Gonzales Canyon
Rating: aMTB2
Staging
Street parking only. No facilities.
Description
This route would be rated aMTB1, but the first section is single track and gets pretty tight. I have ridden it solo, but had to work for it and caught some cactus. Lots of cactus.
Some big ruts
Access the trail with the fire road. There’s a very steep undulation right away. Its wide open and you can bomb it with no brakes and roll about half of the climb. Super steep and loose though.
The trail is marked so no worries on missing it. Its a pretty sweet trail, but a support rider is highly recommended. Things get pretty tight.
Once to the canyon floor, its pretty smooth sailing. Last time I was out there, it was pretty rutted though. Some interesting adventure-biking line-picking situations, but nothing crazy. Its pretty soft sand in some spots too. Mid-fats or fat tires recommended.
Soft sand
Do not take the Underword trail. Its a cool Tunnels-esque type climb that is definitely rated aMTB3 (no can do solo), but the Del Mar Connector trail, after it, is a long stretch of super narrow flat single track that is just not worth it. Have tried to get this worked on, but its a wildlife corridor. No go. So we’re just doing an out and back today.
On the way back, to make it a semi-loop, take the Torrey Pines Trail. Trail sign says Sword something or other. This trail is way better than the other. As of time of writing this (11/18/18), I have not ridden The Torrey Pines Loop Trail (east or west) so I don’t know if they are do-able or not. Coming soon…
Narrow Bridge
The bridge across the creek is a little narrow. Looked like 36”-ish so beware.
Then its back to the single track toward the car.
Email me if you have questions: jeremy@theunpavement.com