Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Southern California → San Diego Area → East County → Descanso

Location: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park area, east of San Diego

Approach Distance: ~0.5 mile

Elevation Gain/Loss: 400 feet

Time Required: 3 – 5 hours (20 minutes on the approach, 15 minutes return, plus time to climb)

Red Tape/Notes: No permit required or access issues. For more information on the Descanso area and available climbs, visit the Mountain Project page; it has good info on the approach and the classic climbs. Kennedy and Hubbard’s “San Diego County Climbing Guide” has a more extensive route listing. It’s generally available at local REI stores and you can often find it on Amazon.

What’s Nearby?: Kitchen Creek, Old Highway 80, Goat Canyon Trestle, Three Sisters Falls

Descanso is kind of like a combination of Poway Crags and Mission Gorge in that it involves a short, steep approach, and is a less-frequented crag with pretty views. Unlike Mission Gorge, however, it’s a smaller, less-developed area – it does still have around 30 climbs, typically over 100 feet in length, and new routes are often in the works. Virtually all of these routes can be top-roped (the bolting isn’t ideal on many of the routes anyway), and the easily accessed main wall has a wide range of routes, varying from 5.5 to 5.12 including some nice variations in topography and holds that give nice variety to your climbs.  We’ve spent numerous pleasant half-days working routes at this crag and could happy return multiple times in the future.

Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Southern California → San Diego Area → East County → Descanso