backOverview
Mt. Woodson stands at 2881 ft (878 m), the highest mountain in the small community of Poway. The location is easily accessible. It is a very good place for photographing above the clouds scenes, if you know what time to get there. There are two routes up the mountain.
Mt. Woodson via Poway Lake
Length: 3.54 miles one way, 7.08 miles round trip
Elevation gain: 1,937 feet
Difficulty: easy, rated class 1 on the Yosemite Decimal System
Time Required (One Way): Walking will take between 1 and 2.5 hours. This is a great running trail and will take between 30 minutes and 1 hour to run up. Snow may cover the upper section of the trail once every 2-5 years.
Location: Address of Poway Lake: 14644 Lake Poway Rd, Poway, CA 92064. It costs $4 to park at the lake.
Route description: from the parking lot facing towards the east end of the lake, turn right and keep walking east. Once at the east end of the lake, you will see a dirt trail going up the mountain. Keep following the trail until it reaches the summit. Follow the trail markers that say "Mt. Woodson Trail." After a little more than a mile the trail should narrow out a little bit. About 0.2 miles from the summit the trail will turn into a paved road. Just before the trail turns into the paved road, you will be able to see "patato chip rock" to your left, a slab of rock only 1 inch thick on some spots jutting out 10 feet over the valley below.
Mt. Woodson East Road
Length: 1.88 miles one way, 3.76 miles round tripElevation Gain: 1,201 feet
Difficulty: easy, rated class 1 on the Yosemite Decimal System, this route is steeper than the Poway Lake route.
Time Required (One Way): Walking will take between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours. Running up will take between 17 minutes and 30 minutes. Snow may cover the upper section of the road once every 2-5 years.
Location: From the I-15, take the Scripps Poway Pkwy exit and drive east for about 9 miles, to the junction with CA-67. Turn left and drive on CA-67 for approximately 4 miles. Mt. Woodson should be easily recognizable as the "mountain covered with rocks with cables on top." When you see Heady Dr. on you right, drive less than 0.1 miles forward and park on the shoulder that is on your left. The area where you are parked should be right next to the road leading into the California Division of Forestry fire station. You should see a small trail going into some trees parallel with CA-67 with a sign that reads "Hiking trail"
Route Description: The dirt trail will wind through oak trees for about 0.2 miles. You should then come to a paved road. Turn right on the paved road. Avoid the roads with the gates. The paved road zigzags up to the summit. Mt. Woodson is known for its rock climbing. There will be several large boulders off to the side of the road starting after 0.6 miles.
Best Time to Photograph In the summer months, a layer of coastal clouds called a marine layer makes its way up to the base of the mountain almost every day in the morning. In order to photograph above the clouds scenes in perfect lighting, you will have to arrive at either the Poway Lake trail head or the East Road trail head before the sun comes up. Enjoy watching the sun rise over a sea of clouds. If you arrive above the clouds so much as 30 minutes after the sun has risen, the clouds will be all flattened out and dulled by the sun. To photograph rock formations, the lighting between 1hour to 30 minutes before sunset or after sunrise is the best time.
Winter temperatures range from 45 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Summer temperatures range between 60 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Photos
Mt. Woodson East Road photos
Mt. Woodson via Poway Lake photos (coming soon)
More Information
Weather forecast
LIVE webcams from Mt. Woodson summit
