RR: Coal Canyon

[dstepper]

Continuing the never ending quest for new rides:

Since I noticed Mini Moab on Franco's Map of the Santa Ana Mountains, I have been wanting to check it out. On this attempt to find it I climbed the wrong ridge. Going up Coal Canyon I took the climb up the East Ridge of the canyon, after downloading the waypoints from my GPS into my mapping software, I should have crossed the wash and climbed up the West Ridge of the canyon...anyway next time. Still got it some good climbing, I went until the road ended at a transmission tower and into a way steep firebreak. They have recently graded the fireroad and it is very loose. Not that fun of a ride...but when is climbing Santa Ana Mountain Fireroads....fun.

Here are a couple of pics.

[Skeeter]

nice pics, love the view with the tire in it. What was the mileage and elevation gain?

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by RSMLA

nice pics, love the view with the tire in it. What was the mileage and elevation gain?

I did 10.5 miles and 2200 ft. I also climbed another so called "private road" trying to get to the Main Divide. The lady that owns a ranch along the road stopped me. She told me it was a "private road". I did not have my USGS Map with me so I was not going to fight with her. So I dropped back down and came up through Chino Hills State Park, ending up on the same road but on the other side of her property. Simular to what used to happen to us when we would ride Blackstar.

We have the right to ride Forest Service fire access roads, we just have to stay on the road. It is our tax money that pays for the road maintaince, I guess I was not in a combative mood; since only climbing maybe a mile or two and 500-600 feet when she stopped me...so not a huge loss.

[Koke]

Here is a Coal Canyon route:
http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=343

There is a CA Dept of Fish & Game sign that says no bikes on the trails but I don't know if that includes the fire road (the route above is only fire road). Cleveland NF Rangers said it's open to bikes when called.

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by Koke

Here is a Coal Canyon route:
http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=343

There is a CA Dept of Fish & Game sign that says no bikes on the trails but I don't know if that includes the fire road (the route above is only fire road). Cleveland NF Rangers said it's open to bikes when called.

Thank you for Geoladders route.

When you go under Highway 91 and enter Coal Canyon you have three choices...I will adventually ride all three. I wanted to getting some tracking info into my computer so I could tell what road was what. There are a number of roads out there. I now know how to get to Mini Moab, now the question is, is it worth riding to.

There are also some other climbs in the Irvine Lake/Toll Road area that I want to explore...Lakeview Rd., North Windy Ridge and Coal Mine Rd.

Thanks for the RR Steppie. Is that BMX track still out there? I used to race there back when I was 14, good times!

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by i am dino

Thanks for the RR Steppie. Is that BMX track still out there? I used to race there back when I was 14, good times!

Did not see any BMX track. But then again as soon as I got into the canyon I went left and started climbing. There is alot of flat stuff down in the canyon bottom that I did not explore.

[Pain Freak]

Dean,
I've done quite a bit over there, but I don't know the names of the places and I usually just keep exploring. Now with the days getting shorter I'll be just sticking to Skyline/Blackstar. If you want to do some on a weekend I'd be very interested in exploring some more.

Do you know the name of the trail/fireroad that goes back down from the antenna's? Is this Coal Canyon? I hooked it up once with another fireroad and ended up going all the way down to Green River/SART.

[dstepper]

Originally Posted by Pain Freak

Dean,Do you know the name of the trail/fireroad that goes back down from the antenna's? Is this Coal Canyon? I hooked it up once with another fireroad and ended up going all the way down to Green River/SART.

Not sure yet, but most likely Coal Canyon is the road you came down. The other two I explored today did not get me to the Main Divide.

[Koke]

From Sierra Peak (antennas) is North Main Divide and then Coal Canyon down to Green River.

[Flat Broke]

Originally Posted by i am dino

Thanks for the RR Steppie. Is that BMX track still out there? I used to race there back when I was 14, good times!

F'n A! I was thinking the exact same thing. My brothers and I raced there, Temecula, and Elsinore (before it moved to Temecula).

For the guys that have ridden in the area, the track would have been North of the 91, between the river and the freeway. It would be west of Coal Canyon Rd(where you go under the freeway) probably about... Ah hell, I'll just bring it up in USAphotomaps.

coalcanyonbmx.jpg



Ahhh, the good ol' days. Next time someone takes a ride out there, take a peek and see if anything is left. I would assume they would have leveled it for liability reasons, but who knows.

Chris

[Skeeter]

yeah the track is no more, i used to live in YL and raced there all the time. Unfortunatly they nearly leveled the track, not ridable anymore

[Pain Freak]

Going down the fireroad I could see off to my right a big area that looked like it had been graded at one time. It still had a lot of open space, but nothing ressembing a BMX track.