This is probably the first "big" mountain ride San Diego cyclists do after they get past the Great Western Loop. Kitchen Creek is a solid one hour climb for most riders. The best part is that the road is essentially devoid of cars.
This is a pretty standard route that also takes you through Julian. If your legs are tired, simply bail out at the bail out point on the map and head back to your car.
View Kitchen Creek Standard in a larger map
Start out at the Descanso Park and Ride which is right off Highway 8. Head out on 79 which turns into Old Highway 80. The first stop in Pine Valley is optional but it always seems like we stop off there as someone in the group will need to use the facilities. Chances are they have been eating and drinking loads to get ready for the ride. Follow Old Highway 80 all the way to Kitchen Creek Road and take a left. Before you get to the climb, on the right side of the road is a fire house. They have a hose outside that we use to fill up our water bottles. The climb will be at least an hour for most riders so this is a good place to stock up on water. Please be respectful, we are going to be angry if the fire dudes tell us that The Mappy Thing ruined our water stop.
Then start riding, up, up, up, up and more up. At some point you will come to a gate. Walk your bike around the gate and get on the "goat path" section of the ride and keep riding. At the top of the climb you will come to a T intersection - go right on Sunrise Highway. At the top of the little hill you can refuel at the store on the left hand side of the road.
Keep it rolling along sunrise highway. This is a fun (fast) section of the ride but be careful of crosswinds. At the intersection of 79 take a right and head toward julian. If you are beat down and want to bail, take a left and head back toward the car. Once you get to Julian, please go to the Julian Pie Company and get a cookie, and a piece of pie, and a doughnut.
When you are done, head out and take a left on Pine Creek Road. At this point, I am going to let you look at the map. The roads here are tricky. LOOK AT THE MAP OR YOU WILL MAKE A WRONG TURN AND FIND YOURSELF ON BOULDER CREEK. Your goal is to go up and over engineers hill which is another long and steep climb. Did I mention that I want you to lok at the map and take note of every twist and turn so you do not get lost on the way to engineers?
Once you are over engineers, head down and take a right at the bottom on Highway 79. Once you round the lake you will find a store on the left side of the road. Stock up for the last time because you are about to head toward the car along a long strech of rollers and fast decents. NICE!
To download additional information about your ride, right click on
the links below and then click "save link as" to download the file to
your computer.
Download a GPX file you can use to upload to your Garmin
Download a KML file you can use to upload to Google Maps or Google Earth
