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The Torrey Pines Visitor Center is located in a unique adobe building built by the Scripps family in 1922 at what is now the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve in San Diego, California. It features a nature center/gift shop filled with interesting interpretive displays about the Reserve and its native flora and fauna, including the Reserve's namesake; the endemic Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana ssp. insularis). This beautiful, often gnarled and windswept pine is considered to be threatened by habitat loss, and now only grows naturally in this little part of Southern California and off the coast on Santa Rosa Island.
The Center also provides a great opportunity for visitors to learn about the local geology and geography of the region as well, and is a good first stop while visiting the reserve where you can get information about hiking trails, interpretive hikes and other programs. It's also a great place to purchase guide books and other nature gifts for the whole family, plus you will find the staff and volunteers to be a friendly bunch whom are more than happy to answer your questions and eager to point out interesting places to go during your visit to the Reserve .
Please note: 100% of the photographer's proceeds for any sales of this photograph will be given jointly to the Torrey Pines Docent Society and the Torrey Pines Association in support of their their mission to educate, protect and promote stewardship of this wonderful place. For more information about either of these two groups and the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, please visit: www.torreypine.org and www.torreypines.org
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Known as "Americas Finest City", elegant and sunny San Diego is truly a city with something for everyone. In town, a whole day or more could be spent in Balboa Park, playing golf, touring the world-famous San Diego Zoo or visiting a museum. Just outside of town, Torrey Pines State Reserve offers a somewhat wilder terrain where visitors can view rare birds and the stately trees the park is named for. Children, and in turn parents, will be delighted with the city's wide range of family-oriented activities. From SeaWorld to the historic Gaslamp Quarter, there are events and exhibits to keep even the most hard-to-please happy. San Diego boasts an array of fine and trendy restaurants covering a melting pot of cuisines, world-class shopping and hotels from lavish to budget. San Diego is the eighth largest city in the United Sates and the second largest city in California. Relatively free from smog and byzantine freeways, San Diego, set around a gracefully curving bay, represents the acceptable face of southern California. Although it was the site of the first mission in California, the city only really took off with the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in the 1880s, and in terms of trade and significance it has long been in the shadow of Los Angeles. However, during World War II the US Navy made San Diego its Pacific Command Center, and the military continues to dominate the local economy, along with tourism and the Biotech Industry. San Diego is also home to one of the 2009 top ten beaches in the US. Coronado beach has just moved up from the number 8 position to number 4. You can enjoy the 100 year old Hotel Del Coronado visited by Kings, Presidents and movie stars behind you while taking in the ships and sail boats in front of scenic Point Loma.
