Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Climb Cowles Mountain, highest peak in the city of San Diego, by way of an eastern approach.

Cowles Mountain, whose 1591-foot summit is noted as the highest elevation in the city of San Diego, is served by more hiking routes than most people are aware of. If you tire of the popular main trail up the mountain's south side -- used by perhaps 90 percent of all Cowles climbers -- then give this looping east-side route a try instead.

Midday ascents can turn out to be colorless and sweaty, particularly on hot days. Favor instead the late afternoon, when the mountain itself casts a cool shadow on its east flank, or better yet the early morning, when (with increasing frequency as autumn approaches) a strong temperature inversion traps chilled air below the mountain's mid-elevations, producing a dense blanket of cloud or fog over the city below. On some early mornings, when the marine-layer fog lies dense and low over the slumbering city, the clear, dry air at the summit may be 15 degrees warmer than the soupy air below.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Begin on Barker Way, very near the west terminus of Boulder Lake Avenue, one block west of Cowles Mountain Boulevard. Squeeze past the vehicle gate and start climbing up the service road. Footwear with good traction will help on the sometimes steep and slippery, hard-packed dirt roadway. Two level stretches relieve the uphill grind, then six short, very steep switchback legs lead to the summit.

Two large interpretive panels on the summit, depicting foreground and background geographical features, may enlighten you -- especially if you are not familiar with the San Diego/northern Baja region. The view is unobstructed from here, except for a blocky antenna tower to the north.

Return to your starting point by descending the upper 0.5 mile of the main, south trail. Then veer left (east) on the lesser-traveled east trail, where a sign says Barker Way. In the next (and final) mile, you bend northeast around the mountain and descend on tight zigzags. Near the bottom, don't miss the final, sharp turn to the left (going straight puts you on another trail, without switchbacks, heading south). You end up back on the service road, close to where it meets Barker Way.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

Cowles Mountain, whose 1591-foot summit is noted as the highest elevation in the city of San Diego, is served by more hiking routes than most people are aware of. If you tire of the popular main trail up the mountain's south side -- used by perhaps 90 percent of all Cowles climbers -- then give this looping east-side route a try instead.

Midday ascents can turn out to be colorless and sweaty, particularly on hot days. Favor instead the late afternoon, when the mountain itself casts a cool shadow on its east flank, or better yet the early morning, when (with increasing frequency as autumn approaches) a strong temperature inversion traps chilled air below the mountain's mid-elevations, producing a dense blanket of cloud or fog over the city below. On some early mornings, when the marine-layer fog lies dense and low over the slumbering city, the clear, dry air at the summit may be 15 degrees warmer than the soupy air below.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Begin on Barker Way, very near the west terminus of Boulder Lake Avenue, one block west of Cowles Mountain Boulevard. Squeeze past the vehicle gate and start climbing up the service road. Footwear with good traction will help on the sometimes steep and slippery, hard-packed dirt roadway. Two level stretches relieve the uphill grind, then six short, very steep switchback legs lead to the summit.

Two large interpretive panels on the summit, depicting foreground and background geographical features, may enlighten you -- especially if you are not familiar with the San Diego/northern Baja region. The view is unobstructed from here, except for a blocky antenna tower to the north.

Return to your starting point by descending the upper 0.5 mile of the main, south trail. Then veer left (east) on the lesser-traveled east trail, where a sign says Barker Way. In the next (and final) mile, you bend northeast around the mountain and descend on tight zigzags. Near the bottom, don't miss the final, sharp turn to the left (going straight puts you on another trail, without switchbacks, heading south). You end up back on the service road, close to where it meets Barker Way.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Next Article

2024 continues to impress with yellowfin much closer to San Diego than they should be

New rockfish regulations coming this week as opener approaches
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.