Ride Report Mammoth – Rock Creek Epic

Lower Rock Creek trail is a usually a staple of most folks visits to Mammoth Mountain bike park. But after getting to know the technical features like the back of your hand and bombing down it in 45 less than minutes, it was time to check out the full Rock Creek experience. This day we helped some fellow riders in setting up their lower Rock Creek shuttle from Tom’s Place, just off the 395 about ¾ mile up the road from the upper trailhead.



That just meant we had a bit of climbing before us.







At Pine Grove campground, we checked out the Rock Creek lodge & store.



At this point we decided to head up the trail along Rock Creek. Lots of elevated trail made for great practice on skinnies since the hewed logs had just enough gap between them that it would throw you a bit when transitioning.



Riding past an unnamed lake, there’s about 300’ of elevation gain that was part HAB stairs, part rocky technical climbing that led past a log cabin and this rewarding view of Rock Creek.



A bit further, Rock Creek Lake (9,695’) and valley of mountains opens up before you. We just stood here for a few minutes just soaking the it in.



There’s even a rideable hiking trail around the lake with a couple of technical spots thrown in. Breaking for lunch, the bikes bathed in the sun.



Back on the road, the last push of climb topped out just over near 10,100’ to pick up our trailhead just before Mosquito Flats. This portion of trail gets lots of use from the local corral rides.



View of the lake as we climb higher,



Er, push higher



Ok, there’s definitely some hike-a-bike getting up top,



To start on Sandy Canyon trail.



Which still sees extensive 4 hoofed traffic on this section,



And then it joins into the Jeep road,



Which if you haven’t guessed by the name, it’s also sandy.



And occasionally scatters some rocks about.



Most folks will ride down the steepest part of Sand Canyon proper and then have a 300’ climb back out to the upper Lower Rock Creek trailhead. Instead, no good epic is complete without some old fashioned bushwacking. The topo map shows a jeep trail the next ridgeline over in Whiskey Canyon, which was easily verified by satellite imagery.



What can’t be shown via satellite is just how much brush you’ll actually encounter.



Looking back at the ridgeline we hiked. Yes, Sand Canyon road is that steep (& sandy to boot).



After 25 minutes hiking 0.51 mile, we picked up our jeep road in Whiskey Canyon.



It was all pure descent…sandy of course.



The end spits you out at a very convenient place, right at the turnoff for the trailhead.



From here, it’s the usual Lower Rock Creek trail to put the icing on the cake to a long day.



Pure bliss racing the day’s last light,



And finishing just as the last rays of light illuminate the tops of the tallest peaks in the distance.



We enjoyed Rock Creek lake so much, we camped by the lake and woke up to this view.



While gaining 3,000’ on the 10.5 mile road climb isn’t mandatory, seeing the grandeur of the valley unfold before you was a 3-D experience you wouldn’t get from driving up via car.



Type: High Sierra Epic
Start/Finish elevations: 7,087’/5,053’
Highest/Lowest elevations: 10,218’/5,053’
Distance: Full tour 30.97 mi; Trail only 18.95 mi
Total Ascent: Full tour 3,432’; Trail only 438’
Total Descent: Full tour 5,460’; Trail only 5,449’

 

Wow, fantastic ride report, thanks.

Rock creek is one of my favorite places and I've hit the lower MTB portion many times. The sand canyon ride is definately on my short list for next summer.
R

 

Thanks for sharing. I always love seeing new places. It looks like the trail you went up would be a good out and back. Maybe a bit more fun than the jeep trail down. Thanks again.

 

I've rode Lower Rock Creek a number of times, and have wanted to start from Rock Creek Lake. I never thought of riding up the road to the lake. That adds a whole different aspect to the ride. Thanks for the great RR!

 

Nice ride report. We did this last year, but went down the steep Sand Canyon jeep trail and then turned left at the bottom to end up right above the top part of Lower Rock creek. Your way looks like it might be better if more people start riding down that ridge and clear the brush a little. Did you ride up the singletrack that starts by the Snow Play area below East Fork? That makes a fun addition that bypasses a little of the road climb as well. Your pictures do a great job of capturing the beauty of that area.

 

Awesome!

Grace and I were hiking up there about a month ago and saw that Sand Canyon trail; neither of us had any idea prior to then that there was an "upper rock creek". We've been dying to get back up and ride it asap. Glad to see it's doable.

Thanks for another great RR!

 

Nice exploring guys. I have scouted out and hoped for a route down Upper Rock Creek from Mosquito Flats to Tom's Place linking the many campgrounds and fisherman trails, just never found the time to do it. I was told that the Sand Canyon route was way to sandy and not really worth the effort. So the big question is after doing it would you ride Sand Canyon again?

Hope you had dinner at Toms...they have great home cooked meals.

Dean

 

GREAT RR man! Those pics are gorgeous.

 

Too bad no scratch and sniff, but of course for the fawna!!!

 

I love riding Lower Rock Creek. I always wondered if you can ride up to Rock Creek Lake. Thanks for sharing those pictures. Incredible!

 

Incredible. Great stuff. Nice work.

 

Amazing RR!

 

You can find single track from just down the road from Mosquito Flat down past East Fork campground, but from there on it will be all road to Tom's.

There are spots that are soft, but the 4WD traffic seems to pack it down as best it can be without tons of moisture. Combining Sand Canyon w/ Lower Rock Creek was a new experience, but there's too many other rides out there to do before I go do it again.

 

Very nice RR with beautiful pics... I can wipe that off my list... too sandy for the trouble. As you pointed out, too many other trails up there to experience.

 

Epic!! Most people have ridden the Lower Rock Creek but how many stop to ask "wait, is there a upper rock creek trail?" And of those that asked the question, how many take the time to plot out the route on a GPS and set out to explore the off the beaten path?

 

I know this is old, but it's a great report. A friend and I shuttled this ride about the same time (summer of 2010). We started on the short trail that leads to the Sandy Canyon trail. I actually thought Sand Canyon was pretty fun. It's super sandy in places, but it's also usually pretty steep downhill, so you kind of surf the soft sand. You aren't really pedaling through it, so it's not bad. Then we took a right at the end of the canyon and came out on the back way to Rock Creek. We made a left on the road and climbed up to the start of Rock Creek and then enjoyed that too. Our car was waiting for us at the bottom to help us get back to Tom's Place for dinner. I was plenty tired after that, so I can't imagine doing the climb up the road and then the hike-a-bike over to the other Jeep Trail. Although being at the top of the Lower Rock Creek trail might just be worth it.

Thanks for the post and the pictures. Brought back some good memories.

~R

 

good one.
i've done the upper and lower together a few times and its actually pretty fun. you can go real fast down sand canyon, it is like bike surfing. sounds like your side trail isn't that great here. sierra's indeed have tons of riding that needs to be explored