Climbing Mount Soledad: Many Roads, One Summit

By Attorney Allen Leisorek, Gomez Trial Attorneys

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Mount Soledad has become one of my favorite rides in San Diego, and it is not just because of the climb itself. What makes it special is what waits at the top and how many different ways there are to get there.

The mountain offers several distinct routes to the summit, each with its own character. Some approaches are short and punishing, with steep pitches that test your legs early. Others wind longer through residential streets, giving you a more gradual but sustained effort. Regardless of which road you choose, every route converges at the same place, and that shared destination is part of what makes Mount Soledad worth returning to again and again. Riders can pick the challenge that suits their fitness or mood that day and still end up standing in front of the same summit.

That summit is home to the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial, and at its center stands a large white cross, rising nearly 30 feet above the site and visible from much of the city below. An American flag flies beside it. For me, the cross is the heart of the climb. There is something about arriving at it on a bike, legs burning and breath short, that turns the last few pedal strokes into something closer to a pilgrimage than a workout. It has stood on that hilltop in one form or another for close to a century, a fixed point of faith overlooking a constantly changing city, and reaching it never feels routine no matter how many times I have made the ride.

Surrounding the cross are walls lined with plaques bearing the names, photographs, and service histories of veterans, spanning every branch of the military and generations of American conflicts. Standing at the foot of the cross and reading through those names, it is hard not to feel the weight of what the site is asking you to hold together: faith, sacrifice, and country, all in the same place. The cross does not stand apart from the memorial around it. It stands over it, as if watching over the men and women whose service is recorded on the walls below.

I will admit that part of what draws me back is personal. Finishing a hard climb is its own reward but finishing at the top of Mount Soledad adds something a workout alone cannot. It is a few minutes to be still, to think about faith and gratitude and the people being honored there, before turning the bike around and heading back down the mountain.

The views only add to the experience. From the summit, you get a nearly 360-degree perspective of the city: the Pacific Ocean to the west, La Jolla and the coastline stretching north and south, and the inland valleys and mountains to the east. On a clear day, it is one of the best vantage points in the region, and it makes the effort of the climb feel entirely worth it.

For anyone in San Diego looking for a ride that offers more than exercise, Mount Soledad is worth the trip. Pick a route, put in the work, and take a few minutes at the top before heading back down. Between the cross, the memorial, and the view, it is a climb that stays with you.

SOURCE Gomez Trial Attorneys