California Mountain Biking

As I sit here trying to create an entry for California Mountain Biking, I am overwhelmed by my task ... writing an overview about the mountain biking of an entire state ... a humongous state, larger than many countries in the world at 155,779.22 square miles. I do not claim to be an expert on all of California's regions and rides ... yet, the many trails I have explored I know pretty well. And the ones I haven't ridden? Those trails are out there waiting ... calling me to come witness their beauty, their ruggedness, their solitude. They are waiting to challenge my strength, my stamina, and my mountain bike skills. Yes, all these other California Mountain Biking trails are out there waiting for me, and I find myself anxious to accept their challenge.

Most of my California Mountain Biking experience comes from either San Diego, the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, or the Southern California Desert.

Since I live in San Diego I have had many opportunities to explore the area. I have ridden most of the trails in the county, but have chosen to write-up only my favorites.

The Laguna and Cuyamaca Mountains are found in the eastern San Diego County and hold many of my favorite trails. One trail, called the Noble Canyon Ride, ranks in my all-time Top 10 rides. San Diego gets occasional rain and snow, however most trails can be used year round.

Why not take a winter trip to San Diego and get some riding done ... enjoy our leisure atmosphere and also get good workouts? We have plenty of room on our trails. Try some San Diego Mountain Biking!

Other areas for California Mountain Biking ... ? I have vacationed in the Sierra Nevada Mountains since 1971, when I was a teenager. My oldest brother (John) took me on several backpacking trips.

Excursions to Yosemite National Park were a real eye opener for a 16 year old that had lived in San Diego County his whole life. I learned volumes about surviving in mountain conditions and endurance on Sierra Nevada trails.

In 2005, my next oldest brother (George) took his family on a vacation to Twin Lakes, staying at a campground fishing resort (no pools or spas) 10 miles west of Bridgeport, California (on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada Range).

George gave glowing reports on all Twin Lakes had to offer, so my family joined his the following summer and every one since.

These annual trips to the Bridgeport area have allowed me to ride my bike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. However, with so much to do, I have had to sandwich my Bridgeport Mountain Biking between many other activities, such as kayaking, fishing, hiking, jeeping, innertubing down rivers, and exploring old gold mines.

George ... Skirting Mammoth Valley

There are not a lot of mountain bike rides in the Twin Lakes area, as most of the region is surrounded by wilderness ... and California allows no bicycles in a wilderness area. Colorado, Utah, and Arizona? Yes, those states realize the minimal impact mountain bikers have on the environment ... so they permit bicycles in their wilderness areas. But, in California? I would be allowed to take 25 head of livestock up a California wilderness trail, but not a single bicycle!

Mammoth Rock Loomed Overhead

In the summer of 2011, after our usual 2 weeks of camping at Twin Lakes, we drove south to Mammoth Lakes, California. We stayed in a campground just east of the town and visited Devil's Postpile, Rainbow Falls, Lake Mary, ... In between these trips I was able to do some riding. Since I am not real interested in the downhill aspect of this sport (like paying to ride a lift to the top of a mountain and then flying off jumps and other man-made obstacles) I looked beyond Mammoth Mountain itself. While I found three terrific trails in the Mammoth Area, the others I tried seemed to be jeep roads with deep, soft, sand. I hope to return as there are many trails in the Mammoth area I have yet to try.

One more area I have explored on my mountain bike is near Slab City, an old abandoned Marine Base in the Southern California Desert just a few miles east of the Salton Sea.

"The Slabs" are what's left of the many World War II Marine barracks of Camp Dunlap. It was 2008, while camping at "The Slabs," that I discovered a totally new type of California Mountain Biking ... riding down washes.

I have found that the washes get a thin clay crust on top when it rains. This crust hardens in the sun and stays hard until either someone drives over with an off-road vehicle, or it rains again. Flying down a desert wash can be a blast. There are no trails, just a web of sand washes separated by rocks, brush, mud walls, and cactus.

The washes I ride start in the Chocolate Mountains (to the east) and stretch west to the Salton Sea. You should give Slab City Mountain Biking a try, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Pacific Crest Trail? There is a gorgeous trail that runs from Mexico to Canada called the Pacific Crest Trail. This trail begins at the border in San Diego County, heads north through all the coastal mountain ranges of Southern California, weaves its way through the Sierra Nevada Range, passes over the Cascades of Oregon and Washington, to the Canadian border.

I have hiked portions of it in the Sierra Nevada and San Diego County, but I have not biked it. Why? This trail is only open to hikers and horseback riders ... and very few of them use it. Many of us riders are frustrated by the fact we cannot make this beautiful trail a part of California Mountain Biking. Maybe in the future we can change the status of the Pacific Crest.

California Mountain Biking ... while I have had limited exposure to the state as a whole, I look forward to expanding this page as I travel this great state.

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