Southern California - Palomar E. Grade

Where is a good starting spot for climbing the E. grade?? I am taking someone up there for the first time and I have previously ridden it from Santa Ysabel.. That ended up being 56 miles and that may be too much mileage with the climb/heat... I have heard of people leaving from the Taco Shop..

For east grade, start from the Lake Henshaw restaraunt/market. The taco shop is actually at the bottom of south grade, but you can't even park there anymore. If you want to ride up south grade, park at Harrah's.

East Gr: Start at Lake Henshaw parking lot. Go west .75 miles and turn right on East Grade Rd. 33.98 miles to Observatory and back.

South Gr: Option 1 - Start at Harrah's Rincon. Go 1.5 miles on Rincon Rd. to Hwy 76 and turn right. 27.20 miles to the general store and back.

Option 2 - Start at 76 and South Gr. Rd. About 15 miles to the store and back.

The general store is 4-5 miles from the observatory.

I guess I type slow.

Thanks to all.. I think we will start at the store at Henshaw and then do a short warm-up..

Mesa Grande is a nearby road, and very nice ride with a killer 1 or 2 miles of climbing/descending where it joins Hwy 76.

For east grade, start from the Lake Henshaw restaraunt/market. The taco shop is actually at the bottom of south grade, but you can't even park there anymore. If you want to ride up south grade, park at Harrah's.

I parked at the Taco shop Memorial weekend is this something new??

I parked at the Taco shop Memorial weekend is this something new??

It's been a while. If they know you're there to ride your bike, they'll have you ticketed or towed. Safest bet is to park at the casino. They don't care and it's only a mile down the road.

You can always do one of my two favorite options. Either park at the top by the general store, that way you are forced to make it back up. I like driving out and just doing 2-4 laps on south grade. Or, ride from solana beach out of my apartment, around 110 miles round trip.