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A steep climb up a radio tower service road.


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Map Key

2.1

Miles

3.3

KM

69%

Runnable

2,847' 868 m

High

1,693' 516 m

Low

1,154' 352 m

Up

75' 23 m

Down

11%

Avg Grade (6°)

20%

Max Grade (11°)

Dogs Leashed

Features Views

Description

This is the short, steep way to Mt. Woodson along a road that is closed to all vehicular traffic except as required for the maintenance of the radio equipment at the top.

The first 0.2 miles can be traversed in multiple ways, on road or trail. From here follow the road straight up another 1.9 miles, passing a water storage container at 0.55 miles.

This run is a good workout even though you are on a paved surface. Once a group of mountain bikers passed by, well, all but one. The last guy and me were neck and neck at the water container. I thought to myself, I could run 10% faster. I kicked it up a notch, slowly dropping the guy, and beat him to the top.

It's always tempting to go down the Mt. Woodson Trail a bit on the other side but if you want to go the whole way, you should setup a car shuttle unless you are in quite good shape and have gotten an early start for the round-trip run.

This is also the shortest way to get to Potato Chip Rock, the other one being the Lake Poway Trail that is almost double the distance.

Contacts

Shared By:

Matthew Kidd with improvements by Samantha Shieh

Trail Ratings

  3.7 from 12 votes

#11476

Overall
  3.7 from 12 votes
5 Star
25%
4 Star
25%
3 Star
42%
2 Star
8%
1 Star
0%
Trail Rankings

#1,108

in California

#11,476

Overall
12 Views Last Month
1,059 Since Apr 25, 2017
Intermediate/Difficult Intermediate/Difficult

0%
0%
38%
15%
38%
8%

Photos

View from the summit of Mount Woodson
Jan 2, 2018 near Poway, CA
Exploring Potato Chip Rock.
Oct 27, 2016 near Poway, CA
Potato Chip Rock (without people, for once)
Jan 2, 2018 near Poway, CA
Looks like air pockets in the rock face! Others have left baby rocks inside each pocket!
Jan 11, 2020 near San Pas…, CA
Not a bad spot for sunset.
Oct 27, 2016 near Poway, CA
Enjoying the view from the top of Mt. Woodson. aka Potato Chip Rock.
Jun 7, 2015 near Poway, CA

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