Potato Chip Rock, Poway

Started from HWY 67. Around 6KM I guess? Steep hike all the way up but fun. It's a light challenge to climb up to the potato chip rock. Lots of people. We waited about 20 minutes to take the photos.

This is as medium difficulty hike, 7.4 miles out and back with an elevation gain of 2,100 feet. Make sure you bring plenty of water. For reference, this trail is akin to doing Cowles Mountain 2.5 times. Potato Chip offers awesome views though, and if you continue going up a little bit past the rock you can find some great rocks to sit on and enjoy lunch at. Other than that it was a very tame hike and well maintained trail.

It’s absolutely beautiful. A lot steeper then we expected and didn’t anticipate how hot it was going to be. Definitely bring plenty of water. Quite a few people on the trail but not so many that we where constantly around people.

It is about 2 miles hike and 1200 ft elevation gain from the East side. If you come from the West side, it is about 4 miles long and 2000 ft incline. Monday morning we saw some people going up and coming down. But when you got to the Rock, there were just a couple of ladies. Avoid the weekend if you can. I heard people line up to take pictures. It is very strange and weird seeing this rock in person. And a bit scary being on the rock but it was definitely fun.

This was a great hike! We arrived at 7:20am, there were a few cars in the lot, but it was still pretty empty. It's $10 for parking for non-Poway residents. Restrooms are in good condition. The weather was great, nice, cool, and partly cloudy. After the first mile or so the inclination begins and you start working out a sweat, we had to remove some layers, but it was great workout. The trail is rocky and you will be climbing over rocks. Be prepared and watch out for your ankles. We got to Potato Chip Rock right on time before the crowds got there. As we started climbing down a lot of people were climbing up. Go early and beat the crowds! We finished in 3hrs 44mins. Happy Hiking!