Iron Mountain

It was a relaxing chill hike to Iron Mountain summit near San Diego. The trail starts right from the Iron Mountain Trailhead off Poway Road, and the first stretch is one of the most distinctive openers of any hike in the county — a long, shaded tunnel of old oak trees arching overhead, their branches meeting in the middle to form a natural canopy over the trail before it opens back up into the sun.

Past the oak tunnel, the trail settles into a wide, sandy path through classic Poway chaparral before picking up a steady grade toward the mountain, with Iron Mountain itself visible ahead for much of the approach. A well-graded set of switchbacks carries the trail up the final push to the summit, easy enough underfoot to make this one of the more relaxed peak hikes in the area — no scrambling, no exposure, just a straightforward, steady climb.

The summit itself is a jumble of big granite boulders with a wooden marker post reading IRON MTN, 2,696 FT staked right into the rock pile — the second-highest point in Poway after nearby Mt. Woodson. The 360-degree view from up there takes in Mt. Woodson's radio towers to the east, the Cuyamacas rising in the distance, and on a clear day, a hazy view all the way out toward the coast.

A short, easy day by San Diego backcountry standards, and exactly the kind of relaxing, no-drama hike its reputation suggests — good trail the whole way, a great oak grove to start and finish on, and a summit view that punches well above the effort required to get there.