Am planning to go Friday, June 23. I am looking to avoid the afternoon heat. Will morning still be quite hot? 70's, 80's, 90's? The park stays open 'til 8. If I went late afternoon, what time would it cool down? Also, am staying in Del Mar. I may have an old map but the freeways all seem to run north and south. I can't find an easy way to cut across to the park. Could anyone provide me the fastest way there? Thanks.

Go up the 5N into Oceanside taking Rt. 76 East (or it is 78??) towards Escondido; follow signs and check their website for directions. At that time of year, it may be very hot, so I'd be there by opening time and out by 1pm after grabbing a cool shady lunch. The tram car is covered to provide shade, but we went in March and while cool along the coast, inland it gets hot quickly. Bring hats & waters galore.

Or, go south on 5 to 56 East.(You may have to get off the freeway to get to the 56. They're building a new on-ramp, but it's not done yet.) Take it to the 15 N. Exit 15N on Via Rancho Parkway. Go right to San Pasqual Road and follow the signs. This may be the quickest route.

Alternatively, for a very pretty drive through Rancho Santa Fe, go north on 5 to Via de la Valle. Exit the freeway and turn right. Follow this road until you come to a three-way Stop at Paseo Delicias and turn right. Follow this, going straight at the upcoming Stop sign, past Lake Hodges, turning right on Via Rancho Parkway. Stay on this road, crossing the 15, all the way to San Pasqual Road, turn right and follow signs to the Wild Animal Park.

It cools down in the evening when the sun sets! Not very helpful, but true. I like to go in the late afternoon and take the last possible tram ride because the animals are most active then.

If you do decide to go in the late pm, do not take the 56 East as both it and the 15 north will be backed up at that time of day.

i like going early in the morning and being there when it opens. then, when it gets to hot and the animals start to slow down, you can go cool off at the beach and be off the freeways by afternoon rush hour.

Thanks for the replies. It opens at 9. What time would I need to leave Del Mar in order to get there at opening and would I be running into rush hour on 56/15 if I did leave at that time?

It will probably take you about 35 minutes or so to get to the Park from Del Mar. So, if you leave about 8:20am, you should get there just before it opens. The rush hour traffic on 56/15 is mostly in the opposite direction, going into San Diego, so you'll be fine.

Definitely go as early as possible. Obviously, there are no guarantees with the weather but my best educated guess it will be in the low 70's in the morning and in the 90's in the afternnon.

We always get there as soon as it opens and go straight to the tram ride. They say the animals are most active before it heats up and LATE in the day when it cools off.

I would call ahead and find out what's going on with the tram. They keep saying they are going to upgrade/fix the tram at some point. I just don't know when.

We just got back on Saturday and it was already very hot at WAP. We went when it opened and took the tram ride, saw a show, walked around some trails and left to have lunch in Escondido. I would suggest going maybe around 4:00. It will still be very hot, but the tram ride does give you a very good tour. We saw lots of animals and enjoyed our brief stay.

If you get there later in the afternoon it will have cooled down a bit. Often the best time to see the animals is at dawn or dusk. If you go in the afternoon, leave Del Mar before 3p.m. The 15 N starts getting crowded going north after 3.
I don't know that Escondido ever "cools down" in the summer. But on the bright side, those of us who live nearer the coast have been a bit chilly today... I'm sure it's summer in Escondido.

Last Saturday was an unusually hot day here. Where I was, with my daughter at a swim meet, the temperature was 102. It was probably close to that at the Wild Animal Park. However, as I said, that was unusually hot, even for summer and more so for this time of year.