So Close You Can See Elephant Eyelashes? Welcome to San Diego’s Elephant Valley

Elephant Valley is designed to take us on a trail walked not by humans but traversed and carved by elephants.

"Our guests are going to be able to see the hairs on an elephant," says Kristi Burtis, vice president of wildlife care for the Safari Park. Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

By Todd Martens Los Angeles Times

SAN DIEGO—Before we see elephants at Elephant Valley in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, we come face to face with destruction, only the wreckage is beautiful. A long, winding path takes guests around and under felled trees. Aged gray tree hunks form arches, for instance, over bridges that tower over clay-colored paths with hoof prints.