Nate Harrison Road

Hate Harrison Grade

Palomar Mountain is one of the infamous climbs in Southern California.  The Tour of California has even graced its slopes in the past. Usually you climb it from the South Grade and deal with the speeding "crotch rockets" as they race through the switchbacks, or you take the gentler slope of the East Grade. Today we are going to tackle Nate Harrison Rd.

The road is named after one of San Diego County's legendary pioneers - a freed African-American who lived up on the southwest side of Palomar Mountain. I first learned about this grade/road from a couple of friends as we were preparing to hike the Grand Canyon. The steady 10 plus mile incline was the perfect training ground for preparing for our rim-to-rim experience. The Motivator learned about it from a friend who rode it on his mountain bike. When I asked if he knew about this gravel road up Palomar Mountain, he quickly replied, "Oh, you mean Nate Harrsion Grade?"

It took us a few months, but we were finally able to plan our ride up for what would be one of the toughest climbs we have experienced.

Nate Harrison Grade is off CA Hwy 76, just east of Cole Grade Road (I am sure we will include Cole Grade Road sometime in the future). It is about an hour drive from San Diego. We started our ride at Harrah's Rincon Casino about four miles from the turn to Nate Harrison Grade. It is an easy place to park with a 7-Eleven in case we needed any last minutes supplies. It also would provide a nice warm-up.  The forecast for the day was mild and sunny. This area can be a real scorcher and climbing Palomar Mountain on a hot summer day is a challenge in itself.

Nate Harrsion Grade looks unassuming when you first turn on to the road. Flanked by orange groves on both sides, the gentle slope of the road masks the challenge to come. It wasn't even a mile into our climb that we heard the familiar "pissssshhhh" as air started to escape my rear tire. We were riding our gravel bikes and luckily The Motivator had the correct size tube for the larger tires. He came prepared with tubeless tires and wasn't worried about flats. We quickly changed the tire, but were both fearful that this was a bad omen for the day.

The paved, chip sealed road turned into a dirt road after about two miles. I thought I was in shape after the training I had done for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride, just four weeks or so before. HA!!

Once the dirt started, the true climbing seemed to begin. The climb undulated between 3% to 21.5%, with the average being 8%. The dirt road was rutted and you worked from side to side on the road to avoid the holes and to find the smoothest track up. The climb was never ending, switch backs offered no rest after you made the turn, the road just continued up, sometimes even steeper than before. If you stood up, you really had to concentrate on not spinning the back wheel; pedal pressure had to be gradual and consistent. 

Surprisingly, the road actually improved at about the fourth mile to the chip seal. Definitely an easier riding surface the the gravel or rutted dirt.

The chip seal continued up until we hit the turn to what we assume was the old Harrison Ranch entrance. Around the seven mile mark, the road turned left and became a rutted dirt obstacle that your 4-wheeler with clearance would love.

One of the nice things about the ride is that you could see where you were headed. It was a welcome relief when we hit the tree line, or at least that was my thinking. The shade was nice, it was hot, but we had been climbing for nearly two hours by that point. I was pretty warm and my second water bottle was quickly being depleted. I was starting to struggle like I had never before. I started and stopped frequently to let the legs recover and to catch my breath. I repeated this cycle every 50 yards.  It was mid-June and the flies would swarm around your head constantly adding to my struggle.  Finally, Fabrece told me to buck-up and ride, which is what I needed.

The top of the climb is where you enter the state park. I wanted to walk over and hug the sign because it meant we were almost done. From there, we worked our way over to the general store at the intersection of South Grade and East Grade.

It had taken us 2.5 hours to get there and the ice cold Coke tasted refreshing. A bag of salty potato chips and a candy bar helped me refuel for the plunge down the South Grade. I looked around at the other riders who were also recovering in the shade on the porch of the general store. They had come up the South Grade and were lamenting their struggles. I thought to myself, "You need to ride Nate Harrsion Grade. Then you will know what struggling is."

Our gravel bikes were perfect for the climb up and I was looking forward to using the disc brakes on the way down.  It was just before noon when we headed down South Grade. The traffic was very light with only us going down. We were able to sweep around the switch backs using the entire lane.  The 2.5 hour ride up was complemented by the 30 minute ride down. I look forward to doing this ride again.

Rambling thoughts from Fabrece

• Who knew there was this many kinds of dirt? Rocky dirt, sandy dirt, compact dirt, dirty asphalt...
• The sun in unrelenting till you hit the tree line over 3,000 ft up.
• You start to welcome 8% grades because of how many times the road pitches up to double digits.
• There are a lot of flies when you hit the tree line and the worst part is they can keep up with you.
• The climb is a challenge, but remember to enjoy the views.