A Place of Unspoiled Natural Beauty
This not-so-hidden gem located in San Diego County is a perfect destination for nature lovers and landscape photographers who are looking for an escape from the city. With its rolling hills, dense forests, and diverse wildlife, the Santa Ysabel Preserve provides a wide array of natural beauty, with rolling hills, forests, streams, and plenty of wildlife.
Summertime here if often very hot and the colors are less vibrant, but in the spring and fall, it’s comfortable for exploring all day long; ideal for landscape photography. Springtime often transforms the sweeping vistas with vast carpets of wildflowers. You can bet I’ll be trying to capture some of that if the bloom is good!
Filled Ponds and Flowing Streams
We’ve been here many times before, but with the rain we’ve had this winter, the landscape is looking extra good. It’s the first time we’ve ever had to search for a way to stay dry when crossing the stream.
Sadie - The birthday girl
It was Sadie's 8th birthday. We could think of no better way to celebrate it than getting out for a day on the trails.
With the water flowing, the streams took center stage. Enjoy the photos!
As a kick-off for the typical style of content I will be publishing, this one seems like a good fit, as it introduces my top models – my wife Susan, and our pup Sadie, who’s not really a pup but we like to think of her that way.
Parting Advice for visiting the Santa Ysabel Preserve for landscape photography or any other reason.
"Steer" clear of the cows!
"You shall not pass!"
There are plenty of cows in the preserve, but they seem to stick together. Give ’em plenty of space.
We got cow blocked!
The picture is a bit blurry because it was taken at the same moment that I realized it was going to charge Susan and Sadie. As you can see in the other picture above, the cows where lounging right in the middle of the trail. There was a small gate on the other side of them that we had to get to in order to continue on. Seemed simple enough…
We gave the cows a wide birth, circling around toward the gate. As Susan and Sadie neared the gate, I was off to the side trying to take a photo when this one tired of our presence and charged. The only thing I could think to do was to run interference between this bovine bully and my family. It all happened fast, and just when I thought it was over, I turned around to see about 4 other cows rapidly approaching to join in. We had but one other direction to go at that point, and quickly. After some choice expletives, we made our way onto a rockpile nearby and everything diffused. I’m not knowledgeable enough about cows to know what set them off; maybe they know I love steak. Anyway, lesson learned!
4 thoughts on “Santa Ysabel Preserve Hiking & Landscape Photography”
Looks like a perfect day! Great pics as always!
Steve,
The pictures are beautiful. We’re sure glad you were able to avoid the cows!
Enjoyed every bit!!! Thank you!!!
Happy Birthday Sadie!!!!!!
Beautiful, I will check it out.