Friends of Rose Canyon

Friends of Rose Canyon is a grassroots organization whose mission is to protect, preserve and restore Rose Canyon and the Rose Creek Watershed. Rose Canyon is a last remaining greenbelt that stretches across the City of San Diego from MCAS Miramar to I-5. Much of it is preserved for nature as part of the City of San Diego's MSCP (Multiple Species Conservation Program) lands.

Our Sense of Wonder Program offers free, hands-on nature exploration walks in Rose Canyon and Marian Bear Park for students K-12 from schools in University City and Clairemont. We hire skilled nature guides and divide students into groups of just 3-5 kids, each group with its own guide. Each group discovers different things: insects, birds, lizards, flowers, mammals. Kids get to pick things up and examine them, sneak up on things, watch hawks hunt, observe things even the guides sometimes have never seen. Teachers and kids love these small-group nature exploration experiences.  

Our Habitat Restoration Program restores native habitat in Rose Canyon by removing invasive plants and planting natives. This benefits our native wildlife, which are adapted to our native plants. A lot of the native habitat in Rose Canyon was degraded due to 100 years of ranching. Our "Re-Oaking" project engages volunteers of all ages in collecting and planting acorns to bring back our native oak trees. 

We welcome new members - it's free to join. We also welcome volunteers of all ages for our habitat restoration and "re-oaking" projects. Kids love digging holes, planting, and getting muddy.

The Rose Creek Watershed includes Rose Creek, which flows through Rose Canyon, and San Clemente Creek, which flows through Marian Bear Park. San Clemente Creek joins Rose Creek at the 52/I-5 intersection. Rose Creek then flows downstream to become the primary fresh water tributary of Mission Bay. Our work to protect and restore Rose Canyon thus helps protect Mission Bay.