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Sycamore Canyon is the first official mountain biking area I ever visited. When I first rode over the mountains behind my house (see Beginners), I eventually ended up here. This was also the first place I rode after I broke my neck (see Crash).

Sycamore Canyon runs from Poway down to Santee. The best place to park is at West Hills High School (or the lot just east of there). On most any afternoon you can see at least a half dozen cars parked in this dirt lot. These cars are either having bikes removed, having bikes attached, or are just waiting for their owners.

The most challenging part of riding Sycamore canyon might be getting across Mast Boulevard on a busy day. I had to wait for clearance, dash across two lanes to the island, wait for clearance again, then crank hard to the opening of the trailhead after jumping the curb. Of course ... I could have avoided all this drama by first riding down 100 feet to the traffic light, pushing the button, waiting 10 minutes for the light to change, meandering to the other, then riding back up to the trailhead. That would be way too boring and would waste valuable mountain biking time. If I really wanted a challenge, I'd try doing the curb-island-curb crossing method right when the high school lets out.

View Sycamore in a larger map. Click the back-arrow to return here.

The first part of Sycamore Canyon runs up behind a housing tract on some real hard dried clay. Most of Santee is built on this thick layer of blonde clay with round river rock embedded. This clay looks kind of sandy when dry and gets "slicker than snot" when wet. I read somewhere that there used to be a river delta in Santee, thousands of years ago, with sediments getting washed down there. The satellite view of these hills does look kind of unusual compared to the surrounding mountains. Click on the map provided and zoom out a little ... you'll see what I mean.

All I know for sure is when I've tried to bike here (after a rain) this goop jammed up my forks and swing-arm before I'd ridden 20 feet in it ... and if I ever wanted my bike clean again I'd better quickly head to the nearest hose and spray it off with real high pressure.

As I was saying, the Sycamore Canyon starts behind a housing tract. It is here that I usually ride past some kids that are doing something they shouldn't be doing; like starting fires, shooting bow-and-arrows with no supervision, or throwing rocks at the houses below. I am not sure whose property this is and whether they want bikers on it ... but I am pretty sure they don't want these juvenile delinquents out there. Sometimes I think I should stop and correct the situation but ... I then figure it would cut into my riding time and probably not solve the problem anyway.

Upper Santee Lake

After I left the houses behind I found myself riding next to a small body of water. There are actually 10 of these Santee "Lakes," which really are just large sewage treatment ponds. The bottom lake looked pretty nice with trees and grass surrounding it and people fishing. As I rode my way uphill the quality of the water gets worse and worse. The very top lake can be a real joy to ride past if the wind is blowing from the east (have you ever tried riding your bike a half-mile without breathing?)

Once I had passed the top lake I suddenly found myself in a beautiful valley, with chaparral on surrounding hills. Huge Sycamore trees peppered with intermittent oaks are nestled into the creek bed bottom. It is hard to believe that just minutes ago I rode past housing tracts and sewage ponds. I stood gazing north, up a gorgeous valley, showing no signs of civilization.

Modern Art?

I like to bike through the trees on the way up, occasionally riding on trails that climb up the river banks on the left (west) side, parallel to the canyon, like a frontage road. Then I will drop back down to the wooded creek bed below. There is a stretch of trail that has several real sharp turns ... around and under the trees. One place I had to duck down or lose the top of my head to a low curving oak tree. Immediately after ducking under the oak I made one more sharp turn to come upon the sculpture garden ... real art made from various clothes and bike parts and attached to rolls of wire standing on end.

The Gate

Five miles from the truck I came to "The Gate." The gate is the perfect place to get "watered-up", and meet other mountain bikers. I met my first mountain biker at this gate years ago.

For more revelations about Sycamore Canyon click Sycamore Canyon (page 2).

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