Washington/Oregon/NoCal MTB Road trip

[skibrd]

Morning Mags,

I'm headed from Seattle to Oakland later this week and have a few days to burn. Do you guys have any suggestions for places to stop and ride along the way? I'd prefer places with semi-close by camping, that's preferably feee, but I do know you get what you pay for, and a shower is nice from time to time.

I can get down just about every feature on public trails around Seattle and Jackson, WY (except that one fade away on Lithium that always gets me, I think Dunfee has video of me crashing multiple times saved in his archives for blackmail). My trusted Devinci Spartan is coming with me, so epic 50 mile XC rides are not what I'm looking for, but I do enjoy earning my turns. Something under 25 miles and less then 5k ft of climbing would be nice. I'd rather just descend 5k ft of brown pow, but that's not always possible.


I've heard great things about Downeville and was going to check out the Downieville Downhill track that Trailforks suggests. What else do you guys suggest?

My only constraint is I'd like to be in Oakland early next week, so I've got some time to play with.

I do have my touring gear if it turns to corn season and the skiing is better then the biking.

[skibrd]

Please don't take this as a lazy mag looking for a freebie to your favorite spot to shred.

McKenzie River Trail in Bend sounds fun too. I'm sort of basing some of this off various searches on best places to ride, but as we all know, those are usually not the best places to ride.

[muted]

Ashland has awesome shuttles, Oakridge does too. Both have big vert. Downieville is worthy, of course too.

MacKenzie trail is XC but it's one of the most beautiful trails I've ever seen and it's an easy ride.

Cold Creek is supposedly awesome, I haven't been yet. Near Camus. i don't think they have daily shuttles.

Black Rock, Sandy, etc are also standard recs.

[kidwoo]

Most of the stuff you're thinking about in CA is still buried and will be for a while.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

^^^ This is true, Downieville is likely buried in many feet of snow in the upper reaches. Could you even get to Packer Saddle?

I would consider crossing the mountains and driving down the dry side and exploring some desert riding or bring skis and make it a ski trip.

[muted]

I'm guessing Ashland has more snow than normal this year, and they shuttle from the top of a ski area.

Web cam not looking good, sorry: https://mt-ashland-cam.click2stream.com/

[skibrd]

Most of the stuff you're thinking about in CA is still buried and will be for a while.

Good point! I'll call ahead to local bike shops and see if they are riding yet, and if they are, what is the snow level/where are they starting riding from.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

The riding in the coast ranges of OR and CA down to the Bay Area is probably fantastic right now.

[teledad]

^^^ This is true, Downieville is likely buried in many feet of snow in the upper reaches. Could you even get to Packer Saddle?

Gold Lake Road hasn't even opened. This is near Packer Saddle but 500 feet lower, shows 7.5 feet of snow still:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/q...03&span=10days

Might be able to do an out/back from town instead of shuttling (turn around when you hit snow). Or ride somewhere coastal. I'd suggest Demo (Santa Cruz) but it's closed due to winter weather damage (downed trees, washouts, etc.). Oregon might be a better bet.

[kidwoo]

The riding in the coast ranges of OR and CA down to the Bay Area is probably fantastic right now.

^I would do this if I were you.

[skibrd]

Driving down Rt 101 would be awesome, sounds like that's the plan. I'll hit up the other areas some other time

[rippling over canyons]

Post Canyon is a lower elevation area. Also, I really like Demo Forest in Santa Cruz, but last I heard it was still closed due to winter storm damage.

[evdog]

If you want something different, go down the coast highway in Norcal. You can cross over from I-5 at Grant's Pass.

At Prairie Creek Redwoods State/Redwoods National Park you can ride a 20mi loop starting with a drop down the Ossagon Tr which is one of the few in a National Park bikes are allowed on. Then ride the Coastal trail along the beach where there's a herd of resident elk. Loop back and finish on paved road lined with massive redwoods. Camping is expensive, so we drove further down to our next ride. This is more a cool experience ride than high quality trail ride. Worth it, though. http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/415/fi...nalWeb2016.pdf

Continue along down the coast and ride Paradise Royale near Shelter Cove. Tolkan campground is small but pretty cool with a mini bike park right there. No showers but only camping was just $8-10. PR is a really fun 12mi loop, some tough climbing but also a couple insanely fun descents with some jumps and features. And since I was there last they've built another trail off the loop back to the main road. This stuff is high quality singletrack and its a really cool area. Its hard to get to but if you're cruising down the coast its maybe 45mins off the 101. https://www.flickr.com/photos/blmcal...57656987487389

How far you want to drive each day will influence where you want to stop. Blackrock in OR may be a good stopover thought there is limited camping nearby. Ashland and Oakridge are real fun but may be limited by snow as will be anything at elevation. Whiskeytown near Redding is good and has tons of trails. You can also drive over to the coast from there, though its slower. Bidwell in Chico and Annadel in Santa Rosa are also fun.

[skibrd]

Thanks guys. I ended up busting myself and my bike up riding on Friday, so no biking for a few days. :-/ When the trail builders in the area suggest wearing a full face helmet and more then just knee pads, it's a pretty good hint that a half helmet and knee pads are not quite enough. Oops haha. Seattle has some rowdy pirate trails. I'll be back to give them hell.

I'm going to try to ride the loop at Prairie Creek Redwoods and maybe Paradise Royale. Maybe Jackson Demo tomorrow or Tuesday. It depends on my wrist, legs, and knees.

[SchralphMacchio]

I bet JDSF and Annadel State Park are in spectacular shape right now.

[skibrd]

Demo Forest in Santa Cruz is awesome, I made it down there yesterday with the plan to do one loop of the Flow trail. I ended up doing two loops because it was so awesome.

I'm going to check out Annadel today or tomorrow.