Mount Woodson Gateway County Preserve Project Approved

This morning, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved the funding and processes necessary to construct the Mount Woodson Gateway County Preserve Improvement Project, which will be located just west of CA-67, near the trailhead for the fire access road/Potato Chip Rock Trail. The project, which has been in the works for many years and included the acquisition of additional preserve acreage, seeks to address the need for additional off-highway parking and improved trail access points and maintenance to prevent hikers/users from encroaching on private property and protected habitat.

The project includes 209 public parking spaces with 11 accessible Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) parking spaces, directional signage, solar powered entry gate to the parking area, solar powered bollard lighting, trash and recycling receptacles, and space for portable restrooms.

Project construction will begin in early 2023 with completion anticipated in winter 2023-24.
Total cost of the project: $3,500,000.
A new $3 day-use parking fee will be implemented on the new lot ($25 yearly parking pass available), which will fund the ongoing maintenance and cleaning of the portable bathrooms. 

I’m sure there’s all kinds of opinions on this, debates about charging for parking, and valid points about too many damn people, but I for one am glad to see this project happening to get all the cars off the highway and provide reliable restrooms and trail maintenance at my favorite local climbing spot

Older SDUT article with more info and map.

Links to full project description
County Board of Supervisors Docs
SD Parks Overview

I feel lucky to have spent my time at Woodson before it blew up. 

Brandon R wrote:

I feel lucky to have spent my time at Woodson before it blew up. 

I feel ya on that. However, I still have regular regular outings at Woodson, on beautiful weekend mornings, without ever encountering another climber. Plenty of places to hide and find solitude and pull on sharp edges a few feet through some bullshit sage tunnel. 

Yeah, Woodson blew up years ago. If you’re there to boulder, this isn’t going to change the experience all that much. It’s not like there’s a massive trove of hard crack and slab climbers just itching to get out there once access becomes easier. Having almost been hit and killed on the hwy, I’ll happily pay an annual $25 fee to park at a trailhead.

I will miss having to redline my car’s RPM to get back on the highway.

Is it me or is that a ton of space dedicated for parking? While not ideal - is parking along the 67 no longer allowed?

Do we need this?

I honestly thought the image/map was satire at first glance.

Ya I think we do need this. As most may know this climbing area also shares itself with one of the more popular tourist attractions in San Diego called “potato chip rock”. As there are plenty of climbers out there getting on the plenty of training cracks, hard sport climbs and boulders there is about double the amount of hikers slogging of the road to a get a selfie on a rock. With this comes impact issues of a lot of toilet paper and shit scattered all over the hill. Some port-o-Jons and extra parking will help a lot.

What’s the over/under on the potato chip breaking with a group of instapeeps on top?

Spencer Barrack wrote:

Ya I think we do need this. As most may know this climbing area also shares itself with one of the more popular tourist attractions in San Diego called “potato chip rock”. As there are plenty of climbers out there getting on the plenty of training cracks, hard sport climbs and boulders there is about double the amount of hikers slogging of the road to a get a selfie on a rock. With this comes impact issues of a lot of toilet paper and shit scattered all over the hill. Some port-o-Jons and extra parking will help a lot.

If you didn’t start from the Lake Poway side, did you reaaaaaaally hike to the potato chip? As an SD native, I’m definitely here to gatekeep the potato chip.

(Agree with you though, I didn’t even know there was climbing on Woodson until one faithful day when I opened up MP, a fresh faced gumby climber, and saw that there were hundreds of routes in my parent’s backyard. Woodson was always known/will always be known as the place with the potato chip.) 

If this deters car break ins and littering, the main reasons I hate parking along the highway, then I'm all for it. Plenty of locals just go there to walk, not even to potato chip. Other places like Iron Mountain have better "facilities" than woodson which is a shame. 

Don Frijoles wrote:

That's a lot of parking spaces. How long is the line for Robbin's Crack these days?

You must not be local. Since a few years ago, the bats implemented a permit system due to excessive traffic in the robbins exclusion zone, with a permanent ban on after hours climbing. However I've found that if you clean out the numerous fixed pins and red camalots littering their pristine habitat, they'll let the whole permit thing slide and grant you a few moonlit laps. It doesn't get any sweeter than that on our happy little hill!

chirp chirp !

haha ......

Overall this is great news, and thanks Dion for bringing it to our attention. I was unaware of anything in the works.

As others have mentioned, from a public safety standpoint, having cars line up on Hwy 67 is far from ideal. It is very dangerous having to peel out into traffic (on an uphill no less) and the addition of garbage/bathroom facilities should help clean up the area too. It's always encouraging to see folks picking up trash and taking good care of the area but that is quite a burden to bear in the long run.

...

P.S. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the folks picking up trash are more often than not climbers. The most common items I'll grab on a weekend are empty water bottles chucked off the road by the 'chip. More than once I've ended up talking to an old timer wielding a trash bag telling tales of very hard climbs made well ahead of their time. That's what I love the most about Woodson, it's a total lost world of hidden adventures and (almost) forgotten history. Of course, by sticking to the road, it's always good for a laugh telling a hiker the only way "to get the rope up there" is by magic. Or if someone notices me in big grunt, proclaiming to them, please help, dear god I've been stuck in here for days and everything's going dark.   

Ry C wrote:

I will miss having to redline my car’s RPM to get back on the highway.

yeah, after dark and with some "faded" reflexes this is kind of intense.

Will there be locals only designated parking?

Don Frijoles wrote:

Shows you are not a local, because the locals already know where the designated parking is.

Doesn’t matter to me, I only go to South Woodson.

Don Frijoles wrote:

I wouldn't know about the daytime rules since I've only bouldered it, at night during a new moon, sans headlight and pads.

You broke the ban on after hours climbing ?! While I am personally very impressed (having once gotten stuck on top of robbins afraid to down climb it) , the bats are sure to be incensed by this egregious act.

haha ............

always a good time at woodson.. too many stories too little time.

...

Back to the topic at hand, it really is great to see a significant investment in our local recreational resource. I haven't been this excited about a parking lot in quite some time!