Fry-Koegel Trail

April 13, 2018 tarannosaurus

Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Southern California → San Diego Area → North County → Fry-Koegel Trail

Location: Poway area, northeast of San Diego

Time Required: 2.5 – 4 hours

Distance: 5 miles roundtrip (to the viewpoint) or 7 miles round-trip (to Potato Chip Rock)

Elevation Gain/Loss: 1100 feet (to the viewpoint), 1600 feet (to Potato Chip Rock)

Red Tape/Notes: Open year round, 24 hours a day. Free parking along Highway 67. Visit the Hiking Project site for a map and route description.

What’s Nearby?: Lake Poway, Potato Chip Rock, Blue Sky Ecological Reserve, Poway Crags, Daley Ranch, Dixon Lake

This trail is a surprisingly pleasant and rarely used route up Mt. Woodson, starting out as a cute fenced walking trail behind a nice neighborhood, then winding through pretty oaks and chaparral, before climbing a boulder strewn hillside with sweeping views. I honestly have no idea why people would opt for the Lake Poway trail instead, since this trail is the same length and is enjoyable for its entirety (not to mention the fact that we saw no one while we were on the trail). It intersects with the Mt. Woodson Trail at the Mt. Woodson Trail Viewpoint, after around 2.5 miles, at which point you can opt to turn left and continue the additional mile to Potato Chip Rock. You can also take the Old Fry-Koegel Trail, which branches off around 0.2 miles before the intersection, cutting more directly up the mountain and intersecting higher up the Mt. Woodson Trail. Taking this option skips the Viewpoint, which is actually a very nice detour, but if you’re returning the same way you could stop at the Viewpoint on the way back (or vice versa). Alternatively, you can opt for a loop route with the fire road route (aka Hwy 67 aka Backside Trail) to Potato Chip Rock (discussed in this post), in which case I would recommend taking the route which stops at the Viewpoint. My favorite feature of this detour isn’t actually the view (or Viewpoint) itself, but one of the nearby boulders which juts out over the steeply sloping hillside. While Potato Chip Rock gives the illusion of jutting out into thin air, it’s really just an illusion; this rock, however, is closer to the real deal and affords much better views.