Broken Hill, Torrey Pines State Reserve, San Diego

By January 4, 2013January 10th, 2022Beautiful Views of San Diego, San Diego

Dawn breaks over the mesa at Torrey Pines State Reserve, overlooking the Pacific Ocean with La Jolla in the distance. This sandstone formation is known as “Broken Hill” and presides above one of the most spectacular vistas in the San Diego area. I was alone here at dawn with nary a speck of wind. I could hear the waves breaking on the beach far below. Torrey Pines State Reserve is a special place for me. When I was a kid, we drove down from Newport Beach to hike the winding dirt trails from the mesa to the beach, squeezing through the notorious and now-closed “Fat Man’s Misery” (a politically-incorrectly-named narrow trail which discriminates against the width-challenged), wondering whether we would see any free-ranging wild nudies when we reached the ocean below. (Sadly, we learned that the nudist be-ins took place further south at Black’s Beach). When I lived in Del Mar in the 80’s and 90’s I would run in Torrey Pines each day, slowly making my way up the historic old Coast Highway to the golf course on the mesa and then enjoying the downhill trail past Broken Hill and down the view-laden switchbacks to the beach at Flat Rock. Cheers and thanks for looking!

About Phil Colla

I am a natural history photographer. I enjoy making compelling images in the ocean, on land, and in the air. I have maintained the Natural History Photography blog since 2005 and my searchable Natural History Photography Library since 1997. Here are some tear sheets and behind the scenes views. Thanks for looking!