I had heard of this great hike the entire time I’d lived in San Diego but had never made the trek myself. Of course I save it until the last minute but it was worth it!

My roommate, a mutual friend and I all made the trip up north to Poway and the Mt. Woodson Trail. It was a bit overcast but that was perfect for hiking. Because let me tell you this was not an easy hike.

It’s about 3 miles up and 3 miles back - and some of that is pretty much vertical.

I was also not expecting the wildlife aspect of this hike.

So we huffed and we puffed and slowly made our way up the mountain. There were a lot of people hiking the trails that day but because the trail was so long it wasn’t bothersome at all. And the views definitely made it all worthwhile.

Now I’m sure you’re wondering how the top of this mountain got the nickname of Potato Chip. Not, as we unfortunately found out, because they reward you with a nice big bag of potato chips for making it to the top.

It’s because of this awesome little rock that is nice and thin…like a chip!

There was a giant line to take your picture sitting, jumping, posing, kissing on the rock and we really didn’t feel like waiting. But we did take some ‘eating the chip’ pictures and actually started a trend! People were lining up behind us to take the same kind of picture. We’re just that cool.

It was a lot of fun and we met some great people along the way. If you’re in the San Diego area and are looking for a good hike that will thoroughly kick your butt and get you dusty and dirty and sweaty, Potato Chip Rock is the one for you!

How to get there:

Take the CA-163 N to the I-15 N. Take the Rancho Bernardo Rd exit. Turn right and continue onto Espola Rd. Finally take a left onto Lake Poway Rd. It’s $5 per car to park at the entrance of the lake but it’s totally worth it.