This is a re post of a trip report from, Jul 25 2011, I posted in MTBR.com. It was part of the thread titled "Shout Out to the Mendo Coast Cyclists". I just had some correspondence with Jesse the trail builder up in Fort Bragg and he said there are trails being built weekly and tons of land has been open to new building. Very excited to get back up to that area and the best part is you can ride year round. Enjoy.
Jul 25th 2011
Myself and good buddy Serge made the trip up the North Coast, based of Fort Bragg, this past weekend for some excellent riding. NugJug (Jesse a the local trail builder) awesomely took us around on Saturday for a 20+ mile loop including Widowmaker, Ride Through Tree and Gunslinger trails. Moderate climbs on fire roads with tight flowy single track descents. Sunday we joined a group ride with the Mendocino Coast Cyclists. Believe we did about half of their 22 mile ride by turning back on 730 Road. Our version of the ride started on 409 road and included Parallel Action, Stairs and Cookhouse Trails. The climbs felt bigger on Sunday as we did about 11 miles and packed in a fairly long descent, no stats, and had to climb back from one canyon/valley to another to get back to the car. Again on this ride screaming fast flowy single track in a dense, rugged Redwood Forest. Meeting up for a group ride or connecting with one of the crew up there is highly recommended. Trails can be navigated with maps by newbies as users have reported. However, I think it's good to get a feel for the place. Once you have a general understanding of the roads the unmarked trails will be easier to find. Fellow Nor Cal folks should make the trip up to the Jackson Demo/Fort Bragg area. It's a special time for Mendocino mountain biking and trails. One would be missing out if they did not sample these trails when they are fairly unknown and there are folks eager to share their hard work in routing and building trails.
A note on camping: We tried to get a site at the free Camp One zone up off Hwy 20 in the Jackson Demo. Many sites are currently closed for logging or budget issues or whatever. All sites were full by 1030pm on Friday night when we arrived. Public camping in the area is limited and the other options are State Parks which are always reserved on weekends. There is a private campground near the access road to Camp One but it's pretty dumpy and the tent sites are not flat. Most of the trail heads noted on here are South of Fort Bragg just off of Hwy 1. Bikers looking to camp may best reduce their driving by staying along Hwy 1 between Caspar and Cleone. We stayed at Pomo Campground in Fort Bragg. They have after hours self registration, tent sites were $25 for 2 people. The tent sites were mostly open lawn camping and not very aesthetic or serene. The facilities were clean and well maintained. There are showers, wet suit washing areas that could double as a bike wash, wash basin fire pits, ice and overpriced camp wood. There are a number of other private campgrounds nearby that from my research seem to offer similar lawn type camping. Perhaps the local Mendocino folks can comment further or make suggestions. You'll want to have a camping game plan if you are arriving late without a reservation. I don't make reservations because many of my trips are last minute. Thanks again Mendocino Mountain Bikers!!!
Riding through a tree!
Serge getting a natural high off the Mendo riding
Big Trees!
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