California | Singletrack Mafia

Sweet Water Trail

January 15, 2012 in California, Folsom, Sweet Water Trail, Trail Reviews

Take highway 50 until you come to Eldorado Hills. Take the Eldorado Hills blvd. exit and head north. Stay on this road it will turn in to Salmon Falls Rd. You will travel down this road for about 10 to 15 minutes before you come across Salmon Falls Bridge. On your left hand side right before the bridge is free parking. Across the bridge on both your right and left side you can find paid parking areas. The right side has bathroom but the parking spot and bathrooms are not always open.

Highest Elevation: 607 ft (Elevation info is off. GPS was acting funny during trail ride.)
Lowest Elevation: 100 ft
Trail length: 6.2 miles (rough estimate if you go out and back)
Time: 1 Hr 20 minutes (average rider)
Rating: 7 out of 10
Intermediate

This is a short trail and it is an easy out and back. However you can connect up with Salmon Falls Trail and make it a much longer ride if you would like to get some distance in. There is two places you can park and they are both free at each entrance. Both of them are on Salmon Falls Road and if you go past Salmon Falls Bridge you went to far. The trail has a little bit of a roller coaster effect and some technical challenges throughout. It overlooks the lake in several spots and has nice scenery. I think this trail would have rated an 8 if it was a little longer. If you are a beginner you will have no problem making this ride.

Tags: Bridge, Eldorado Hills, highway, parking, ride, Salmon Falls, Salmon Falls Bridge, Salmon Falls Road, Salmon Falls Trail, Sweet
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Salmon Falls

January 7, 2012 in California, Folsom, Salmon Falls, Trail Reviews

Highest Elevation: 573 ft
Lowest Elevation: 454 ft
Trail length: 16 miles (rough)
Time: 2 hrs (average rider)
Rating: 8 out of 10
Intermediate

Salmon Falls starts off with a difficult technical climb and descent. After about a mile into the trail it becomes a fairly easy ride with the occasional technical challenge. You are overlooking the lake on a good portion of the ride and the scenery is great in the spring. It gets dry in the summer and is not as nice but can still be a lot of fun to cruise this trail. This is an out and back adventure for the most part, but if you really learn this area or ask some of the local riders. You can make a loop towards the back end a few different ways. There is actually some neat secrets hidden among Salmon Falls and when the water is low an old bridge can be seen. You can ride over the bridge and connect up with the Sweet Water Trail. This is one I keep going back to and find little off shoots all over the place. Not to easy to get board with this area.

Tags: Eldorado Hills, exit, highway, Intermediate Salmon Falls, parking, ride, road, Salmon Falls, Salmon Falls Bridge, the Eldorado Hills blvd
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Red Hill

January 6, 2012 in California, Jamestown, Red Hill, Trail Reviews

Take highway 99 to 120 east. Continue down 120 until you come to 108/120 and head east. Stay on 108/120 until you come to CO RD J59/ La Grange Rd. You can only travel south on La Grange and about a mile down you will make a left onto Red Hills Rd. Look for a parking lot with a bathroom on the right side about 1/4 mile and that is where you want to park.

Highest Elevation: 1518 ft.
Lowest Elevation: 1007 ft.
Trail length: 10.5 miles (rough)
Time: 2 hours (average rider)
Rating: 8 out of 10

This ride can be a lot of fun for an experienced mountain biker. It is a very rocky trail and you may find yourself cursing it at first. Once you start getting use to the technical climbing and loose rocks you will start smiling and really begin to enjoy the uniqueness of Red Hill. New trails are being added all the time by some local trail blazers that ride here frequently. The main course is pretty well marked and loops back to the parking lot. Many trails branch off the main course but all seem to come back into each other after awhile. Parking is free and there is a bathroom located at the trail entrance. If you ride to the end of the loop you will have a nice view over looking a lake. I had the privilege of running into a gentlemen at that very spot named Tom who helps finds and makes new trails. What an amazing rider and nice guy. He showed me some new routes that are not on the map and still being made. This was a great adventure to be able to follow someone that rides here all the time and I hope to run into him again.

Tags: bathroom, Continue, highway, La Grange, La Grange Rd, parking, Red Hill, Red Hill Take highway 99, Red Hills Rd, ride
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Emigrant Trail

January 3, 2012 in California, Emigrant Trail, Trail Reviews, Truckee

To find the trail entrance to Emigrant. You will want to take 89 north. Be careful there is an 89 south and it is a few miles west of the highway you want. You will travel up highway 89 about 4 miles. Just past a bridge on your right hand side will be a gravel parking area. There is a well marked sign labeled “Emigrant”. If you see Hobart Mills Road you have gone to far.

Highest Elevation: 6161 ft
Lowest Elevation: 5766 ft
Trail length: 20 miles (roughly 10 miles one way)
Time: 2 hrs 30 minutes (average rider)
Rating: 7 out of 10

I am pleasantly surprised by this nice little out and back on Emigrant Trail. It is another little adventure that is great for beginners and those just wanting to get in a casual ride. Small climbs and drops along various parts of this dense forestry path kept me smiling and having a good time. You can expect small technical challenges along your little bike journey. Not to worry though! Nothing exceeds the intermediate level. Advanced riders can have some fun with this as well. I pedaled hard and fast the hole time and it almost felt as if I was on a speeder bike from the “Return of the Jedi”. I will for sure do this ride again in the future.

Tags: entrance, gravel, highway, parking, ride
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Forest Hill Divide

December 22, 2011 in Auburn, California, Forest Hill Divide, Trail Reviews

Trail is located on Forest Hill Rd off of Highway 80 in the town of Auburn. The loop takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to do (average rider).

Highest elevation :1891 ft (Forest Hill Divide)
Lowest elevation :1647 ft (Forest Hill Divide)
Bottom of Clementine : 563 ft
Distance: 12 miles (rough)

Just a couple of STM members out having a casual ride in Auburn, California. Perfect weather and just a great day to do the Forest Hill Divide Loop. We seen about a dozen other riders out there just having a blast. This is a great trail for any beginners out there that like to get started in this exhilarating and adventures hobby. The loop is about 10 to 12 miles. There is free parking in a couple of different locations along Forest Hill Rd. They are easy to find do to all the cars that are usually parked by the trail entrances. There are portable bathrooms located at two locations along the trail close to the rode. Makes it very convenient before you head off on your bikes. Traffic goes both ways so be careful. Many riders find it best to go counter clockwise and I do as well. This trail hooks up with the Connector Trail and the Connector Trail runs into the Clementine. If you do those trails with the Forest Hill Divide you may want to plan on bringing a second vehicle to shuttle back to the top.

Tags: elevation, Forest Hill, Forest Hill Divide Trail, Forest Hill Rd, the Forest Hill Divide Loop
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Olmstead Loop

December 22, 2011 in California, Cool, Olmstead Loop, Trail Reviews

Trail is located on Highway 49/193 off of Highway 80. Stay on 49/193 until you come to the town of Cool. There is a huge gravel parking lot at the trail head. It cost $5.00 to park there. However I have parked in a parking lot located by some stores several times and avoided paying. Its usually not very busy and it is within 100 yards of the gravel parking lot.

Highest elevation :1611
Lowest elevation :1222 ft
Distance: 9.5 miles (rough)
Average time: 1.5 hours

The trail is not far from Clementine, Forest Hill Divide, and the Connector Trail. If you do the entire loop it is roughly 10 miles. There are several little trails that shoot off in different directions and meet back up to the main trail. Most of the ride is fire road but there is some singletrack. Be careful some routes are off limits to mountain bikes and are for horses and hikers only. The trails are well marked to prevent any confusion. There is an abundance of wildlife and you are almost guaranteed to see some while you are cruising around. Wild turkeys, bobcats, deer, and the occasional mountain lions are found here and if you explore enough of the trails you can come across some ponds and streams. Good scenery the entire ride, great trail for beginners, and a pretty fun ride.

Tags: Distance, highway, mountain, parking, ride
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Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride – June 18, 2009 – Video – Photos

June 25, 2009 in California, Mountain Bike, Photos, Trail Map, Trail Reviews, Video, Write Up

What a blast! This has to be one of the funnest trails I’ve ever ridden! The long climb at the start (4.5mi) was quickly forgotten when the downhill started. I will make many special trips to Tahoe again just to ride this trail!

[Download]


Mr. Toad's Wild Ride - June 18, 2009Jun 18, 2009 Photos: 32

38.794433181912
-119.9595451355

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