# How's the trail riding in Norcal? Only Road so far.



## Psychbiker (Oct 17, 2011)

I'm on the fence in getting a 29er or upgrading my road bike. 

Wanted to see how the trails are in the East Bay and say 45min away. Don't want to travel too far to bike. Heard only good trails are Santa Cruz. 

Thanks!


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

Mtbr.com's Norcal forum will give you good info, and they organize rides. 

Joaquin Miller Park, in the Oakland hills, has some singletrack. 45 minutes will get you to Skeggs (El Corte de Madera open space preserve) on the peninsula or China Camp in Marin County. Farther afield there's Soquel Demo Forrest (near Santa Cruz), Henry Coe State Park (east of Morgan Hill, Gilroy, very hot in summer), and Annadel State Park (Santa Rosa).

I ride both road and mtb and I feel that the road riding is much better than the mountain biking in the greater Bay Area. There isn't much singletrack here and there's a lot of conflict with hikers and equestrians.

Still, it's good to have a mountain bike.


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## HIPCHIP (Apr 23, 2009)

I don't MTB up here, mostly road, but have many friends that ride MTB in the Sacramento area. From what I hear, most areas are rocky and you seem to have to drive about an hour to get to any of the nicer trails. Seems like if you want to MTB up here you need to make a day of it. For the time I'd be driving, I could be road riding, so I just stick with Road. 
This seems to be a good forum for info though: Mtbr Forums


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## w-g (Mar 9, 2006)

As was mentioned, hit up MTBR's NorCal forum. Good info there if you search for East Bay riding. Its a fairly regular topic. One question back though is, where in the east bay? Berkeley?, San Lorenzo, Antioch? Then the follow up is what kind of MTB riding?


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## ziscwg (Apr 19, 2010)

Where ever you go, bring beer.
It's almost required for the post ride social.


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## PoorCyclist (Oct 14, 2010)

My general experience in east bay is that the trails are very exposed and hot (this isn't a lot different than road biking in east bay) but...

- exposed weather combined with 17% - 22% grade climbs make it a lot of hiking time or great work out. (dreaming of riding under tall shaded conifers -- not..! prepared for the hardest and harshest workout you have not experienced on road).
- rutted and hard packed trails
- trails that suddenly turn into no-bike hiker only trails often with no alternatives. This could be avoided with careful planning, sometimes there isn't a legal loop for bikes! Sometimes I see something that seems ok on map and when I get there, is that no-bike sign again. There is a ticketing risk even walking your bike on hiker trails that might be the closest way to exit.

Trails on mt diablo is are more friendly for MTB going all over.

Beside mtbr check our this site for trails near your area.

Bay Area Mountain Bike Rides


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## singlespeed.org (Feb 14, 2006)

Good tails all around the Bay Area, but the mention about East Bay often being dry, dusty, and steep is true (exception being some in the Berkeley Hills where there is good tree cover).

Away from there, Marin has some good trails even though there is a shortage of legal single track in many parks. China Camp and Tamarancho are standouts. Headlands has good views and long, mostly fireroads loops.

Peninsula has a good amount of trails, mostly in Midpeninsula Regional Open Space Districts parks (mostly along Skyline Blvd) plus a few town parks (like Waterdog in Belmont and Arastraderto in Palo Alto).

Awesome stuff in Santa Cruz (Wilder Ranch, UC, etc.) and up along Highway 17 peak (Soquel Demonstration Forest).


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## wgscott (Jul 14, 2013)

When I lived in Berkeley, I only road-biked. Now that I live in Santa Crud, I've spent more time mountain-biking, but just got a new road bike (first one since 1987 in Berkeley). If there is no traffic, I can get from Berkeley to SC in about an hour (in my car). If you want shade, the UCSC trails are great, and Wilder Ranch (which adjoins it) has many more trails, some of which are a bit more exposed. It tends to be significantly cooler here than the East Bay, however.


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