All of the new pipe is now buried under Mission Trails Regional Park, and the work that has blocked weekday walks on Father Junipero Serra Trail is entering its last phase. The project trail users will most need once the rain starts, a bridge over the San Diego River crossing, has a state construction grant waiting and no city project to spend it on. So the disruption that has been easy to see on the trail is close to over, and the one that rain brings back each winter is still unresolved.
The Pipe Is in the Ground, but the Trail Schedule Hasn't Changed Yet
The East County Advanced Water Purification program posted an update on September 18, 2026. It says pipeline installation inside Mission Trails reached 100% in July 2026. Crews are now installing vaults and finishing connections, with testing and surface restoration to follow. The temporary bypass pipe that runs the length of Father Junipero Serra Trail will also come out. Across the whole program, from the park out along Mission Gorge Road, Zion Avenue, Riverdale Street, Fairmount Avenue and San Diego Mission Road, installation is about 72% complete.
The milestone hasn't changed the gate rules yet. The park's project page sets out access this way:
| When | Father Junipero Serra Trail between Gate 1 and Gate 10 |
|---|---|
| Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. | No through access; turn around at the construction sites |
| Weekday evenings and early mornings | Full length passable; excavations fenced off |
| Saturdays and Sundays | Full length passable |
Gate 1 is near the Visitor Center, and Gate 10 is at Old Mission Dam. So a weekday walk from the Visitor Center to the dam works if you start before 7 a.m. or after 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays are open the whole way. The park also points visitors to an interactive construction map for checking where crews are on a given day.
How long this lasts depends on which document you read. The park's page says the weekday limits run until spring 2027 and that the above-ground bypass, about 3.9 miles long, stays in place until 2028. In April 2026, the Mission Trails Regional Park Foundation's executive director, Jennifer Morrissey, told Axios the pipeline work was about a third done along the trail and should finish in spring 2028. The September update is the newest, and it expects the work inside the park to wrap up in 2027. Plan on the weekday turnaround for a few more seasons and treat 2027 as the target.
The park's page also describes steps to protect wildlife along the trail. Crews are installing extra blocks to raise the bypass pipe so animals can pass underneath, and ramps are to be placed in open trenches so anything that falls in after hours can climb out.
The Restoration Work Off the Main Trail
The Foundation, RECON Environmental and the City have been working on smaller projects away from the pipeline route. They report invasive-plant and habitat work across about 756 acres and 62.02 tons of green waste removed. The work is funded by a $1.8 million San Diego River Conservancy grant that runs through fall 2027. The places named include Climbers Loop Trail, the Oak Canyon trails, Oak Grove Loop Trail, Kumeyaay Lake Campground, the Visitor Center Loop Trail, the base of Cowles Mountain and the San Diego River corridor.
Morrissey told Axios the point of clearing invasive plants along trails is to let the native plants already in the soil come back. Invasive primrose has been pulled from Kumeyaay Lake, and she said the lake now feels far more alive with birds and wildlife. The Foundation is also working with city biologists to grow more rare native plants, including San Diego ambrosia and San Diego thornmint.
If your loop goes through Oak Grove, you'll see new interpretive panels. They're in English and Spanish, have QR codes for other languages and use illustrations by Coyote Brush Studios. More panels are expected within the next year. The Visitor Center has an approved concept plan for a renovation with more exhibits, shade and gathering space. The Axios report gives no cost or construction schedule for it, and Morrissey has said federal funding cuts, rising costs and the City's budget problems are making fundraising harder.
The Crossing That Changes With the Weather
The San Diego River Crossing Trail fords the river directly. In summer the river there is a trickle, but Axios reports it can be waist-deep after heavy rain. The City's 2019 master plan for the park includes a bridge for the rainy months, and none has been built.
A family spent five years trying to build a bridge there. They raised $1 million from friends and family and helped secure a $1.5 million state grant that went to the Foundation. The state grant can only be used for construction.
The numbers explain why it stalled. In January 2026, Councilmember Raul Campillo submitted his budget priorities memo. It listed the San Diego River Crossing Bridge as "Project not established," with an estimated cost of $6 million. The $1.5 million construction grant covers a quarter of that estimate. As of May 2026, Morrissey said the grant was still available whenever the City is ready, and that "we're just awaiting word from the city." Campillo, who has long pushed for the bridge, said it was still moving through city bureaucracy and that he couldn't give its exact status. The newest post on the family's campaign blog, from July 2025, says the effort ended without a bridge.
One member of the family, Ben LeNail, has given up on the project. He told Axios:
"It's an incredibly popular trail, and it's one that people will cross even when they shouldn't."
San Diego is heading into a season that Times of San Diego has written about in "Super" El Niño terms. Neither the park nor the City has posted a river-crossing advisory that turned up in this research, so the safest assumption is that the ford will look this winter the way it has in past wet years.
Lake Murray Stays Steady
Lake Murray, just south of Del Cerro, should be the steadiest place to walk this winter. Times of San Diego reported on September 12, 2026, that the City does not plan to lower the lake before the rainy season. Its watershed is very small and doesn't usually collect much runoff, and the Murray Urban Runoff Diversion System sends runoff away from the reservoir. The lake mainly supplies the Alvarado Water Treatment Plant, so its level normally stays fairly stable. The City runs it a few feet below the state's 90-foot cap, which has been in place since 2023.
Weekday access nearly went away last year, when a proposed budget cut would have limited the lake to weekends. A City Council budget revision in June 2025 restored weekday access. The City lists the reservoir as open daily from sunrise to sunset, except for a monthly closure on the second Tuesday. The next two second Tuesdays are October 13 and November 10.
On the Calendar Before the Rain
Most of the fall events cluster around the Visitor Center and the East Fortuna side of the park, so the weekday trail closures won't affect them:
- Friday, October 2: Stars at Mission Trails, at Kumeyaay Lake Campground.
- Saturday, October 3, 8 to 10 a.m.: a family-friendly Mission Trails Tracking Walk with the San Diego Tracking Team, meeting at the East Fortuna Staging Area Ranger Field Station. Rain cancels.
- Wednesday, October 7, 6 to 8 p.m.: "Mountain Lions in San Diego: Wildlife, Habitat and a Changing Climate," hosted by the Foundation at the Visitor and Interpretive Center. It's full, with a waitlist.
- Wednesday, October 21, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.: Say I Do at Mission Trails, an open house with tours of the Amphitheater and Terrace and local wedding vendors.
- Saturday, November 7, 8 to 10 a.m.: another San Diego Tracking Team walk from the East Fortuna Staging Area. Rain cancels.
- Saturday and Sunday, November 14 and 15, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: the Foundation's Holiday Marketplace at the Visitor Center. Parking at the Visitor Center is limited, and additional parking details and the 2026 vendor list are still to come.
Both tracking walks get canceled if it rains, and the San Diego River Crossing Trail has no bridge, so check the weather the night before any of these.
If Mission Trails is the reason you're looking at homes in Del Cerro, or you're already here and thinking about which streets put the trailheads and Lake Murray closest, I'm happy to talk it through. Every place I've lived has taught me that the routes you walk are as much a part of a home as the rooms. Reach out through Julie Rose, and let's connect.
