Mountain Biking in Northern California

Index

General

• "The Ogre's Guide"
• "mtbsingletrack.com"
• Lucas Pereira's photos from local bike rides (on and off-road), organized by county
• An English couple illustrate their Northern California mountain biking holiday in 2005

North of San Francisco

• Mountain biking in the Modoc National Forest (Modoc County)
• "Jefferson Mountain Bike Association (JMBA)", Yreka (including local trails)
• "Downhill Mountain Biking Trails in Mount Shasta
• "Trails around Shasta Lake" (some of which are good for mountain biking)
• A BLM map of hiking and biking trails in the Redding area (PDF format)
• Humboldt County
  • "Northcoast Bike Rides"
  • "Bigfoot Bicycle Club"
  • The Paradise Royale Mountain Bike Trail (King Range)
    (See also articles from Northcoast Bike Rides, IMBA and the BLM)
  • Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (adjoins Redwood National Park)
  • Mountain biking (fireroads only) in Humboldt Redwoods State Park
• Mendocino County
  • "Mendocino Fun": Mountain biking in Mendocino County
  • Jackson State Redwood Forest) (near Fort Bragg, Mendocino County)
  • "Riding the Coast" (Mendocino Coast Cyclists) (including trails and maps)
  • Mountain biking in the Mendocino National Forest
  • Trails near Lake Mendocino (the "Ukiah Valley Trail Group")
• Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest (near Cobb, Lake County) [O9/T7/E6]

San Francisco Bay Area

Monterey Area

• "Monterey Off Road Cycling Association" (MORCA)
• Fort Ord Public Lands (between Salinas & Monterey)
  (See also several photos by Adam Noto, a report from Scott Kendall, and photos and videos by Steve Wolf. Note also the series of races held here.)
• Toro County Park (including a trail map)
• The Old Coastal Road (gravel)
  (See also Steve Wolf's description and photos)
• The Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area allows downhill mountain bike riding

Northern Sacramento Valley

• Upper and Lower Bidwell Parks (Chico)
• Feather Falls (east of Oroville, Butte County)
  (The trail here is apparently open to bikes, although I don't know if the riding is any good.)

Sacramento area

• The Sacramento Area Mountain Bike Association"
• Brett Bymaster's Sacramento Area Mountain Biking Trails
• Spenceville Wildlife Refuge (near Lake Far West Reservoir, Nevada County)
• Granite Bay (north shore of Folsom Lake)
• The Salmon Falls (aka. Darrington) and Sweetwater trails (near Folsom Lake)
  (See also Rory Huber's description, Natomas Bike Shop's writeup, and Steve Wolf's map of the Salmon Falls trail, the "Ogre's Guide" photos of the Salmon Falls and Sweetwater trails, and Steve Wolf's videos)
• The Latrobe Loop
  (See also descriptions from "the Ogre's Guide", and Natomas Bike Shop)
• Local mountain biking clubs: Folsom-Auburn Trail Riders Action Coalition ("FATRAC"); Folsom Breakouts

Northern San Joaquin Valley

• The Bear Creek and Coyote Point (aka. "Area 51") trails at New Hogan Reservoir, near Valley Springs, east of Stockton
• Penn Mile Trails (Campo Seco, north of Valley Springs)
• "Trail Riders of Greater Stanislaus (TROGS)

Sierra Nevada mountains (northern)

• General:
  • Reports on trail conditions (from Yuba Expeditions)
• "Bizz" Johnson Rails-to-Trail (Susanville) [O4/T1/E1+]
• Several rides in the Plumas National Forest (Plumas County)
• Downieville area (Sierra County)
  • Several local trail maps: from Yuba Expeditions; from 'Sierra Trails'
  • The "Downieville Downhill" (from "The Ogre's Guide")
    (See also Steve Wolf's description and route map)
  • The Big Boulder trail
  • Pete Fagerlin illustrates a ride here (photos and video clips)
  • The Downieville Classic Mountain Bike Festival occurs here each summer
  • Mountain biking in Forest City
• Grass Valley/Nevada City area
  • ALERT: Help save mountain bike access to the South Yuba River area
  • "Bicyclists of Nevada County" (BONC)
  • The Cascade Canal trail, near Nevada City
  • The Pioneer and Round Mountain Trails
  • The Scotts Drop Trail
  • The South Yuba Trail: from IMBA (an "IMBA Epic" ride); by Brett Bymaster; from "mtbsingletrack.com" (plus a map of the area)
  • More information about mountain biking in this area
• I-80 corridor
  • Auburn area
    • The Auburn State Recreation Area
    • The Auburn-Cool Trail
    • The Foresthill Divide trail: Reports from "The Ogre's Guide", Brett Bymaster, and the Sacramento Bee"
    • The Michigan Bluff to Deadwood Trail (east of Foresthill)
    • Elliot's Crossing Trail (near Georgetown): descriptions from "The Ogre's Guide" and Brett Bymaster
    • Bald Mountain (near Georgetown)
    • The Foresthill Trails Alliance
  • "Stevens Trail" (near Colfax): Descriptions from Brett Bymaster; "Desert USA"
  • "Natalie's Barn & Breakfast" - Nearby Trails
  • Eagle Mountain Bike Park (Yuba Gap, off I-80)
    (Here's an article about the 1997 "Rocktoberfest" event by Paul McHugh, San Francisco Chronicle)
  • Several rides in the Tahoe National Forest
  • The "Hole in the Ground" trail: Reports from "Mountain Bike Bill", Brett Bymaster, and Tahoe Adventure Sports
• Lake Tahoe area
  • General
    • A description of several local rides (from "Tahoe Adventure Sports")
    • "Lake Tahoe Mountain Biking"
    • Some more local rides: from "Tahoe High Sierra"; from "AllLakeTahoe.com"; from "Truckee Trails Foundation"
    • Mountain biking on the Tahoe Rim Trail (Note that some sections of this trail are closed to bikes.)
      (See also this San Francisco Chronicle article)
    • Some rides in the northern Lake Tahoe (and Reno) area (from Great Basin Bicycles)
    • Trails.com's Lake Tahoe section
    • The Tahoe Area Mountain Bicycling Association (TAMBA), including an excellent map of South Shore trails
  • Summer mountain biking at Squaw Valley (northern Lake Tahoe)
  • Northstar Ski Area (northern Lake Tahoe) [O7/T6-8/E4-7]
  • Sugar Pine Point State Park (western Lake Tahoe) (Also, here's the official State Park site)
  • Tahoe Rim Trail - Mt. Rose to Tunnel Creek Rd. segment (eastern Lake Tahoe) [O8/T6/E7]
  • Flume Trail (eastern Lake Tahoe) [O8/T4/E8]
  • Mr Toad's Wild Ride (South Lake Tahoe) [O9/T9/E9]
  • Power Line Trail (South Lake Tahoe) [O8/T7/E6]
• Highway 50 corridor
  • Sly Park (aka. Jenkinson Lake Loop) (near Pollock Pines)
• Highway 88 corridor
  • Kirkwood Mountain Bike Park
• Highway 4 corridor
  • Steve Wolf describes a loop near Union Reservoir (Tuolumne and Alpine Counties)
  • Photos from the Parrot's Ferry downhill
  • Photos from a ride near Bear Valley
• Highway 108 corridor
  • Red Hills Recreation Area, near Knights Ferry
  • Mountain biking in the Glory Hole Recreation Area (New Melones Lake, Calaveras County, near Sonora)

Sierra Nevada mountains (southern, western slope)

• Mariposa area
  • Steve Wolf describes several rides in this area:
    • The Coulterville-Dogtown loop (off highway 49)
    • A ride near Briceburg (including a route map)
    • The "Midpines Hill Climb" (including a route map)
    • Sweetwater Point
    • Indian Mountain (including a route map)
• Oakhurst area: Descriptions of several local rides (from "Yosemite Bicycle")
• Sequoia National Forest (near Kings Canyon National Park)
• (See also Kern County, in southern California)

Sierra Nevada mountains (southern, eastern slope)

• The Mammoth Mountain area
  • The "Mammoth Mountain Bike Park"
  • More information about mountain biking here: from "MammothWeb"; from "AllMammoth.com"
  • Tommy Goggia illustrates a visit here
  • Mountain biking in the Inyo National Forest (near Mammoth Mountain)

Continue down to Southern California

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Last modified date: 2013.04.11
©1995-2007 Ross Finlayson