Palomar Mountain South Grade, County S6

Driving

by Plot Along: Pacific

The South Grade Road, County Route S6, climbs the south face of Palomar Mountain northeast of San Diego in about seven miles of tightly stacked switchbacks, gaining nearly 3,000 feet from the valley floor to the mountaintop. It's one of Southern California's best-known driving and motorcycling roads, a second-and-third-gear road where the curves come one after another with barely a straight between them.

The climb ends at the mountaintop junction by Mother's Kitchen, the vegetarian café that's been the riders' and drivers' meeting spot at the top of the grade for generations. From there the road continues to Palomar Observatory, home of the 200-inch Hale Telescope, for decades the largest in the world, perched in the pines at over 5,500 feet.

Fully paved and open year-round, though the mountaintop can get fog, rain, and the occasional snow. The South Grade is tight, blind, and busy with bikes on weekends.

Learn more: en.wikipedia.org

South Grade (CA-76 Junction)
The foot of the climb, where County S6 (South Grade Road) leaves CA-76 in the San Luis Rey valley and the switchbacks begin. The base of the seven-mile grade.
Mother's Kitchen (Palomar Summit)
The junction at the top of the South Grade, where the riders' cafe Mother's Kitchen has been the meeting spot for drivers and motorcyclists for generations.
Palomar Observatory
The top of the mountain: the 200-inch Hale Telescope, for decades the largest in the world, in its white dome among the pines at over 5,500 feet. The mountaintop junction with Mother's Kitchen, the riders' café, sits just below on the way up.

South Grade (CA-76 Junction)

Mother's Kitchen (Palomar Summit)

Palomar Observatory