Switzer Canyon, Canyon between North Park and South Park in San Diego, California.

Switzer Canyon is a coastal sage scrub canyon east of Balboa Park that forms the boundary between North Park and South Park. Its floor holds two walking trails reached from three trailheads, and since 1957 a causeway of landfill dirt carried from Nile Street in North Park has split it in two, with only a drainage tunnel linking the halves. The causeway's poor soil supports few plants.

The area took its name from E.D. Switzer, who established a five-acre property at the canyon's lower end in 1869. The location later served a critical role during an 1887 smallpox outbreak when it became an isolation camp for affected individuals.

The canyon shapes how San Diego's neighborhoods connect through nature, with trails passing through native plants and green spaces that residents use to move between different parts of the city. Visitors notice how locals value and maintain these paths as shared community spaces.

Switzer Canyon has two walking trails and three trailheads, managed by the city of San Diego's parks department. The 30th Street causeway divides the canyon into eastern and western halves, linked only by a drainage tunnel, so plan which side you want to walk. The canyon floor is uneven and the causeway's fill soil supports little plant growth.

The Park Belt Motor Line began running through the canyon in July 1888, three times a day, carrying passengers toward the new Steiner, Klauber, Choate and Castle Addition, now City Heights. The "train" was a steam-propelled streetcar with a horse-car coupled behind it.