Camping and mountain biking at Snow Summit

Hey STR! Me and a few friends are going to go camping and mountain biking in big bear this weekend and i was wondering if any of you have any tips. We are camping at the pineknot campground located next to snow summit ski lifts. We are planning on taking the ski lifts up and then biking around. Here is the trail map of the area

LINK TO MAP

The route I have planned is to head west on the 2N10 to the grandview point. after hanging out for a bit go north 1E01. Then back to camp on the 18. I feel that this route is going to be short and mostly fireroad.

Another route i have planned is to head east on the 2N10 and then hitting up the upper and lower falline trails. is this area very technical?

i am not a pro, nor are my friends. i also feel that this map does not show me all the trails that are there. does anybody here have any routes around snow summit for a begginer -> intermediate rider? does anybody have a better map that they dont mind scanning?

this is going to be my first camping/mountain biking trip and i can not wait! :bang:

 

Going to wait in on a reply as well, might finally head up there on Saturday...

 

How much does it cost to camp there?

 

NICE! i have a red/black giant boulder se (extra small). i'll be rolling with 3 other people. so if you see me, say hello :wave:

each night is 20 dollars with a 7 dollars reservation fee. check out recreation.gov for more information.\\/

 

Summit Lift assist looks like a possibility on Sat and maybe Sun (AM bikes of course).

 

what do you mean exactly?:?:

 

Me and Tara were entertaining the possibility of going up on Saturday. We were looking to ride some of the more XC oriented stuff that I haven't ridden up there yet like Stonehenge, Pine Knot, and Cabin 89 etc in the morning and do some of the more mellow DH stuff in the afternoon.

For a noob Upper and lower fall line can be tricky. For a reasonably established rider, it's a piece of cake. There are a lot of rock gardens and loose sections. The Upper section is steeper and looser. Lower fall Line is rocky at the beginning and smooth & flowy for the last half.

 

where would stonehenge be located on the map that i have provided? im more of an XC rider than i am downhill but i am always looking for something new, gotta get that experience. the upper and lower fall lines seem hardcore but i may be able to clear it. if not, i'll just go on no name back on 2N10. thanks a bunch man!:beer:

 

Screw the lifts...from Pine knot take bristelcone to skyline drive up 2N10 and take that across(west). You will see an unmarked single track(between the skyline drive text and deer camp text on the map you posted...drop in on that and it will drop you to 2N08, take 2N08 west to 1E01 north(downhill) which is the most fun ive had on a bike in a long time. It will drop you in ASpen glen right by the alpine slides. Take 18 back into town, hit summit and take the lift up to do it over again. Save the lift for lap two or 3...

None of it is too technical. We had a newer girl with us and she only walked one part and that was the last drop on the unmarked section we rode.

The roads marked mountain bike trails are narrower, 1E01 is single track with small portions of 2 track. the mountain bike roads are fire roads and accesibile to dual sport bikes and cars but no OHV's.

Its a hell of a time, we did it once over labor day seat of the pants and had a blast. We will be back next month to do it again.

 

Last year I went up 5 times and down 5 different ways.

I always take the long ride last and stop for pizza before riding back through town.

 

For sure! I will be on a red black large Specialized FSR XC and my buddy on a small brown FSR XC.

 

Does anyone have a useful trail map with names for snow summit? FortyTwo's map is very helpful, but it's far from complete.

I'd be happy with GPS data, google earth maps, paper maps, topo... anything other than the craptastic one they have at the lift.

 

Is the one at the lift, the same as the OP posted?

 

the best one i found is located here
http://adventurehostel.com/MountainBikeTrailGuide.html

it has trail descriptions and what not. they also have a kmz(google earth file) of MOST of the trail maps. the only thing is that it is pretty hard to see the trails on google earth. its probably because im color blind.... but its there. heres a link to the google earth file:
http://adventurehostel.com/BigBearLakeCaliforniaTrails.kmz

download and open using google earth. the topo map also helps with the trail lines, but it is still hard to see. hope that helps!

 

What time are you guys planning on heading out on Sat am? i will be up there this weekend as well and may like to join you guys.

 

well, we're camping and check in time is at 2:00pm. we're going to set up camp first eat lunch. if the temps are good, we'll hit up the lift (or climb east skyline dr) around 330pm. but on sunday, we'll probably leave start our ride at around 7-8am.

are you camping as well?

 

Here's mine. Still a bit incomplete. There's about 2 or 3 trails that I know of that are not shown here. This is mostly DH oriented stuff.

 

No, the one at the lift is not anywhere good as that one. That one is pretty helpful, but the names don't match with what people call them!

 

That one is the official trail map for all the legal trails. The only two that aren't on there and are legal are Stonehenge and Wet Dream. Technically, Stonehenge is an illegal trail, but the Forest Service is in the process of making it legal (trail marker).

It's pretty easy to find all of them. Look at it this way, everything on the east side of SS is DH country. Yes, it can be done on an AM or XC bike, but it's a helluva lot more fun on a DH (read 6" or more) bike. Everything on the east side of the resort with the exception of Cabin 89 is XC-able.

Dick's Trail and Coyote Run on the eastside are in the in between catagory. XC-able if you want, but go fast and hold on if you have 6" or more of travel.

I'll be over there on Sunday doing my regular (2) 24 mile loops if you want to tag along. I usually start at Aspen Glen Picnic area, climb up either Mill Creek or Pinknot and go from there. If you see a guy on an orange Kona The King in spandex - that's me!

 

thats an awesome map! how did you highlight the trails like that?