Mission Bay’s De Anza Cove–Redevelopment

Since I still have a ‘walking boot’ on my foot from the incident with the sewing needle.  No hiking blog today and our departure has been pushed back a bit.  All that really changes in that respect is our route to visit the family in WA, that arrival date is set.  But the reservations at Yosemite have been cancelled.

On to what’s happening in the park.  As a former permanent resident of the De Anza Cove Trailer Park, I am paying some attention to the redevelopment plan for the 120 acres that the Coastal Commission was acquired.  The little red circle is my old home at NW-2 (Northwest 2).


After Fran and I married, we I sold the ‘tin can’ some 30 years ago and purchased a home on the hill above the park.

Altho not technically part of the park vision, there are other things happening in the area.  I’ll start at the top of Clairmont Drive where Home Town Buffet is already closed.  That entire strip mall will be redone as store fronts below, condos above.

Just east of where Clairmont Drive crosses over I-5 work is well under way for a trolley stop.  It’ll be an easy bike ride from the RV park to the trolley.  The trolley will eventually continue north to La Jolla, but initially it’ll go downtown.  The 7-11 on that corner is already open.

The old Visitor Information Center, that funny looking building at the foot of Clairmont Drive will become a causal beach dinning.  Whoot whoot!  So needed in this area.



First off I’d like to assure you that no changes are planned for the Mission Bay RV Resort (Including it’s Passport America status) in 2017, perhaps not 2018 either. The lease at Campland On the Bay expires in 2018 and will not be renewed.  It seems obvious that they will be allowed to bid on taking over the De Anza RV Park – which will include tent sites! Whoot!   The area Campland now occupies will restored to marsh land as an extension of the existing Kendall-Frost Preserve.  Of course that may change, but not likely. 

As for the options for De Anza itself visit the De Anza Revitalization web site for the latest ‘official’ information.  Here’s a summary of the most agreed upon issues, thus far.  The next meeting is scheduled for June 16th, but we'll be on the road before then.

The little San Diego Mission Bay Boat & Ski Club (one of the oldest in the nation) is gone.  The Rose Creek Bike path will be straightened and Rose Creek itself restored.  The Boat & Ski Club may be relocated to South Shores – just east of Sea World.  Whoot! South Shores could so use a ‘marina’ type infrastructure, but the little boat club may not be able to meet that desire. 

The Mission Bay Golf Course becomes an executive with 2x 9-hole courses and the driving range intact; some say 3x 9-hole with the driving range removed.

Most likely the Pacific Beach Tennis Club will be gone, as will the basketball courts.  The ball fields will remain.


However there is another, and very different, approach to the revitalization of De Anza Cove.  Backed by The Audubon Society, The Coastal Conservatory and U.S. Fish and Game Rewild Mission Bay would turn the entire area to native vegetation.  Great for bird watchers.