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Day Trip: Mountain biking in the Oakland hills
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In addition to all of the fantastic recreation in the Sacramento region, driving up to two hours in any direction from Sacramento opens the door to unlimited opportunities for recreation, adventure, exploration, and fun.
For a good mountain bike ride among redwood trees, one does not have to drive to Marin County or the Santa Cruz mountains. The Oakland hills have plenty of options for getting "lost in the woods."
The day after Halloween was spent riding mountain bikes in the hills above Oakland, enjoying the dirt, the brutal climbs, the speedy descents, the beautiful redwoods, and the superb views everywhere. Nearly thirty four miles of fireroad and singletrack were covered by three riders, who hammered out a muscle wrenching 5,300 feet of climbing over 4.5 hours.
This ride started at Macdonald Gate, on Redwood Road, and began on the Anthony Chabot Regional Park side. Highlights on this 21 mile section/loop included some nice "urban singletrack" on the Skyline Road median as well as the fast decent on the Soaring Hawk Trail into Bort Meadows Staging Area.
After refueling at the car, a loop in Redwood Regional Park and Joaquin Miller Park were next. Climbing from Redwood Gate to Skyline Gate is always a chore, but the Cinderella trail downhill in Joaquin Miller Park is a great payoff! Finishing the 13 mile loop with the super fast and somewhat rough West Ridge downhill was a perfect way to end an epic ride.
It was a fantastic day to enjoy the Bay Area, as evidenced by the dozens upon dozens of cyclists, walkers, runners, hikers, equestrians and fishermen who were also out enjoying perfect weather the day after Halloween.
Here is a GPS track of the ride, with mileage, speed and elevation profiles.
This is a list of the trails/landmarks, in the order they were ridden:
Macdonald Trail --> Parkridge Dr. --> Skyline Blvd --> Chabot Equestrian Center --> Goldenrod Trail --> Bass Cove Trail --> West Shore Trail --> East Shore Trail --> Cameron Trail --> Ten Hills Trail --> Willow Park Golf Course --> Brandon Trail --> Redtail Trail --> Marciel Road --> Soaring Hawk Trail --> Macdonald trail --> Lunch at car.
Then... Redwood Road --> Redwood Gate --> Canyon Trail --> East Ridge Trail --> Skyline Gate --> West Ridge Trail --> Moon Gate --> Cinderella Trail --> Sunset Trail --> Sequoia Bayview Trail --> Dunn Trail --> Baccharis Trail --> West Ridge Trail -- back to car!
Aerial view of Chabot Lake, courtesy of Roy Tennant, FreeLargePhotos.com, Copyright 2009.
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