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Panoramic View west across San Diego County near Woodson summit with coastal layer advancing over Pacific Ocean

Multiple Dates, last January 11, 2022

Mt. Woodson is probably most demanding Poway hike.  875m summit with forest of Telecom towers can be seen from many different points across North San Diego County.  While living in San Diego and lacking Rockies fitness, I'd usually train on Woodson before Banff/Jasper summer sabbaticals.  Well defined trail with marked junctions presents no routefinding problems, but has moderately steep sections and overall elevation gain that exceeds other nearby hikes.  Usual start is from Lake Poway, but urban hikers - and trail runners - sometime ascend paved road from SR67 (Ramona Highway).  My preference is longer, but more scenic approach starting from Blue Sky Preserve;  it adds 3-4km (return) compared to Lake Poway start, but is way more scenic and less busy.  Other access is via Fry Koegel trail starting from Mt. Woodson Golf Club right next to Archie Moore Road;  this trail intercepts standard trail at summit ridge 1.5km before top  (junction waypoint on GPS track). 

Woodson summit trail splits off Lake Poway shoreline trail on east side; junction is marked, 25-30min from Lake parking lot or 45min to an hour from Blue Sky Preserve.  Moderately steep but wide trail ascends south side of wide gully to plateau above where Warren Canyon trail splits to the right.  There are trail markers every 0.5mile (~800m).  From Warren junction trail switchbacks up stone staircase to ridge above and Fry Koegel Junction;  this is the most demanding part of the ascent.  Grade then moderates and sweeping views open up.  Trail undulates up bolder strewn summit ridge for another 25-30min to the summit.  Mt. Woodson trail is also sometimes called "Potato Chip Rock Trail" thanks to rather unusual broken rock feature at the top.  Hordes of Urban Hikers litter this spot for Instagram shots which makes this otherwise fascinating spot rather comical. Solitude with sweeping views can be found at rock outcrops behind Telecom towers or by straying off the ridge below the summit. 

Note that Lake Poway gate gets locked after hours;  in winter this is 5pm.  Blue Sky Preserve trailhead on Espola Road also gets locked.  This rather unnecessary practice complicates matter if you'd like to enjoy sunset.  In that case parking possibilities exist along Espola road residential; exact situation changes with time and I can't post any specifics - be prepared for some creativity.  Also note that City of Poway charges $10 USD non-resident fee  for entering/ parking at the Lake; Blue Sky parking lot is still free as of January `22.

Caution:  On my hike in January '22, some 15 min below the summit I ran across large orange wasp crawling across the trail.  I am still not sure what it was; it looked exactly like giant orange Asian hornet, but Internet research later on revealed that many hikers confused Cicada Killer Wasps for Hornets in previous year.   I don't have a photo as I got freaked out thinking about possible nest - but it looked much more like a Hornet than Cicada!  Beast stopped alerted by my presence.  I stepped back and after few minutes it continued its path eventually freeing the trail.  Whatever it was - be careful, regardless where you hike and be aware of your surroundings.

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