Dirt Treaders
http://dirttreaders.com/phpBB3/

Seeking south county trail advice
http://dirttreaders.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=18000		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  ajdonner [ Fri Oct 18, 2019 4:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Seeking south county trail advice
Thought I'd go ride some new to me trails tomorrow. Only places south of the 8 I've ridden are Crestridge and out near Lake Morena. Looking to ride for 1-2 hours depending on the amount of climbing/tech. Best to keep it <1,500 ft of climbing.

My typical north county rides are Calavera, La Costa etc. Even ride Hodges as it's super peaceful/quite beautiful in the early am before most people are out.

What are your favorite spots/routes?

Thanks.
Author:  OldDogDan [ Fri Oct 18, 2019 7:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Seeking south county trail advice
Check out Hollenbeck or Otay.
Author:  ajdonner [ Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Seeking south county trail advice
Took ODDs advice and rode the lollipop from the marina around to the east side of Lower Otay Lake. Couldn't sleep so headed out super early, got down there before the rangers opened the marina and sat in line behind half a dozen fisherman with boats in tow. Could've gone around them to park in a turnout beyond the marina but it was still dark and didn't mind the 10' wait and I didn't know where I was going.

Took a while before the sun would rise over the hills.
Image

Image

Mixed messages. Yellow sign says 'Keep Out'
Image

East side.
Image

Trails are reminiscent of Lake Hodges (maybe a bit better as there's more continuous narrower/singletracky trail). Probably won't return unless I've got a beginner in tow. Was an enjoyable hour and a half checking out a new spot.
Author:  OldDogDan [ Sat Oct 19, 2019 5:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Seeking south county trail advice
Very nice photos!!
Author:  Dirtrider [ Sun Oct 20, 2019 7:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Seeking south county trail advice
OldDogDan wrote:
Very nice photos!!


Yes, they are. Did you take them from your phone?
Well done :cheers:
Author:  Red Hot Sloth [ Sun Oct 20, 2019 10:52 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Seeking south county trail advice
Agree with both above, great photos!
Author:  random walk [ Sun Oct 20, 2019 1:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Seeking south county trail advice
Sweetwater Routes

Although neither Trailforks or MTBProject has the complete list of trails, you can piece together something between the 2.

TF: https://www.trailforks.com/region/sweet ... -116.97653

MP: https://www.mtbproject.com/directory/80 ... -reservoir

The route I used to do a lot would start from Summit Park, go out to the Jamul steel bridge and back. This route is similar to the one in Mountain Bike Bill's writeup from way back in the day, leaving out the short piece that goes west of the reservoir:

MBB: http://www.mountainbikebill.com/sweetwater.htm

Ride east along the (MP) "Riding and Hiking" trail up to the Tiki Hut, descend down towards the lake and follow that all the way around to the steel bridge in Jamul, then come back the same way but climb (TF) "Rattlesnake Ridge Single Track" back towards Summit Park.

What's not shown on Trailforks or MTBProject, is at the top end of Rattlesnake Ridge trail is an intersection where you go left and follow that trail down to a utility road (near the bottom of "Ticks DH" on TF), turn right and then take a single track split to the right after about 300 yards which skirts a seasonal pond and then climbs the side of Coon Canyon up to (TF) "Sweetwater High Road" (which is part of "Summit Park to Tiki Hut Loop" on MP). In MBB's map the purple track between points D & F is roughly the trail from the bottom of Rattle Snake Ridge to the Tiki Hut.

From there, pick you way back, either "Summit Park to Tiki Hut Loop" or ""Riding and Hiking Trail" (on MP).

====================

Another loop option, referring to the Trailforks map, is "Sweetwater Reservoir" > "Dead Cow Uphill" > "Sweetwater Back Door" > "Rock House Trail." From the Rock House you continue north and take a left at a single track split to "Ticks DH" and down to the trails mentioned above. Alternately (need to use satellite view to see this), take a right at that split on an unmarked trail that goes down the east side of Mother Miguel and intersects with a dirt utility road. Going left on that road will take you north through a canyon to another utility road where you take an extreme left (pretty much a u-turn) and go about 250 yards towards some power lines. There's a single track that starts right under the power lines which you take quite a ways north back to the "Sweetwater Reservoir" trail near the lake's inlet. Then you follow that back to the Summit Park as described above.

Hope this is useful.
Author:  ajdonner [ Sun Oct 20, 2019 2:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Seeking south county trail advice
Dirtrider wrote:
OldDogDan wrote:
Very nice photos!!


Yes, they are. Did you take them from your phone?
Well done :cheers:


Thanks for the compliments. No, not my phone. I took my Nikon D7200/55-200 mm lens with me. Photos 1 and 3 were cropped, all had minor tweaks to saturation and contrast as it was quite hazy and the raw photos were a bit flat.

Also thanks for the SW info, random walk.
Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/