[LT4mula]

I just started a job up in Kyburz (on 50 inbetween placerville and tahoe) and I was asking some guys at work if there were any trails around I could ride due to the small amount of light in the evening... well they took me to a trail and it had a historic marker on it. "the pony express mail route." I know there are trails called that but they don't seem too historic... but this it for real... I ran up it a little ways and it had a mtn bike marker on it and it looks to have some good single track, this trail needs some TLC, broken branches etc. (going doenhill is completely over grown.) but there looks to be some potentail here. Has anyone ridden this? I'm going to try to ride it tomarrow or Tues to see if it is worth the time to bring it back to life.

Also, do you think any historical people are going to get pissed if we were to try and make it a good trail?

 

[tahoetic]

Nice to hear someone else has been on this trail. I have only done the Echo Summit to Twin Bridges section. It is some very nice single track. Would like to explore more of the trail. Send me a PM, I would like to check out that section. You should check out Sales Canyon near Sierra at Tahoe Resort in the summer. Nice and flowy at the top with some rock tech sections at the bottom. Then it re-joins the Pony Express.

TT

 

[bigboulder]

kinda weird

that you are talking about riding that trail this time of year...would be interested in your report though.....Sayles Canyon is definatley on my hit list this year....as part of a really bif ride.

 

[TahoeBC]

as part of a really bif ride.

Bif rides are cool, I'm in

 

[bigboulder]

help...

ok guys....been looking for some sort of map that shows pony express from echo summit to twin bridges??? the historic marker prevously mentioned????

 

[imjps]

I rode that trail waaaay back in the 80's. That was a fun trail. I think I might have a map of it somewhere in the garage. I seem to remember that the bridge to get to the trailhead was torndown, making it impossible to get there.

Perhaps I'm wrong,

jps

 

[LT4mula]

ok, well I'm back, bent wheel and all... I got to the trail head and noticed that there was a US forest service "trail closed" marker. so up I went... steady climb for a solid mile, no sign of mtn bike tracks, there was a large tree down that you could still get under, I kept going and it became heavily overgrown, and in need of some irragation work... I pushed through and it opened back up into some easy beautiful single track. As I went on there was a creek going through it that is passable with your bike on your back... then another fallen tree. (this one needs about a hour of work to clear) then... More over growth, and then it flattened out and was nice single again. it really needs a chainsaw, a weed eater and some erosion control if it becomes traveled on by more people then just me. due to the fact I was alone and forgot all my gear aside from my bike and ready to be eaten by anything that was hungry I decided to turn back at about 3 miles. This trail really needs some TLC but I think that it would be one of the best fast single tracks out there once it was worked on. I'll be contacting the forest service soon(if I can figure out who to contact) to figure out what the deal is with it, get some mileage numbers and find out if we can get some help getting it reopened.

The basic surface is ground up rock (kinda sandish) and decomposed needles and such... pretty loose but still very rideable. There is NO snow or even any sign of it.

 

[Brah]

re: Help...

ok guys....been looking for some sort of map that shows pony express from echo summit to twin bridges??? the historic marker prevously mentioned????

I've been doing a bunch of searches as well, but finding nothing for a detailed map. Can't even find anything for Google Earth

Here's the best so far:

My initial thought would be that the Brown line (Oglesby Grade Toll Road 1860) was the PE Trail, since that would be the newest, most direct route at the time of the Pony Express (1860-61).

But all the reports say the trail crossed the river at the Brockless Bridge/Pacific House, which would suggest the Green Line (Counties Road 1856), then dropping down to Pacific House to cross the river.

 

[bigboulder]

Keep posting

info on what you find...I'm very interested in opening this trail up.

 

[TahoeBC]

ok guys....been looking for some sort of map that shows pony express from echo summit to twin bridges??? the historic marker prevously mentioned????

Hey BB

As you know I was researching the area in question as part of a big mission we had planned for last fall that never happened. Anyway finally got around to digging some of that stuff out of my files. Looks pretty easy to go from Echo down to Kybrz and beyond provided your not dealing with deadfall all day. I'd be very interested in some epic exploratory missions this year.

And here is the definitive map

Sacramento to Placerville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 miles
Placerville to Junction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 1/2
Junction to Brockliss' Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1/2
Brockliss' Bridge to Strawberry Valley (snow region) . . . . . . . .26
Strawberry Valley to Slippery Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Slippery Ford to Johnson's Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Johnson's Pass to Lake Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Lake Valley to Luther's Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Luther's Pass to Hope Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Hope Valley to Woodford's (end of snow). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Woodford's to Genoa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Genoa to Carson City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Distance from Sacramento to Carson City . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144 miles

LT4mula, you can probably find a FS contact with this link
https://www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado/

 

[tahoetic]

The section from Echo to just past Sierra at Tahoe Road was built two or three years ago by a contractor. He did a very thorough job on it. It is almost too smooth, but still very fun. I ride it to work all the time in the Summer. You park at the old Echo Summit Ski Resort. Take the trail that next to HWY 50. Take a left when you see the Pony Express Trail sign

TT

 

[Brah]

How long is that section?

How long is Echo to Sierra?

 

[tahoetic]

It takes about 30 to 40 mins. There are two up hill sections.

 

[TahoeBC]

This is interesting, apparently the Pony express route is being re-ridden and a rider is passing though Tahoe right now. It would be cool to track down the GPS tracks of this route and see what trails they plan on using between Tahoe and Sacramento, assuming there not just riding pavement the whole way.

I'll include a few threads on ride's some of us have posted up for the area. I think there is a way to link Tahoe and Sacramento via dirt, I know you can at least get to Placerville.

Tahoetic's Route Description from Echo Summit to Strawberry
http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=4426219&postcount=7

A couple rides I did last year
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=425495
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?p=4672123#post4672123

BrainStump's motionbased tracks from the area
http://forums.mtbr.com/showpost.php?p=5766847&postcount=6

Article in the Tahoe Tribune today
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20090618/NEWS/906189995/1068&ParentProfile=1056

LAKE TAHOE - The Pony Express Re-ride is now in the Lake Tahoe Basin off of Kingsbury Grade as of 11:52 this morning and should make its way to the Lake Tahoe transfer at Harrah's at or around 12:30 this afternoon.

Readers can track the Pony Express by going to http://ponyexpressnationaltracking.com/RiderTracking.html

The Express was delayed in Nevada by about two hours, officials said.

Davey "Doc" Wiser is the Pony Express re-ride rider, and should be taking off from in front of Harrah's Lake Tahoe at or before 12:30, according to Express officials.

The delay was caused by some problems along the trail, said DJ Baxter, a KRLT 93.9 FM on-air talent and friend of Wiser.

The current Pony Express rider left Carson Valley near Genoa at around 11 a.m.

Fast horses and skilled horsemen of the National Pony Express Association are carrying the mail over the Pony Express Route this month. The first rider left. St. Joseph , Missouri on June 9, and the last rider will deliver the mail to the Pony Express Plaza in Old Sacramento on Friday.

The route between the Missouri and Sacramento rivers are on the Pony Express National Historic Trail, a distance of some 1,966 miles. The trail crosses eight states - Missouri through Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California.

The 10-day, 24-hour event marks the 149th anniversary year of the founding of the Pony Express. The mail service was started by a Missouri freight firm. Called the Pony Express, the horses and their riders carried letters and telegrams from 1860 to 1861 on the central route, from San Francisco to St. Joseph .

More than 500 riders and horses are being staged for this year's event.

 

[tahoetic]

TahoeBC, Can you see his GPS plot from the enterprise GPS web site? I can only get his location. I know the trail crosses over wrights lake road. I read some info on the national forest service web site (around 2003) about funding a trail near Pacific House. I am going to start at Strawberry and just go with it. Here is a pic from last week..lovers leap.

 

[TahoeBC]

That's all I could see also, I might try e-mailing the people who run this to try to get more info.

I know where the trail starts between Strawberry and Kyburz, I figure with a little trial and error I could make it there. Interested in trying to shuttle Echo to Kyburz Sunday?

 

[TahoeBoy]

Rode it last year

We rode it last year from Echo to Wrights lake road and if I ever do it again it will only be to strawberry. Past that it is very overgrown and at least 6" of pine needles in spots, making the downhills very slippery. If your looking for the trail it is on the left side of the hwy until strawberry, then it crosses just past the general store. It is however clearly marked with white diomand-shaped signs that say XP in brown letters. It looked as though motorcycle had passed through some areas, and with a real good cleaning this could be a fun trail.

 

[TahoeBC]

Thanks for the heads up on trail conditions TahoeBoy