Mtn. Biking around Murphy's
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
Joined
·
11,762 Posts
Joined
·
275 Posts
There really isn't anything in Murphys (that I know of) except some forest roads. Down the mountain in Angels Camp there's Glory Hole:
http://ogrehut.com/trails.php/Sierra-South/GloryHoleLowerLoops
It can be ridden year-round but gets brutally hot in the summer. There's an entrance fee too.
Up the mountain you'll find the Arnold Rim Trail:
http://www.arnoldrimtrail.com/
There's also Penny Pines, Big Trees Park and a lot of forest roads. Stop by the Forest Service building on Highway 4 in Hathaway Pines for maps of Penny Pines and (maybe) A.R.T. The visitor center in Big Trees Park has a map of bike trails in the park.
The real fun is in Bear Valley. Depending on snowfall, trails are clear sometime in June. Search this forum for Bear Valley, you'll get lots of info. A trail map book is available at the Bear Valley Adventure Co, or at Sierra Nevada Adventure Co in Arnold.
I get up to Arnold about once a month and in the summer I ride BV whenever I can. Drop me a PM if you want more info.
http://ogrehut.com/trails.php/Sierra-South/GloryHoleLowerLoops
It can be ridden year-round but gets brutally hot in the summer. There's an entrance fee too.
Up the mountain you'll find the Arnold Rim Trail:
http://www.arnoldrimtrail.com/
There's also Penny Pines, Big Trees Park and a lot of forest roads. Stop by the Forest Service building on Highway 4 in Hathaway Pines for maps of Penny Pines and (maybe) A.R.T. The visitor center in Big Trees Park has a map of bike trails in the park.
The real fun is in Bear Valley. Depending on snowfall, trails are clear sometime in June. Search this forum for Bear Valley, you'll get lots of info. A trail map book is available at the Bear Valley Adventure Co, or at Sierra Nevada Adventure Co in Arnold.
I get up to Arnold about once a month and in the summer I ride BV whenever I can. Drop me a PM if you want more info.
Joined
·
229 Posts
Early June
Do you think the trails will be clear of snow my the first weekend of June? I'm planning on going up there.
Do you think the trails will be clear of snow my the first weekend of June? I'm planning on going up there.
Rick O'Shay said:
Joined
·
229 Posts
Early June
Do you think the trails will be clear of snow my the first weekend of June? I'm planning on going up there.
Do you think the trails will be clear of snow my the first weekend of June? I'm planning on going up there.
Rick O'Shay said:
Arnold info
If anyone has any info on the proposed Rim Trail loop and would like to share, I'd also love to hear about it. I'm looking at buying a small cabin in Arnold and although currently the Meadowmont/Lakemont side of the 4 is right near to newly cut trails and Cougar Rock, etc., I prefer the other side of the 4 where the houses look to be a bit more spaced apart. But being a fussy devil, I want to make sure I buy somewhere that will be close enough to the "future" trails on the Blue Lake Springs side of town so that my kids can just ride with me to a trail head rather than us having to get in a car (they're a bit young to make it across town AND mountain bike at the moment). The guys at the cross country ski place at Bear Valley were super helpful last week telling me about the trails around BV. If those trails hook up with ART it'll be an awesome destination.
If anyone has any info on the proposed Rim Trail loop and would like to share, I'd also love to hear about it. I'm looking at buying a small cabin in Arnold and although currently the Meadowmont/Lakemont side of the 4 is right near to newly cut trails and Cougar Rock, etc., I prefer the other side of the 4 where the houses look to be a bit more spaced apart. But being a fussy devil, I want to make sure I buy somewhere that will be close enough to the "future" trails on the Blue Lake Springs side of town so that my kids can just ride with me to a trail head rather than us having to get in a car (they're a bit young to make it across town AND mountain bike at the moment). The guys at the cross country ski place at Bear Valley were super helpful last week telling me about the trails around BV. If those trails hook up with ART it'll be an awesome destination.
Joined
·
374 Posts
Glory Hole near Angles Camp- 15 miles of easy-moderate ST. Parrots Ferry bridge-north side-old mine road- climbs up branches into other trails, some hidden. Some challenging stuff- fall through spring. Water ditch off Hunter dam road in Hathaway Pines-head downstream-cruiser with some catwalks. Spring-fall and dry periods in winter. Arnold Rim trail near Arnold- under contstuction, you can volunteer to help build it. Google it. 10 miles + some side trails completed west side of Arnold. Mostly mellow. Spring through fall. Bear valley- nice assortment of ST/jeep trails. Check with BV bike shop. Most challenging stuff not on maps-ask locals. Summer. Too bad there's not much ST between Arnold and BV.
Joined
·
275 Posts
R&R:
I've been able to ride some of the trails in BV as early as Memorial Day, but other years the trails couldn't be ridden until July 4th. It's anybody's guess what the conditions will be like this year. A lot depends on how warm and sunny this spring is. There's a few webcams here that will give you an idea of current conditions:
http://www.ourbv.com/
Even if the trails open in late May, early season riding is iffy. For starters, some of the trails will have a lot of dead fall. The chainsaw fairies clean it up eventually, but sometimes it takes a while. Until then, you may be dismounting and climbing around or over a lot of trees. Also, with all the snow melt, it gets pretty swampy in places and the mosquitoes will eat you alive if you aren't prepared. Then there's the lingering snow. Yeah, it melts where the sun is shining, but in shady areas it can still be 3 feet deep and you might lose the trail for a few hundred feet at a time. Sound fun?? I don't mind it once or twice a season, but after that it gets kind of old.
MTB:
I have a place in Blue Lake Springs and almost all of my riding is on that side of the Highway. There's a whole network of forest roads and some singletrack that goes from Avery up into Big Trees Park, and beyond. It only takes me a few minutes to ride from the cabin to one of the trailheads. I'd say 80% or more of the riding in that area (that I know about) is forest roads or double track that ranges from smooth and flat to rocky and steep. I don't have much info about the Arnold Rim Trail besides what's on the web site. I've got a crude map of one section of it but until they get some more signs posted, it's going to be tough to follow the whole thing.
I've been able to ride some of the trails in BV as early as Memorial Day, but other years the trails couldn't be ridden until July 4th. It's anybody's guess what the conditions will be like this year. A lot depends on how warm and sunny this spring is. There's a few webcams here that will give you an idea of current conditions:
http://www.ourbv.com/
Even if the trails open in late May, early season riding is iffy. For starters, some of the trails will have a lot of dead fall. The chainsaw fairies clean it up eventually, but sometimes it takes a while. Until then, you may be dismounting and climbing around or over a lot of trees. Also, with all the snow melt, it gets pretty swampy in places and the mosquitoes will eat you alive if you aren't prepared. Then there's the lingering snow. Yeah, it melts where the sun is shining, but in shady areas it can still be 3 feet deep and you might lose the trail for a few hundred feet at a time. Sound fun?? I don't mind it once or twice a season, but after that it gets kind of old.
MTB:
I have a place in Blue Lake Springs and almost all of my riding is on that side of the Highway. There's a whole network of forest roads and some singletrack that goes from Avery up into Big Trees Park, and beyond. It only takes me a few minutes to ride from the cabin to one of the trailheads. I'd say 80% or more of the riding in that area (that I know about) is forest roads or double track that ranges from smooth and flat to rocky and steep. I don't have much info about the Arnold Rim Trail besides what's on the web site. I've got a crude map of one section of it but until they get some more signs posted, it's going to be tough to follow the whole thing.
Thanks for the info. Makes me feel better about the house I've set my heart on on Greensboro. I was thinking that I'd have to cart my stuff over to Meadowmont every time I wanted to ride, but to know there's rideable stuff right now on the east side of the 4 is great.
I have a very low res map of the proposed 30/40 mile hook up (it's on flickr from ART.org if anyone's interested), but it's hard to see exactly where they plan on running the trail. I guess it's gotta be pretty close to existing fireroad. It all depends on Sierra Pacific Logging and whether they'll play nice.
To the person asking about trail route, singletrack.com(or org?) have a couple of pretty good descriptions of Glory Hole and Cougar Rock and I found the rangers station on the 4 to have a pretty good (albeit simplified) map with the current ART trail highlighted. It's easy to find from many of the cul de sacs in the Meadowmont/Lakemont housing areas, especially the gate on Crystal/Fairway.
I have a very low res map of the proposed 30/40 mile hook up (it's on flickr from ART.org if anyone's interested), but it's hard to see exactly where they plan on running the trail. I guess it's gotta be pretty close to existing fireroad. It all depends on Sierra Pacific Logging and whether they'll play nice.
To the person asking about trail route, singletrack.com(or org?) have a couple of pretty good descriptions of Glory Hole and Cougar Rock and I found the rangers station on the 4 to have a pretty good (albeit simplified) map with the current ART trail highlighted. It's easy to find from many of the cul de sacs in the Meadowmont/Lakemont housing areas, especially the gate on Crystal/Fairway.
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
Join the discussion
