El Cajon Mountain (El Capitan)
Lakeside, East County · near Lakeside · San Diego
Rock Climbing
At a glance
- Skill level
- advanced
- Grade range
- 5.8–5.13b (plus aid A0–A5)
- Best season
- Late fall–spring · The big south/west faces are dangerously hot in summer
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No climbing permit. Golden-eagle/raptor nesting advisory — avoid marked nests (much of it on San Diego River Park Foundation land). The ~2-mile approach fords the San Diego River, which can be impassable after rain.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
Rock Climbing detail
- Climb types
- trad · sport · big-wall · multi-pitch
- Rock type
- Granite/granodiorite — first-class exfoliating walls, the largest in the county
- Route count
- ~229 routes
- Signature routes
- Meteor (5.8) · Leonids (5.9) · Diamond of San Diego (5.12a)
- First timer note
- Not a good first-ever outdoor day — start early, carry lots of water, and hire a local guide; the river-crossing approach and sun-baked walls are the real crux.
- Intl tip
- Start early and carry more water than you think — the river-crossing approach and sun-baked walls are the crux for visitors, not the climbing. Hire a local guide for a first visit.
The guide
This is the real deal — the biggest, most serious wall in San Diego County, a genuine multi-pitch granite destination rather th…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to El Cajon Mountain (El Capitan) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 32.9041, -116.818