Legal Night Riding Trails/legal all level night rides?

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Flat Broke

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A buddy of mine usually rides the loop at night during the week and he's managed to recruit quite the crew of newer riders over the past couple months. With the days getting shorter and night rides becoming unavoidable, he's run into a little bit of a problem. A lot of the folks he rides with are getting bored with the loop. I have to admit that I'd rather ride the Oaks (thanks SD) than the loop on any given night; but common sense and some recent wildlife sightings are starting to make me rethink that. To make matters worse, my buddy got nailed by rangers at Turnbull Canyon last Thursday for being out there after dark.... He said he's down for anything so long as he doesn't have to bump into Rangers and a possible citation whever we go.

So this raises the question: What is a good trail for a mixed level of riders that is legal at night? Something in the 7-11 mile range.

Thanks in advance,
Chris
 
Santiago Truck Trail? I just wish it was closer to Long Bizzle though.
 
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think anything in SA's is legal at night. STT/Luge/old camp seems most popular. Blackstar is 7-8 miles to top and same back (look at my mad math skillz!). can alway just ride to hidden valley then turn around to meet distance you are seeking.
 
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You should not be out at the Oaks after sunset either. And I'm not going to say how fun those drops are in the dark. :D

The Santiago Truck Trail is a great night ride. It's got some climbing for the newbies.

So, how much was Mark's ticket?
 
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He got off with a warning, but doesn't want to push his luck. :)

Dave, I must have been smoking something when I sent you that PM. Looks like STT is uphill to the turnaround then downhill home. I can live with that for sure. I'll talk to Mark about it. But just to clarify, the deal is legal right? :D I'm sure I'll get asked a couple times by Mark while I have him on the phone.

Chris
 
I'm sure Mark has done this ride before. And yes, 100% legal at night.
 
I used to do a regular Wed night ride at PV and never saw the "law" out there. I think the South Bay Mountain Bike club has a regular night ride there also. Should be OK.
 
Any legal biking trail in the National Forest is legal to night ride.

Now State and County Parks in California are normaly not open to night riding.
 
Ok, I went out and rode with this crew last night. 8)
I've been with this group before so I pretty much knew what to expect.
So with that in mind I won't even bring up the fact that the group leader takes new riders out at night with a $5 light and a AA battery (if even that). Nope, won't bring up that he had an HID on his bars and one on his helmet but no light at all on his kid's bike. [-X One of these days someone will get hurt but I won't say I told ya so. Nope, not me (turning over a new leaf here haha)
They didn't drop people as bad this time. Getting dropped sucks I think and waiting is just part of it with a large mixed group.

So not bringing up any of that stuff and knowing what to expect I figured I'd just relax and ride sweep on this one.

Hack Job did great last night. He's still new to the MTB sport and is rolling a 40+ lb rig. He went down the luge like it was no big deal. Did some pushing but rode more then I thought he would. Seemed like he still had some in the tank at the end too. Good job Hacker! :bang:
April:: This chick rocks! What a great attitude she has. She was riding a low buck bike with 24" wheels (with $5 light that just kinda glows). She climbs pretty dang good on it too. This is the second time I've ridden with her and I think it's the second time anyone has given her any instruction on how to ride a mountain bike. "Off the seat and get your weight back."
I pretty much rode behind her so she could see something with my lights.
She crashed a few times down the luge and was a real tooper about it. Even the time she landed in a bush full O stickers. :p Then her last crash was right at the bottom. The group leader's youngest kid was hiding in the bushes right next to the trail and scared / crashed her. Of course they all thought it was funny. Hack Job and I just kinda looked at each other and waited for her to go off. She did a little but not as much as I expected. Like I said, real trooper.

Anyway it felt like I went on a ride with those 2 for the most part. And I have no problem with that. It was my pleasure riding with them for sure.

All in all it's a fun group. I'd just like to see them with some lights that half way work on night rides. Oh wait, I'm not bringing that up. lol
 
spookydave said:
Then her last crash was right at the bottom. The group leader's youngest kid was hiding in the bushes right next to the trail and scared / crashed her. Of course they all thought it was funny. Hack Job and I just kinda looked at each other and waited for her to go off. She did a little but not as much as I expected. Like I said, real trooper.

Anyway it felt like I went on a ride with those 2 for the most part. And I have no problem with that. It was my pleasure riding with them for sure.

All in all it's a fun group. I'd just like to see them with some lights that half way work on night rides. Oh wait, I'm not bringing that up. lol
Click to expand...

That's not cool especially at night. The last part of the Luge is steep and hard to see because you're under the cover of trees. April sounds way cool, but I wouldn't be surprised is she didn't want to ride with that group again at night.
 
Legal Night Riding Trails

With STT/Luge, Harding TT, Motorway, and Maple Springs all closed for the season, the options for night riding in eastern O.C. have been limited. I just got lights and rode Blackstar the other night. It was fun, but I'd love to branch out.

So what else is out there that can be done at a moderate pace within 1-3 hours for after-work rides? Obviously, there's the mighty Fully Loop. And I guess Holy Jim is an otion, but it seem like a bit much for a 6:30 start if one has to be up at 6 the next morning. So what other legal night routes are available in the region these days?
 
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Very Few.

Fullerton Loop
Blackstar
Trabuco/Holy Jim
Coto
San Juan
Irvine Land Reserve Night Rides
 
...and when daylight broke, they stopped talking about the night...

What's kosher in Coto? All I've ridden around there so far was a bit of fire road paralleling Antonio Pkwy that we hit as part of an O'Neill/Arroyo Trabuco Newbie Ride a few months ago (much of which has been lost from memory due to dehydration and the sweat stinging my eyes that day!)
 
Off of Chiquita ridge, there are three to four single tracks that drop down from the fire road and then reconnect. This section can be combined with portions of Tijeras Creek, and water works for a distance of about 21 miles with about 2300' feet of elevation gain. Can easily make it a shorter route. Fun area for a night ride.
 
Legal Night Riding Trails

I don't think such a list is out here on STR, at least not that I could find.

Can we post a list of local SoCal places that are legal to ride at night? The only ones I know of are:

Fullerton Loop
Blackstar Canyon

I am sure there are plenty more and I would like to bring some diversity to my night rides now that daylight is scarce.

Note: By legal night riding I mean it is allowed by the rules of whatever agency has jurisdiction over those trails. Places that fall into the technically-illegal-but-the-rangers-are-cool-with-it category should not be posted. Thanks.
 
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