Will be at a hotel in SD for a night that supposedly is right next to Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve. Is it worth bringing my bike to ride there? If so any trail suggestions. Thx
A lot of the trails are not marked or named. Seemed as though you had to climb out of the canyon up one of the 2 sides to get any elevation. In a pinch, it was an ok place to ride. Way too flat for the SS. Maybe there was much more out there to be ridden, but again, the only maps I could find didn't have trail names on them, plus the mileage markers were way off.
That would be yes. This is one of 3 to 5 of the main go to trails in the San Diego area. There are a lot of miles that can be covered there in the main valley but also many offshoots up into the hill and mesa trails from there, mostly on the North side, and to the East. See also: http://www.mountainbikebill.com/DelMarMesa.htm The SD meetup group also has frequent rides there: http://www.meetup.com/san-diego-mountain-biking-meetup/ You are also close to the trails at Lake Hodge and Daley Ranch. And a few great trails in the mountains East of SD at Mt Laguna and Rancho Cuyamaca.
I live near LPQ and ride it all the time. The canyon runs east/west with a northern trail (more single track) and a southern trail (more climbing). As mtnbikej said it is relatively flat and not much is marked. Unfortunately the good stuff within LPQ is illegal but it does get ridden. LPQ is a great connector to a number of other options or you can do some loops using the east/west trails and using all the bridges and crossings that link them together. There is also a waterfall area in the middle of the park. to expand on LPQ - keep heading east and cross over black mountain road and pick up some more single track. Look at Google maps and you can keep going another 20+ miles all the way to Sycamore canyon. A good option is ride out to canyonside elementary and climb up to the ridge above it and turn around and head back. This is a mixture of fire road and single track. - from within LPQ head up power lines and go right on the fire road. You can ride all around on the fire roads. You might also see a bunch of single track up there on Del Mar Mesa. Might not be legal though . You can connect from Del Mar Mesa to McGonigle Canyon (there are a number of options to drop down) which is north of there. Great single track and things to see. It also runs east/west. - you would need to study Google maps but if you really want to explore, from McGonigle Canyon you can connect to Gonzales Canyon and add in Torrey Pines High School loop to the west or you can go east and connect to the Lasardi Loop (by going under the 56) or hit the trails near Black Mountain. You can also connect from there and go all the way up Black Mountain. The short answer would be Yes, there is dirt and Yes of course you should bring your bike and yes a ride is always worth it. Also if you have lights LPQ is a blast at night!
in general it is a snoozer fire road, but is good for convenient rides from home and rides to the waterfall with your significant other. there used to be some damn fine trails there, some incredible riding but the effin' city, the horse bastards in that area (not all horse people are like this only the SOBs at LPQ), the developers, and the effin' clueless fishngame society closed it all down. However, if you rent a horse, feel free to purchase the machete kit so you can hack that beast through the trees, it's totally good if you are on a horse, or if you just hole-up down there as an undocumented person.
