Hiking Ramona’s Hill Country: Mt. Woodson. Some of San Diego’s most beautiful vistas are found here in Ramona. Mt. Woodson, named after the Civil War veteran and dentist M. C. Woodson who owned 160 acres on the North side, is the highest summit in the area with an altitude of 2880′. From Hwy 67 (1700’+/-) it is approx. 1.8 miles to the top on an asphalt service road. One can also park at Poway Lake and hike up the West Ridge. This trail is about 2.8 miles, and an overall ascent of almost 1900′. At the top one can see the channel islands, downtown San Diego, Palomar Mtn., and Mexico. On a clear day Mt Baldy and Santa Catalina can be seen. The weather is always different so the views are varied and magnificent. We usually hike during the cooler morning starting before or slightly after sunrise. We sometimes are treated to a sunrise over a sea of clouds like this morning, hiking up out of the fog. Other mornings we witness blazing orange sunrises, frosty valley vistas, scattered showers under rambling thunderheads, and always still serenity punctuated by rabbits and birds at play around the sage and large granite boulders that is Mt. Woodson.
