Sycamore Canyon(Riverside-Old Thread)

Palm Springs!!

 

You know, there are other ways to get into Sycamore-- you don't need to park in the Central parking lot. There are several other trail heads that are not associated with gates that lock.

I was tempted to ride today, but decided that my time would be better spent unpacking moving boxes. I'll ride tomorrow instead.

 

andy - can we get a situation report at 0700 tomorrow?

K? Thx!

 

I went to Sycamore Canyon today for a ride. The gates at the Central Ave. parking lot were indeed closed. From there I drove to the trailhead at Barton (?) by the water treatment plant and self storage facility. There is a sign posted on the gate that reads TEMPORARY CLOSURE at the top of it. If you read further it says that portions of the park will be closed until February 27, 2011 due to construction (new piping) at the main service dirt road. I don't think the closed gates at Central had anything to do with the construction. I then drove over to the other self storage facility by Farmer Boys burgers and no signs at the trail head there. This is where I went in through. The park was AWESOME. The trails were nice and tacky. The arroyos had lots of water running through. Some puddles here and there. At one point I was the only one in the whole park. Later I greeted two separate group of riders. One of the bridges at the double bridge area that crosses over the arroyo was completely thrashed and in the water. The larger bridge was fine. Further down where the single bridge is at (closest to the warehouses) was moved over from its usual location and placed on top of the dirt. Later as I was going back to the car someone had put it back at its original location and its now secure as I road on it and over the little creek. Not too much damage from the rains, surprisingly enough. There's one small chunk of trail that collapsed into the arroyo below that runs parallel but no biggie. I did ride to the closed gates at Central to look for any closure signs and nothing. The city probably closed the gates due to the heavy rains.

 

KonaDawgDelux......to clear up any confusion....you are correct that only parts of Sycamore are going to be closed through February because the city is doing work to a main sewer line that run through the park....specifically from the top of Mt. SOB down to the creek on the East side of the fireroad. They will be bringing in heavy equipment and have erected temporary orange nylon fencing around the work area. The rest of the park will remain open.

The gate closure on Central has nothing to do with the work by the city. The gates were closed specifically because nine inches of rain have fallen on Sycamore as a result of the last storm. Sycamore will be ridable sooner than other areas like in the OC, Marshall Canyon, CHSP but as you noted, there are some puddles and that is really rare for Sycamore so even the DG needs some time to drain or the tire marks will turn into ruts come the next storm.

Also note, the gates on Central are the only ones that can be "closed".........all other entrances to the park (Canyon Crest, Barton, Jenson entrance) already have "closed" gates 100% of the time, with gaps built in for hikers and/or bikes......

Just because the pass-throughs can not be "closed" does not mean the park is open at this time.

 

They were in great shape, some puddles but overall very little mud, a little soft off the trail but I was really surprised how good it was...creeks are running well but cross-able. Lots of peeps out riding!

 

Nice seeing you out there!

the dirt was good today, I would say let it dry out a bit, but there really isnt any mud. Few creek crossings have small bits of water but for the most part its 100% rideable!

 

We rode this afternoon, the water crossings are definitely deeper and there is standing water in the gouts of several single tracks. The dirt is in great shape albeit a little soft in places. Lots of new ruts, so be aware. Go ride and have fun!!!

PS Does anyone know who to contact to organize a trailwork day???

 

Rode today and it was great. Fantastic place to ride when all options are wet.

 

I rode Sycamore Canyon (Riverside) on 12/23 and 12/25 and it is GOOD shape. Traction is fantastic and the trails seem faster than ever avoid the muddy spots on a few trails ad all is well.

 

Stop riding my local trails when they are closed!!!!

Yeah, it might be in decent shape, but they are closed for a reason! Odds are there are places that have puddles/mud and when you ride through them you are leaving those sections destroyed.

Are you going to come repair them and do the train work from the extra damage you caused by riding the trails too soon?

Didn't think so.

Maybe I should go cause extra damage to your local trails.

 

Is there a map of the trails in Sycamore Canyon? I have looked all over and can not find any maps anywhere. I was thinking about getting out there on Thursday.

 

Does anyone know who to contact in order to scheduled trailwork at Sycamore???

Post #16 in this thread has trail maps created by Oz!

 

FYI, rode yesterday afternoon. The standing water unfortunately does not seem to be drying up. All of the mudholes are the same depth and worse than ever from bikes continually riding through them. Most are soft and mushy and some are hard to ride through at this point. Also the water crossings are still deep! It's amazing how wet the dirt still is, you can tell it's been cold!

 

I agree....I also rode there yesterday and was surprised to find mud-holes in places I had never seen before.

I think if you know which trails to avoid riding in Sycamore is fine. That's easy enough for folks who know the trails very well. But others might start down a trail that looks fine without expecting the mud somewhere further down.

I still think people need to ride right through the mud. There's one particular spot above little Moab where folks are going around it but all its doing is making the mudhole wider.

 

Sycamore Canyon rideable?

i have read that this place does good after the rain

 

Just got back from a ride in Sycamore, it's in great shape.

 

Might want to ride this early morning to kill some time but not sure about the trail condition, any updates from the recent rain faill?

 

As of this morning, the creek crossings were still high. The trails are a bit sticky and muck and mud in the usual places that I've been avoiding.