Mount Woodson Trail (Potato Chip Rock)

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What visitors say

• Jim H★★★★★

  Great trail up to mount Woodson and potato chip Rock. Start early, it gets hot. Take lots of water. Mid-week best for no lines at the chip. Lots of rock stairs.

  5 months ago

• Casey M★★★★★

  I love this trail. It's super scenic, has so many activities you can enjoy, is hard enough to get your blood pumping, and leave you sore the next day. To potato chip rock it's 8 miles round trip, takes about 2+ hours depending on your speed, but has many other trails if your looking for something more mellow, and less intense. 5 stars 🌟 but remember the main entrance is at Lake Poway.

  10 months ago

• Lydia Chu★★★★★

  Mt. Woodson Trail is a great hike that leads to the famous Potato Chip Rock! The trail starts by the lake, where there are plenty of picnic areas and a big playground for kids. It’s also dog-friendly. The hike is about 7 miles round trip and takes around 3 - 4 hours, depending on your fitness level. It starts with a steep climb and gets rocky near the top, but the view at Potato Chip Rock makes it all worth it! The trail is pretty open with little shade, so I highly recommend bringing plenty of water, especially in the summer. There’s free parking on weekdays, but on weekends, non-residents of Poway have to pay $10 for parking.

  a year ago

• sam★★★★★

  If you are looking for a challenging trail that will give you a great workout and sense of achievement, mount woodson trail is right for you. Be sure to wear a hat and double up on sunscreen if you’re pale and ruddy like me, and bring lots of water. The trail begins easy enough, until you reach the helipad about 1/3 of the way up, where the dirt pavement becomes a stairway of a thousand ascending boulders, winding up the mountain until you reach the famous potato chip rock. Then it’s time to walk back down! It’s just shy of 7 miles round trip, I walked 17,000 steps this time. Great fun, very satisfied.

  a year ago

• Justine Vild★★★★★

  This is the perfect hike. Good long workout but not too long. Took about 2.5 hours not including the 20ish minutes waiting at the top for a picture. Beautiful, interesting hike with a neat path, cool rock formations, lovely flora and some good views of the surrounding valley. Highly recommend making time for this hike when in the area! Plenty of parking right along the highway, you'll see all the cars lined up if you go on the weekend. It does get a little busy so go early. The Fry Keogel Trail up to Potato Chip was not the easiest to find. We ended up starting at the entrance to the golf course. Google took us there better than All Trails did.

  2 years ago

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