My sister is moving to Ladera Ranch and what's a brother to do when he visits his sister?...Go for a ride of course! What's the nearest trailhead near (riding distance) Antonio Pkwy and Crown Valley Pkwy? Is there any good singletrack near there? I'm seeing some segments on Strava, so there's something. I'm from Temecula, so I know San Juan isn't too far. I am looking more for something I could ride for an hour or two right from her house. TIA
Tijeras Creek Trail is in the back yard which you can take into O'neill, then cross over into Whiting...throw in the Luge and head back home. Plenty of riding in SC. Enjoy!
Tijeras Creek, huh? The same one as on the Ride for Rwanda two years ago (the only time I've done it)? I remember that section being a blast. Cool!
Go a few miles south on Antonio to San Juan Hills High and ride DP Hills and then Talega to SCST for miles of sweet singletrack
Two hours is plenty of time to get in an Arroyo Trabuco/Tijeras Creek loop, essentially the Rwanda ride without the trip over O'Neill. There's a way down into arroyo near Cox Sports Park that puts you on Arroyo Trabuco road. Head north and eventually you'll end up in O'Neill park. A little street riding gets you over to Tijeras for a great ride back. Let eat me know if you need a tour guide.
Feel free to shoot me a PM whenever you come out here and I'll give you a tour. There's some good stuff to hit leaving from the house.
If you want to get an early weekday morning ride in, then PM me. We usually start our trail rides from Antonio, nearest to Crown Valley. Single tracks, punchy climbs, flowy sections, fire roads, etc. We got them all.
Tijeras has been mentioned... That's a fun ride. It seems like a lot of us RSMers do it in a loop with the Arroyo Trail... There is also waterworks, which gets mentioned on STR quite often. It starts right at the water authority building off Antonio. There are a lot of combinations... You can take Arroyo to O'Neill, which isn't far from Whiting, or even STT and the Luge. If you head to O'Neill, it's a slight uphill grade all the way. Going back south will be all downhill... You can also take the Tijeras trail from the Las Flores community to the end at Santa Margarita Catholic, and jump on the Bell Trail to Caspers, or the little sections that run through Dove Canyon and Robinson Ranch. I would go explore!
To put it in perspective, it'll be the type of ride I need to hammer out in less than 2 hrs on a weekend. I know there are lots of great trails in South OC, but I'm looking for quick ones to do right from my sister's house. Less driving = more riding. And Whiting and the Luge seem to be out of my 2 hr window, but I may be mistaken. So Tijeras Creek looks like an option. What about Waterworks? Is that on the east side of Antonio? Is it possible to get 10-15 miles on the east side of Antonio?
You can pick up the east ridge across the street from the fire station just pass Crown Valley, the ridge trail will become a single track going toward Oso. You can then ride until you get to a fork that turn left, we call it Pipeline, it will take you down back to Antonio, across the street from Waterworks. Cross Antonio, go down Waterworks, at the bottom turn right on the gravel road, about 1000 ft there is a small trail on the left, we call it tunnel, it goes through a bamboo tunnel and takes you to the other side of the canyon by the powerlines. at the powerline service road, turn left it will become a single track that takes you back to Crown Valley, under the bridge turn left, cross the creek and you can go up to Ladera on the right side of the bridge. It is about 8-9 miles have fun!
Here are some ideas for you: http://www.strava.com/activities/148215210 http://www.strava.com/activities/146645561 http://www.strava.com/activities/128903454 http://www.strava.com/activities/111412278 http://www.strava.com/activities/110033378
As you get done with the series of ups and downs on Tijeras and you take a right behind the houses in Las Flores, don't go through the gate and back down into the canyon. Instead, stay left and it will take you back to Antonio. Take a right at the next dirt road, that will take you behind more hosues and an apartment complex. Follow that, cross Oso by the Taco Bell, look for an opening in the shrubbery to your right. Welcome to Waterworks. 10-15 miles on the East side of Antonio? If you don't mind a bit of repetition. Keep in mind that some of those trails are blocked off at the bottom - Ladera Ridge is blocked off at Oso, Pipeline is blocked off at Antonio. If you want to ride the ridge, here's what I'd suggest. Go up behind the fire station on Firehose. Take a left at the top and go until it starts to head down to Oso. Turn around and go the other way, drop down the fire road to the power station. Turn around, ride back to the top of Firehose and back down. I make a loop out of what I call the powerlines trail (it's a decomposed granite road that runs along the powerlines through the middle of Ladera) and Ladera Ridge. Powerlines isn't interesting, but there is a lot of up and down so it's a nice interval workout. http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=46500
http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=65808 http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=2772
