Potato Chip Rock (Mt. Woodson)
Poway (San Diego County) · near Poway / San Diego · San Diego
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- strenuous
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 6.4 miles
- Elevation gain
- 2,100 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- October–May (cool season) · Hot and dry in summer · Green hills winter–spring
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit. Lake Poway parking (fee for non-Poway residents on weekends). A strenuous climb to the famous rock. Expect a LONG line for the summit photo on weekends. Cool-season hiking recommended.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- The famous 'potato chip' rock photo · Thin cantilevered granite slab · 6.4-mi climb via Lake Poway · Panoramic San Diego views · SoCal's viral summit selfie
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- The trail starts at Lake Poway in San Diego's North County. Go on a weekday or at dawn to avoid the long summit-photo line. The Lake Poway loop adds a pleasant cooldown. Combine with San Diego's beaches and the Torrey Pines coastal hike (this guide) for a full day. Weekend parking fills early.
The guide
Potato Chip Rock is San Diego's most famous photo op — a thin, cantilevered wafer of granite jutting from the shoulder of Mount…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Potato Chip Rock (Mt. Woodson) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 32.978, -116.975