

Definitely bring some water.

Probably going to want to bring some snacks and then bring some sandals.

I’ve even seen people hike this trail in flip flops, so your choice.

I would not hike it in flip flops, but that’s just me and I may or may not bring a bathing suit, but we’ll get to that later.

2:17

I have hiked part of this trail without shoes on at all.

That actually might be a good way to go because then you have natural grip to the sandstone and a lot of surfers get down to this beach using that, so I don’t think that’s a bad idea.

Well, I just want to reiterate something.

2:34

We start in a neighborhood in San Diego at the top of the sea cliffs and you are hiking your way down the sea cliffs to the ocean.

When Brittany said earlier I may not even bring my swimsuit, she didn’t allude to the fact that the beach at the very bottom of this trail is the infamous Blacks Beach of San Diego, which is a nude beach.

2:53

So you can’t.

Clothing optional.

Yes.

So you can choose to rock the bathing suit, or you could rock the birthday suit.

It’s entirely up to you.

I’ve done both.

Surfers that are down there, they’re rocking the wet suit, but either way, you know, it’s like we said, quick and dirty trail, but it is rather fun and challenging to get down even though it is the .7 miles, 282 feet elevation gate.

3:18

So Jamal kind of mentioned it already, but the start of the trail head is actually in a very beautiful La Jolla neighborhood.

And parking on the street is allotted to only two hours.

So that’s not a ton of time.

So just be mindful of the time when you’re going up and down on the trail to see how much time you can spend on the beach.

3:39

Does that include Sunday as well?

Oh, that’s a great question.

That may not include Sunday, but I don’t know for sure.

Either way, what I want to just really reiterate here is Brittany said that this was in a neighborhood of La Jolla.

And for Yunnan, San Diego natives who don’t know the Jolla, the Jolla is the really affluent, prestigious area of San Diego.

4:01

So it’s in a residential neighborhood.

So why are you thinking to yourself, well, two hour parking limit.

Well, they know that people are coming here to access this trail from the neighborhood.

They don’t want people loitering.

It’s a nice rich neighborhood and really don’t push yourself with those two hours because since it is a well to do neighborhood, they have private security patrolling and they will ticket you and tow your car.

4:24

So don’t really push the two hour limit if you’re going to do this trail.

We actually saw them patrolling when we just did this trail recently.

They’re there.

San Diego is really on it with patrolling everywhere around San Diego.

So once you get to, it’s kind of like an alleyway between two homes and you’ll see a sign that says unstable cliffs stay back, no public access, and you just breathe on by that sign.

4:47

I know they have that and they know sure enough that everybody is doing it and there’s public access to the beach that way, but nevertheless, they have the sign as a safety precaution.

We usually don’t advocate breaking the rules on this podcast when you see the signs for safety, but everyone is doing it and you’re not going to get ticketed even though they say no public access.

5:07

This hike is sandstone, like, Brittany said.

So there’s slippery sand, there’s ledges that you have to kind of walk across.

I remember at one point being on one of those ledges with my back up against the wall on this tiny ledge, kind of shuffling down it.

5:24

And I, I think you might have even took a picture of me, Brittany.

Just the way that I looked, I was like kind of stuck between two areas.

Like there’s some dicey parts to it.

There was even, I don’t know if it’s still there, but a big long wooden plank almost that you kind of have to walk across.

5:40

It’s still there.

Wooden plank is still there, still there.

So again, I just want to give you guys perspective.

Just imagine being in a residential neighborhood, really affluent.

Then you peek between these two homes that has that opening to it, and then you’re at the very edge of the sea cliffs because right below is the ocean.

5:59

You come out between those homes and you can see the ocean, but how do you get there?

You got to hike down those sea cliffs.

So a lot of it is uneven dirt and terrain kind of close to the edge.

So I don’t want to say it’s very, very dangerous.

6:14

If you’re being mindful, you know, most people escape unscathed there and have a successful hike in time at the beach and make their way out.

But be cautious.

But to what you’re saying, Kim, when you get down there, eventually the trail kind of follows along a natural path of where water flows from the hills and sea cliffs into the ocean.

6:37

So it creates little slot Canyon.

So you have that little narrow area of the slot Canyon that you have to hike and crawl through, get really narrow.

So what makes this really fun is the uniqueness of this hike in such a short amount of time or distance.

6:53

You know, we were actually driving to this trailhead and I said, Jamal, do you think it’s rained recently?

Because here in San Diego in May, which is when we hiked this, there’s May Gray.

So when you wake up in the morning and it’s overcast and sometimes the roads are a little misty from kind of like that fog or marine layer.

7:12

You can’t really tell if it’s been like drizzling a little bit at night or if that’s just kind of like.

Condensation.

Condensation.

Yeah.

And Jamal goes, no, I don’t think so.

I said OK, good.

Then when we got on the hike, you know, you should wear shoes.

If you’re wearing shoes, have it with good grip, right?

7:29

Or sandals with backs with good grip.

Because as Kim was alluding to, there are a lot of steep drop offs and, like, ledges.

And there was one part where we passed, we were going by and a surfer was waiting for us and he was coming up and we were going down.

7:46

And we were probably like taking our time with it.

And I knew he was barefoot and he just, like, breezed right on pass.

But Jamal was like, if I had said that it was raining, would we have not done this trail?

And I said, yeah.

And he was like, damn it, I should have just said it should have just lied that it had rained because it can be really slippery.

8:05

I wouldn’t recommend this hike if it’s been raining recently and the dirt hasn’t dried.

There was a time that you and I hiked this years ago, Brittany, and toward the end of the hike, it kind of opens up and then you see the ocean below and it’s really beautiful.

But that’s the part where you are almost at the rope where you kind of have to, what is it called when you go down the road back, you have to repel.

8:28

So we’re kind of traversing, we’re making our way towards that rope to start rappelling.

And I don’t know if it had rained recently or what, but it was wet right there.

And Brittany slipped and she landed on her stomach.

Right.

No, I landed on my hip.

I had that huge bruise that was literally the size of a cantaloupe on my one of my.

8:48

So you hit the rocks and it was slip braid.

You kept slipping and then I thought you’d get up and I was still a little like 10 feet away from you and you just kept.

Flipping and flipping and.

Flipping.

I literally thought you were going to, instead of rappel down, just slide all the way down to the beach.

I thought the same thing, but luckily I did not.

9:09

You know, this last time that we did the hike, just Brittany and I, she was telling me like, yeah, I almost fell into the ditch and Canyon like over here at this point in time.

So the ropes are right after the slot canyons that we were talking about.

You’ll get to, and I just kind of want to back up a little bit before you get to the ropes.

9:26

You got to go through those slot canyons and then when you get to the slot canyons, it almost looks like there’s nowhere really to go because it’s a big drop off.

You want to hug the left as you’re going down and trust me, you’re able to get down into it.

9:41

Don’t go to the right because there’s no way to get down to the right.

You want to go to the left and then you’re at the ropes.

Where the time before when she had gone with you, Kim, she ate it pretty good apparently and almost slid all the way down to the beach and didn’t have to use the ropes.

Expedite her way on down.

10:00

And I remember too, my leggings with you were so muddy ’cause I think I slid in part of the mud, but I think I just literally went into the ocean and just got all that mud out.

So luckily the each there is clothing optional, so you could take them off and wring them out if you dry them off, dry them off and you’re good to go.

10:21

But the rope section, there’s actually 2, even 3 ropes, but you only need two of them really.

There’s only one main rope that you need, but there’s like 3 total in the event of a real sketch situation I guess.

So there’s like one right at the top that kind of starts to go around the curve and then there’s another one that is like the main one that we’ve used.

10:43

And then there’s a third one.

But if it’s DRY, you really don’t need that third one.

Lots of ropes, lots of ways to get down.

You can repel, you can slide.

Your choice.

And I know as we’re talking about this, we’re making light heartedness of the situation of Brittany Fawley.

And we mentioned and alluded like it can be sketchy.

11:01

Again, know your limits, right?

If you’re not really able bodied or this will freak you out, don’t do it.

But lots of people do do this.

And it is a fun, challenging hike and unique one if you are up for it.

I mean, we’re talking about, oh, you’re this and that on the edge.

11:18

But also at the same times, like when it’s not dry, you’re going through vegetation and plants that are sometimes like arched over you that you’re having to like hunch through and over in a fun way.

So you’re going from this like desolate seaside Cliff to this vegetation being covered, then out in the open to the slot canyons, then to the beach and the rope.

11:37

So lots of different unique landscapes that you’re going to come across on the trail.

And in the slot Canyon, there’s like sand on the bottom of it and it’s going downhills.

You’re going down.

So you’re like literally putting your hands on the either side of the slot Canyon and it’s pretty thin and you’re just kind of like letting it slide you down as you take steps.

11:58

And while on our way back, Jamal had called up and said, is it clear anyone there?

No one responded, but there were two people at the top of it who just didn’t respond.

So Jamal was like 3/4 of the way up and they were trying to come down.

And so there was one point where I was in this section that was super steep.

12:17

So I had one hand.

Well, I had both hands on the wall and they came down and I put one hand up.

They came between my hands, then I put the other hand back down and then put the other hand up and they went through.

Like that’s how narrow.

It is real tight quarters in there.

I think the, even though the hike is really, really cool and like it’s short, but there’s a lot of different things that you go through At the end when you get down to the beach, finally, that beach is beautiful.

12:44

Yes, there might be some naked people there, not everyone’s naked, but it’s just a beautiful beach down there and such a reward for making it through that hike.

Absolutely my favorite thing that I’ve seen on that beach, Kim, was I think it was with you.

Oh, I know you’re just there.

And there was this larger gentleman who was nude in the water.

13:03

Nude smoking a cigarette just living his best life is.

It a cigarette or a cigar?

I feel like I remember the story of being a cigar, but irrelevant.

He was smoking something and enjoying his life.

Yes.

Good for.

Him.

My favorite memory of Black Speech is going on a first date there.

13:23

You had bear it all up front.

Got to know him real well.

But it is a nice secluded beach.

If you look to the South, you’ll have views of Scripps Pier and the Scripps Oceanographic Institute.

And then if you head north, that’s like the clothing free section of Blacks Beach.

13:41

Nice beach.

When we were there, we were literally some of the only people on the beach, which was really nice.

It was May Gray, of course, and it was on the earlier side of the day.

Also, when we started the trail, not everyone who started the trail with us made it down to the beach.

13:57

While we were on the beach, we saw three girls make it to the rope section, look at it and then just turn back around.

Wow, I can’t imagine going all that way and then turning around.

I know they seem so able bodied too and they just didn’t want to do it.

But you know, there’s that.

And then again, the last time we were there, it was a mother and a son, and they got to a point and stepped aside to let us pass.

14:22

And a few other people too.

And they were like, oh, we’re just eyeballing this to see how we’re going to make it.

And we never saw them again.

So we don’t think that they made it down.

So there are people who start and don’t complete again.

It’s one of those things at least attempt it if you get to a spot and know your limits on what you’re willing to do.

14:40

But fun fact, in 2021 there were 57 cliffside rescues at Blacks Beach.

And again, Blacks Beach is the beach at the bottom of the Ho Chi Minh trail and San Diego Fire and Rescue stated, and this is in quotes.

Anecdotally, we would estimate 3/4 of the rescues at Black Beach as a whole are on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

15:01

So 3/4 of the calls that they get for rescues at Blacks Beach are because of this trail and then people getting stuck.

But we’ve provided you all of the information you need to know to make it a safe trip.

So wear she was with good grip, don’t go after a rain and just be safe and have fun on the trail.

15:18

And now you have a squatty’s.

Thank you so much for tuning in to Just the Tip.

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And have fun traveling this weekend.

Bye.