Iron Mountain Trailhead, Poway CA

The trail starts off strong, starting at the peak of Poway and 67. The trail promises stunning expanses of land and hills, but 20 minutes into it and. It's a little less than breathtaking. What's cool though is there are tons of trails that branch off, we only took a side trail that didn't really lead anywhere. The main trail might have more to offer. The real beauty is on the drive down to Poway. Seeing the city sprawled over the mountains is something to behold.

It's a moderate trail with a mix of slope, stones and straight trail. Going up takes time. View is amazing at the top. It took us 4.5hours to complete the trail. 2hours to go up. 2 hours to come down. 30mins spent at the top.
Carry water and any energy snack to munch on at the top.

Amazing trail! I made a loop about 4.3 miles. I used all trails just to make sure I was going in the right direction. Right now the purple flowers (Willy leaf ceanothus) are in full bloom and look so pretty!

Be careful for these pokey bushes, sometimes they are close to the trail and could be hazardous. Also the trail has lots of Little Rocks so pay attention when hiking to make sure you don’t roll ur ankle.

They also have bathrooms at the start of the trail head.

One of san diego's most popular hike. Goes uphill all the way, great workout and the views are amazing from the top.
Take lots of water because there's no shade and start early as it's highly trafficked.

I have recently been into hikes around the San Diego and after covering Potato Chip, I thought of covering Iron Mountain given its popularity. My wife and I reached there by 10: 30am, which is kind of late but our goal was to enjoy the hike and enjoy the nice warm, San Diego winter having living in this beautiful city for over 13 years, but never hiked. Anyway, some say it is an intermediate hike, but if you are new into hiking, like me, it is a difficult one. Took me 3 hours for the round trip. Once you are on the top, the weather and scenery were beautiful. Gets pretty rocky and and steep at times. Highly recommended it. I enjoyed Potato Chip better.

Very fun hike. It was a bit crowded, although we did go on the weekend. Most people were wearing masks and social distancing, but too crowded.

Very nice hiking trail. It is roughly 5.7 miles (2.86 miles to reach summit). It does have traffic so learn to pace yourself accordingly. Use good hiking shoes and bring good amount of water specially on sunny days.

Very good trail system. Good out and back. I think it is near 4 miles not difficult but may be challenging for smaller kids and maybe some dogs.

Would recommend if you want a quick hike.

One of the most beautiful locations I’ve ever seen. Arrive early as the paths can be steep and narrow in areas causing a bottleneck as more people are on the trail. Many large rocks throughout the trail. Sunrise pics are breathtaking. SUGGESTIONS: Definitely wear actual hiking shoes with ankle support and bring walking sticks, sunscreen, water, protein light snacks. Just under 6 miles plan for 2.5-3 hours round trip.

This trail is perfect for advanced skill levels. It's long, rough terrain, amazing views. It gives most hikers a great experience.

There's good amount of parking, and public restrooms at the trailhead. Once you get past the first +0.5 miles of dirt road and find a narrow trail to top of the hill, there's very little that can go wrong. No matter if you're a first time visitor, or a regular trail consumer (like me), I bet you will enjoy the journey both up and down.