Ride suggestions for San Diego area

[Michael Williams]

Hey group. I recently moved to San Diego and was wondering if any list members had any suggestions/ recommendations for San Diego County area. Something within a 30-45 drive from the city. Looking for fire road/ mixed terrain/ gravel/ dirt, anything really that’s gets away from traffic. I know there’s probably modern MTB trails that might be too crazy for Rivs. Thank you! -Mike

[rlti...@gmail.com]

Off the top of my head:

Peñasquitos Preserve is a nice place to ride. The South side of the creek is basically a fire road while the North side is a bit more challenging. Nothing a rigid bike with decent tires couldn’t handle. I used to commute through there on 29 x 2” tires and I could easily go with narrower tires. It is central and has easy freeway access on both the East and West sides. There’s a nice waterfall area about midway through and a round trip is about 12 miles with options to extend that. It’s pretty flat there but you can climb if you want via side trails.

Mission Trails has lots of options and is a huge park and pretty central as well. You can hop in from a number of spots including La Mesa, Santee and Tierrasanta.

Sycamore Canyon runs from Poway out to Santee and is a nice ride. Just be careful not to ride onto military land.

The Elfin Forest has some nice trails but has some climbs. It’s up near Escondido so a trip to the Stone brewery/restaurant is good for carb loading afterwards if the Governor hasn’t shut it down.

Daley Ranch in Escondido has some nice trails but I haven’t been in a while. I used to ride there a lot.

Lake Hodges is a nice place to ride and can be accessed from right off of the 15 in Rancho Bernardo or from other places around the lake. Lots of different trails to choose from and fire road riding is there if you don’t want singletrack.

Robert Tilley
San Diego, CA

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> On Dec 10, 2020, at 2:49 PM, Michael Williams <mkernan...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hey group. I recently moved to San Diego and was wondering if any list members had any suggestions/ recommendations for San Diego County area. Something within a 30-45 drive from the city. Looking for fire road/ mixed terrain/ gravel/ dirt, anything really that’s gets away from traffic. I know there’s probably modern MTB trails that might be too crazy for Rivs. Thank you! -Mike
>
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[Curtis McKenzie]

Hello Mike,

Welcome to San Diego.  The Laguna Mountains east of us offer some nice dirt roads and trails.  A bit closer is Mission Trails Park which has some roads/trails that might be more geared for mountain bikes. Check out both places online.

Ride well,

Curtis

El Cajon 

On Thu, Dec 10, 2020, 2:49 PM Michael Williams <mkernan...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hey group.  I recently moved to San Diego and was wondering if any list members had any suggestions/ recommendations for San Diego County area. Something within a 30-45 drive from the city.  Looking for fire road/ mixed terrain/ gravel/ dirt,  anything really that’s gets away from traffic.   I know there’s probably modern MTB trails that might be too crazy for Rivs.  Thank you!   -Mike

[Bill Schairer]

Sweetwater Summit Park has some trails and a fair amount of the Sweetwater River trail (at eastern end) is unpaved.

Most of Proctor Valley Rd is unpaved and connects into Millar Ranch Rd or Echo Valley Rd on the SE side of 
 San Miguel Mountain.

Otay Valley Regional Park has a little bit that ties into the Southern end of the Bayshore Bikeway which also ties into the western end, paved portion of the Sweetwater River bike path.  The Bayshore Bikeway with a ferry ride to/from Coronado makes for a nice ride, albeit paved, around the bay.

The afore mentioned military land can be accessed if one obtains a one year permit at Miramar Naval Air Station for the Stowe Trail.  It is a nice link between Santee  and Scripps Poway Parkway.(Santee Lakes - Sycamore Canyon)

Bill S

San Diego

[Michael Williams]

Thanks Curtis and Robert for the ride suggestions.  These seem like a great start.   I actually did ride Elfin Forest yesterday and the climb up was steep and hike a bike but one you get up there you’re sort of riding a ridge line.   One thing that is new to me in SoCal cycling are goatheads. I’ve seen posts about them. I must have 10 in each tire but tires didn’t go flat until I started pulling them out when I was done the ride.  I’m excited to explore the area and experience different terrain.   

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[Cory Hughes]

Robert's suggestions were spot-on.  Those are all pretty close to I-15 and have plenty of fire road to explore.  Peñasquitos Preserve can be linked up with some paved paths and road to make it out to the coast at Torrey Pines.  I used to have a loop from Poway down Poway Creek trail through PQ to the coast and then back on Miramar Rd (not a fun part) to make one big car-less lap from my house.  There are also a lot of more challenging climbs on either side of the canyon so you can add some variety or cruise down the main fire road to the "waterfall" and beyond.  I rode there and Daley Ranch a lot growing up.  A permit is a good idea if riding Sycamore Canyon, I didn't know that was an option.  It is pretty easy to wander on to gov't land out there and I hear they aren't keen on that these days.  

Cory "spent the first 22 years of my life in San Diego" Hughes

Portland Oregon

[Ben Mihovk]

I've never biked out in San Diego, but I've taken two awesome spring break trips to go to breweries and play golf with a buddy. This thread is making me long for being out there for a few days. I'd give anything to play a round at Goat Hill Park in O-Side, grab lunch at Pizza Port, hit all my favorite breweries after, and wake up and get breakfast at the Potato Shack in Encinitas. 

Ben, "spectacularly off-topic and freezing" in Omaha. 

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[Esteban]

Lots of great stuff on offer here, including thirst for great beer - although great beer is everywhere now... and I'm at home. 

I like to mix in these dirt roads/trails: Echo Valley/Proctor Valley; Sloane Canyon; Peñasquitos Reserve, Del Mar Mesa, Viejas Grade... wherever there is a dirt linkage. San Diego County has superb, year-round road riding and technical mountain biking -- finding the in-between sometime requires a little bit of each. 

Let's go!

Esteban

San Diego, Calif.