Our top 20 family hikes around Poway and what my boys have to say about them

Hiking is a fun thing to do as a family. My boys are 8 and 10 years old and have tons of energy. So taking them outdoors is a great way for them to get it all out, while my husband and I get to enjoy some time on the trail and admire the amazing views. The perfect way to spend time as a family!

Start small, work your way up, and be safe!

Exploring with the kids is really fun! For us, it has been an amazing journey for the past two years. We started exploring around our neighborhood to get an idea of how far we could go and at what temperature we would still be comfortable out there! I highly recommend you do that before you venture out too far.

There are 78 miles of amazing trails around Poway and more if you are willing to drive a little further. The Alltrails.com site or the Alltrails app on your phone are great tools to help you find them. Alltrails gives you distance, elevation gain, directions to the trailhead, and difficulty levels like easy, moderate, and hard. If you start using it you will soon know what kind of hikes are right for you and your kids.

Here are some important tips if you are new to hiking with kids.

Make sure everyone has good shoes.
Bring plenty of water for everyone.
Protect yourself and your kids from the sun.
light colored or, for kids even better, bright colored quick drying clothes in layers are best (dark absorbs too much heat, bright colors helps you see them from far, and layers are great for temperature regulation).
Bring lots of healthy snacks. Don’t forget your apples!
Always have a map or GPS for navigation with you.
Don’t leave the house without a little first aid kit!

Before you go on hikes further than your neighborhood, check out my blog What you need to know about hiking with kids for a list of things to bring, safety tips, and ways to get kids motivated.

And now, let’s go explore Poway and surroundings as a family!

Lake Poway Loop trail – 2.8mi, 462ft, a perfect trail to start if you are new to hiking. It does get quite busy on weekends. The nice part is that it has bathrooms on one side of the lake (right side if you are facing the lake). Maybe start on this side and watch how much water you drink. A rule I always follow is to turn around when we are half way through our water, unless finishing the loop is easier and faster. We did this one often at the beginning because it is beautiful and not too challenging. Sometimes there are lots of bees and of course rattle snakes during the season. So be careful where you step!
My boys’ thoughts: “This is a good one because it is not too long and it goes around the beautiful lake. It is where we took our puppy on her very first adventure with us!”
They all loved it and took off running with her! They even wanted to take grandpa and grandma, but that would have been a little too much for them.
Piedras pintadas – 3.7mi, 295ft – that’s not much elevation, so also a good trail to start out. There is a loop but you can always turn around if this seems too long for a start. It has some nice views on Lake Hodges. My boys found it “ok, but there were not enough things to climb on!”
Twin peaks – 1.9mi, 600ft elevation. The trailhead is at Silverset park. We usually do the Twin Peak Long Loop on Alltrails. There is another Twin Peak Loop but some parts are very overgrown so I wouldn’t recommend it. This was our favorite training hike when we first started. It is steep but short, just what my boys love, with beautiful views on neighborhoods you recognize if you live in Poway. Their comments: “We love to climb up there and look at our world from above. We feel like little mountain goats climbing up there! And we have done it so many times, it feels like home!” It is steep though in some places. I take my hiking poles which really help.
Tooth Rock – The Alltrails app shows the way through Rattle Snake Creek, which is very overgrown and may even be closed now. We went up from Espola Rd/Golden Sunset Ln and it was a fun steep short hike up. However, coming down through Rattle Snake Creek, wasn’t fun at all. My boys: “Aaaahhh! Why are you making us do that!” They got scared because it was steep, slippery, narrow, and very overgrown on the way down. Last time we went, in June 2021, we went out and back from Espola/Golden Sunset Ln. This was really nice and ‘boys approved’ : )! My 8 year old has even asked to do it again and said: “I love this one, it is short and steep and I know exactly where to go.” He has indeed memorized the whole trail and one time we hiked up there he went ahead and ran the whole way down. Scary moment for mom! It taught me to tell them to wait for us at every single intersection! This is also the day I learned to have them wear bright colored shirts when we are out there. That way they are easier to spot from further away!
Highland Valley Trail – 3.7mi, 232ft elevation, out and back trail. This one is also a good training hike because it doesn’t have much elevation and you can turn around anytime. It is a nice one to get an idea of how comfortable you are on a trail. We had been hiking for a while when we ventured out there, so it was not very interesting to my boys, but I would recommend it as a training trail.
Torrey Pines Beach Trail Loop – 2.3mi, 364ft loop with breathtaking views over the Pacific and along the beach. This trail is very popular and parking can be tricky. Either you find a spot on N Torrey Pines Road or you can park at the Torrey Pines South Beach lot, but it is quite pricy. It used to be 15$, last time we went it was 25$!!! From there you hike up on a trail which pretty much follows the road until you enter one of these spectacular loop trails, Guy Fleming Trail and Perry Grove Trail, or you follow the road up a little further and descend to the beach passing beautiful view points like Overlook West, Red Butte, Razor Point, Yucca Point. My kids love this trail because of the amazing views over the ocean, and because they end up on the beach for the last 0.8mi. We even got to see dolphins from up there! Of course, you can also start on the beach and climb up, but I am not sure the boys would ever want to leave the beach if we did that. So we have always done it the other way around. “This way the beach is the reward after going down 118 stone steps : )!
Ellie Lane – We didn’t do the part over to iron mountain as this Alltrails option indicates. We just went around the hill to cut it in half and make it more kid friendly. So it was about 4 miles and really beautiful with all these big boulders. It is one of our favorite hikes in this area. Just make sure you have your map or app downloaded because there are several intersections, one even leading up to Ramona Overlook. My boys loved the big boulders and climbing around them! “This one was a fun adventure and the change in scenery was nice, first big boulders, then big trees, and at the end lots of little flowers, and two beautiful big white dogs guarding a property!” We went in April.
Ramona Overlook from Iron mountain trailhead – This one is a good practice hike before attempting Iron Mountain. It is 4.4mi, 862 ft elevation and the first part can get pretty busy. It gets quite steep towards the end. Our boys climbed up there way faster then we did. We did this twice, and they were fine in cooler weather but complained on the hotter day. The view was amazing but there was not much of a picnic area at the top, and it was windy. The boys took my phone to run around at the top and take pictures. “You have to come see! Ok, if you are too exhausted, I will bring the view to you, let me have your phone!”, and off they went, taking pictures of beautiful views with their fingers in the pictures.
Iron Mountain – 5.2mi, 1000ft elevation, busy, beautiful, steep, hard! We didn’t get to the top at our first attempt, but it didn’t help that it was August. Bad timing! Don’t do that if it is your first time! The second attempt was a cooler day in March, and it was a success! Yes, it can be frustrating when you start out and have to turn around before you reach the top because the little humans you are responsible for get tired or hot, but it is a journey, and making sure everyone is safe needs to always be your priority. The boys struggled with this one because the top just keeps climbing! I wouldn’t call it their favorite. Also, it was quite windy at the top so bring layers (which you always should, especially when you climb a lot!)
Blue sky reserve to lake Ramona – 5.6 mi 700ft elevation. The first part is flat and when it starts climbing offers beautiful views on Lake Poway. There are some educational signs on the first part of the trail which my boys enjoyed. There are also bathrooms on the way, one about half way through the flat part and one at the very top, which is always nice. Once we reached the road at the top, we hiked down a bit towards Lake Ramona and picnicked there. I love this hike, it is challenging and rewarding. “We like the signs describing the things in nature. At the top, the paved road is really steep, so just walk backwards, it’s easier!” Yep, that’s what they did!
Way up trail (Elfin Forest recreational reserve) – We went past Harmony Grove overlook up to the Ridge Top picnic area. There are nice views up there, as well as several picnic tables, drinking water, and a portable potty, which, as you know by now, I really appreciate! We did this one with friends and on the way down we took the Botanical Trail. So we ended up with a 4 mile loop. The boys loved it because at the end they got to play in the river with their friends. Friends and water on the trail is always a win! “Can we do this again? Actually, can we just go play in the river with our friends? We don’t need to do the hike : )!
Del Dios Highland Reserve – We went up to Escondido overlook, which is a 3mi out and back with a 1285ft climb, so pretty steep but rewarding because you get nice views fast! We went with our doggy, so the boys and her pretty much ran up that hill. The good thing is that we were in the shade on the way up and when we got out of the shade we were almost there. Escondido overlook is very close to the Ridge Top picnic area we reached from Way up Trail, so if you need a bathroom or water, it is easily accessible. There are many trails up there to explore further if you need a more challenging route, just make sure you have a map and don’t get lost!
Potato Chip Rock – There are 3 ways up. This one is from lake Poway, out and back 7.2 miles, 2000ft elevation. Make sure to bring extra layers of clothes. We started out in T-shirt and shorts but at the top we were in long pants and windbreaker jackets. It was quite chilly and windy up there. It is a busy narrow trail with lots of people and their doggies. No bathrooms once you start climbing. Often there is a line of people at potato chip rock, waiting to take pictures. We skipped that part. Beautiful views, lots of big boulders which my boys called potatoes and tried to climb on. “Only one chip but lots of potatoes : )!” My older son asked us to do this one: “I wanted to do it because my friends at school were talking about it. So, I wanted to know if we could do it too. It was challenging, long and hard, but we did it! And I would definitely do it again as a challenge, otherwise, just as a hike it is too long!”
Potato Chip Rock from Fry Koegel – Out and back 7mi, 1624ft elevation out and back trail.
This trail is my favorite to get to Potato chip rock. The trailhead is on Hwy67 and for the first mile it follows beautiful homes until entering a forest. There is no parking other than the side of the road but the trail is in the shade for two thirds of the way and much less crowded. There were, however, tics and rattlesnakes when we went up in April, but I am sure they would have been on the other side too during this season.
“It was nice because of the shade, but the rattlesnake was scary and I am glad we turned around! Yes, we can try again, when there are no snakes!” Indeed, we did not make it to the top because that rattlesnake in the middle of the trail was enough to convince us to turn around!
We haven’t gone up on the paved road from Hwy67, so I can’t say much about it other than I heard it is really steep, exposed, no bathrooms, and it hurts your knees coming back down!
Bernardo Mountain – We shortened this a bit to 4 miles by parking in Calle de La Paz and accessing the trail through La Calma Cul-de-sac. This way it was a bit more kid friendly. The bottom of the trail was really nice. When we started climbing it got narrower so we had to walk in a line, one behind the other. At the top it was beautiful but quite windy. That’s when you are happy you brought a dry T-shirt and a windbreaker for everyone so you can enjoy your picnic and the views from up there. Otherwise you just want to turn around and run back down, which would be a pity after all this effort. The boys thought it was ok, but a bit “more of the same”! We went on a grey day, which was good because not so hot, but not so good because the views were less colorful.
Los Penasquitos Preserve – There are many trails there which always means you need to make sure you have good navigation otherwise you can easily get lost. We did the Los Penasquitos Canyon Trail. It is a 6.8 miles, 157ft elevation loop trail, so, pretty flat. Some nice passages through the woods with some shade. The waterfall is pretty, but there were too many people in too little space, especially if you are looking for time in nature. We managed to cross and got just a little wet. The way back seemed endless and just more of the same. There are different trails that lead there, I would pick one with more elevation next time. However, if you go downhill first make sure you have enough water to get back up. The area was nice, but we picked the wrong trail for the kids. They would have enjoyed a shorter steeper hike and did not like long and flat.
Sycamore Canyon Preserve – We did about 5 mi and 500ft elevation on a day that was overcast. This trail goes downhill first and then up, so as always, watch your water. There are different options. It was a nice hike but not one that I would necessarily put in my top ten.
Van Dam Peak – This one is steep, narrow, slippery and exposed if you go up from Sabre Springs park. We also went up from the Shoal Creek elementary side but I don’t recommend that because you will have mountain bikes coming at you and it is also steep and narrow. We were coming down on our bottoms! Doggy was flying down and loved it which entertained the boys, but I don’t think we will go there again.
Daley Ranch – Offers many trails and the beautiful Dixon Lake Campground. The short hike up to the Daley Ranch House is on a paved road. It is a good way to start. We also did Boulder Loop, Cougar Ridge to Engelmann Oak trail and Stanley Peak via Canyon Creek. All beautiful hikes. Just make sure you have a good map and know which trail you are on. There are many options which also means many intersections and ways to get lost. Keep track of where you are and how to get back. My boys definitely loved the Dixon Lake Campground and the entire Daily Ranch area, especially Daley Ranch House. They want to go back and do the visit of the Ranch.
Cedar Creek Falls – From the Ramona side. 5.6 miles, 1050ft elevation. Alltrails app rates it as hard. The difficulty is that you hike down first, when it’s cooler in the morning. So coming back out during the hot part of the day can be a challenge. There is no shade except for a few little wooden rest structures. The trail is very well maintained, not very steep, so not a challenge in itself, just the slow and steady 2 mile climb at the end can seem long. Bring 3 liters of water per person on hot days, and take lots of snack breaks. Make sure you have sun protection and don’t (ever) bring your dog if temperatures are above 75F. This hike requires a permit that you can get at recreation.gov. No bathrooms and not many places to hide either! This is my 10 year old’s favorite hike so far because the waterfall with the swim hole is simply amazing. They both want to go back to jump in that inviting water hole! Will do soon!

Conclusion

Let them navigate, let them take pictures even if their fingers are in it, have them read the signs and become aware of their surroundings, and let them participate in picking the destination. They will be more engaged and wanting to go explore.