CA road trip to hit as many trails as possible

[davidB]

Bored out of my mind since I got laid off and with the girlfriend away, i'm thinking this may be the only time to do something like this. I want to drive up to Downieville and hit trails in between. This would sort of be half road trip half bike trip so my route should not put me out in the middle of nowhere.

I want to find trails near Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo, and anywhere else near Sacramento.

I'm thinking a week or so to cram everything in. Anyone ever do anything like this?

*late at night bored thoughts*

edit: now i'm just thinking of doing Downieville and get quite a few runs in if possible

[MTBMaven]

In SLO there is Montana De Oro. That place is really pretty with some fun trails. The camping is really nice too. There are some other good trails in the area but I have never ridden them. Hit up a local shop for more info.

[ddmansprty]

+1 on Montana De Oro, it is just south of Moro Bay. LOTS of equestrian traffic though.

[Pain Freak]

About 5 years ago I went up to Santa Cruz and rode with a LBS that used to be down by the boardwalk, great bunch of guys who took me to the Soquel Demo forest or something like that. That was a great ride. I also did some exploring by the Santa Cruz University that took all day as I wasn't quite sure where I was going and got off track a few times and had to circle back.

Then there's the stuff on the old Fort ord base. I've rode this a number of times and really like it, but it's very tame compared to San Gabes. And if you move inland thers a bunch more stuff. Hit up the boards over at emptybeer and go to the Norcal boards they'll give you the lowdown and will probably set up a ride or two for you.

[Rkoa63]

Originally Posted by ddmansprty

+1 on Montana De Oro, it is just south of Moro Bay. LOTS of equestrian traffic though.

Another +1 for Montana de Oro. I was just there 4 days ago and I would have to say it's beautiful. Didn't do any riding, just the whole tourist thing. Here are a couple pics.

[katonk]

Just did Montana de Oro last month. It's pretty much required riding. Frankly, the climb was a little bit too much for me, but the views and decent where worth it. I stayed in Moro bay, but the camp sites near the beach looked pretty amazing.

Here's a thread about it: Morro Bay? BryGuy17's mini-tour pretty much nails it.

Bonus: On the way there you can stop by Cambria Bike in SLO. There's also a very nice brewery right next door!

[Rossage]

I'm stuck in Sacramento right now and I have been riding in Auburn, which you will have to pass through on the way to Downieville. Try the Foresthill divide loop or the Clementine loop in the auburn state Rec. area. Both are ok trails but nothing compared to D-ville.

[ladera Dave]

I would hit hole in the ground or Mr Toads on the way to Downiville. Have a great time.

[Bryguy17]

lets see. MDO is a very good trail to go hit if you're passing through. It's pretty dusty right now considering it's been awhile since they got rain, but it's still really nice. CCCMB has also been doing a lot of trailwork out there, some of which needs to pack down a bit.

The cool thing (no pun intended) about MDO though, is it's almost always fairly cold there. I swear, there's some evil genius with a weather machine making fog just hang over that whole area. I was up there a few weeks ago. it was about 75 in SLO proper, and a solid 60-65 in MDO. pretty sweet.

Also in slo worth taking a look at is the stuff on Cuesta Ridge. good, technical riding, and lots of really fun descents. drop me a PM and I can give recs/directions based on what type of riding you want to do.

other suggestions: Soquel Demo forest is Santa Cruz. supposed to be pretty sweet.

not sure about stuff in Monterey offhand. I might be able to get you a contact with a friend though.

Up near sacremento, depending on where, I would say look into someplace like Boggs Mountain. It's a HUGE area, with tons of singletrack going everywhere. I did a race there last fall and it was amazing. Basically, it's a lot like big bear, but at less altitude, and with MUCH better soil. super tacky norcal soil

http://www.boggsmountain.org/index.htm it's just north of napa. seems from that site that there's a lot of hunting in the area though during august and september.