MTB- Ossagon Trail

Distance: 18.5 miles
Climbing: 1347 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Start: Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Orick

Updated June 15, 2020

I road this loop recently and found it more challenging than it used to be.  Where the Ossagon trail meets the Coastal trail, the route is very difficult to find due to multiple elk trails and lack of maintenance.  Also, the Ossagon hike/bike-in campsite is no longer maintained for camping.  Just a warning that the route may turn into an adventure.



Original Post
This popular mountain bike loop has a lot variety. It travels through old growth redwood forest, coastal Sitka spruce forest, prairie, and along the beach. The route travels along 6 miles of paved roads before turning to 5 miles of singletrack and 7.5 miles of gravel/dirt roads. The riding is not very technical, but a lot of fun, especially the Coastal Trail which has some fast twisty singletrack. There are areas of special interest such as a cool waterfall, Fern Canyon, and Gold Bluffs beach. You can't avoid getting wet because there are several creek crossings and a particularly troublesome swampy area along the beach. If you choose, you can also camp out along the way.

To get to the start head 40 miles north from Arcata to Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway. Go approximately 1.2 miles and turn left and park near the visitors center. You may be lucky to view a herd of Roosevelt Elk grazing in Elk Prairie.

• 0- Head north on Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway
• 5.68- Turn left on the Ossagon Trail
• 7.38- Cross the creek and take the first trail left, which is the Coastal Trail.


• 7.42- Take the first trail left through a swampy area.


• 7.75- Continue straight at the West Ridge Trail intersection.


• 8.75- Stop to check out the cool 100 foot waterfall.


• 10.11- Stop to check out Fern Canyon. Bear left to stay on the trail.


• 10.36- End of the Coastal Trail and beginning of Davidson Road. There is a bathroom located in the parking area at the end of Davidson Road. Continue approximately 4.8 miles along Davidson Road until you turn onto the trail back to the Elk Prairie Campground.


• 15.17- Left onto "bicycle/jogging" trail. The trail is an old road that has overgrown into fast singletrack.


• 16.25- Straight over the bridge and continue on dirt road.


• 16.97- Left on road


• 17.2- Right on road


• 17.35- Go through the gate and turn left proceeding through the second gate. Follow the signs back to the start at Prairie Creek Redwoods visitors center.

Click on the map to see a larger view or print it out. The trails are well marked and the map has the major turning points marked for reference.

MTB- Tish Tang

Distance: 18
Climbing: 3,826 feet
Difficulty: Hard
Start: Willow Creek

UPDATE December 29, 2019
The trails have not seen regular maintenance and/or have been obliterated by logging.  The Corral trail, Shale trail, and Roller trail are unrideable.  The main roads are still open for a good gravel exploration ride and you can still  hit the downhill trail on the way back out.  I’m preserving the original text below, but be warned it has not been revised.

The Tish Tang DH and access road are on Trailforks but not on MTB Project.

This is a popular mountain bike ride, which is about an hour drive east of Arcata. The course is covers the majority of the expert race course from the old Tish Tang Mountain Bike Race. The trail was established and maintained for many years by Willow Creek mountain bike pioneer John Dostal.

To get to the start take Highway 299 to Willow Creek. Turn north onto Country Club Road, which is the cross street at the Chevron gas station. At 0.9 miles turn left on Patterson Road. Continue on the main road which will pass the Bigfoot Golf Course and wind its way into the forest. At 3.4 miles the road narrows so drive carefully. At 5.1 miles continue straight on Forest Service road 8N03 towards Horse Linto Campground. From this point on the road is poorly maintained. During the winter of 2008 a slide deposited on the road, which is still passable with a 4X4 vehicle or vehicle with good clearance. Horse Linto Campground is located next to Horse Linto Creek and is a simple pit toilet site with no running water. There are three campsites if you choose to spend the night in bigfoot country.

Listed below are some map points. The distance between each point is shown as well as the distance to some of the points from the Horse Linto Campground. Here is what each point represents:

1- Bottom of the downhill trail.
2- Bottom of the roller trail.
3. Intersection of the downhill trail.
4. Intersection of the 8N37 road.
5. Top of the roller trail.
6. Sign Board Gap.
7. Intersection with 7N09 road.
8. Intersection with 8N03T road.
9. Turn right on singletrack beyond the corral.
10. Bottom of singletrack and intersection with 7N09 road.

The most popular ride would be to climb the fire road all the way to the corral trail at point 9, descend down the corral trail to point 10, climb back up to point 7, descend to point 5 on the fire road, take the "roller trail" from point 5 to point 2, ride up to point 3, descend down the "downhill trail" to point 1, and return to the campground. This would give you a total of 18.2 miles and 3826 feet of climbing. However, there are several other trails that are worth checking out. The shale trail is accessed from sign board gap on the 8N14 road. The upper section is steep with a loose shale surface which is very challenging. The upper downhill course is steep and challenging as well. I don't highly recommend it because of its steepness and low frequency of maintenance.


Tish Tang A Tang Map Overview, Click on the image for a larger view or to print it out in landscape view:




Horse Linto Campground:


The top of the roller trail is difficult to find because of recent logging. Look for a large oak tree with a burned out hollow in the base. Head straight downhill to the right of the oak tree and you will pick up the singletrack.


At the top of the corral trail you will enter an old growth Douglas-fir forest:


The main fire road has seen little to no maintenance by the Forest Service and is starting to revert back to nature. At some point we are going to have to clear the main road too:

MTB-Arcata Community Forest Update

There have been some new and rerouted trails in the forest since my original post in 2009.  The city of Arcata has updated the forest trail map and added a new map that includes the S. Fk. Janes Creek Loop in the Samuel's Easement.  Here is a link to their website.

The new S. Fk. Janes Creek loop is approximately 1.6 miles and should take about 15 minutes to ride.  The best portion is the singletrack descent riding counterclockwise from the upper trailhead.  The remainder of the loop is gravel road with broken concrete surfacing which is rough even on a full-suspension bike.  It's hard to enthusiastically recommend the whole loop especially with a real steep climb on the Arcata Ridge Trail portion of the loop.  However, more trail equals more variety and future expansion of the system is a welcome development.

Nordheimer Trail Loop

Distance: 24 miles
Climbing: 3,763
Difficulty: Hard
Start: Nordeimer Campground

This ride is hard to categorize. The ride isn't hard because of the climbing or distance. The challenges are numerous including stream crossings, unrideable switch backs, hike-a-bike sections, skinny single track, mosquitoes, rattle snakes, poison oak, and true isolation. Once you drop into the Nordheimer canyon you are really in the middle of nothing where you would be in real trouble without a partner or survival skills. The best way to describe this is an adventure ride. All of the challenges are worth the beauty, isolation, and satisfaction of completing the ride.


If you are going to do this ride I have a few recommendations. First, don't do it alone. Once you drop into the Nordheimer canyon there are only two ways out and that is up or down the trail. Second, bring a few extra items like extra water, food, clothes, and a good map and/or GPS. The mosquitoes were swarming us in August so I recommend some type of bug repellent if you plan on staying in one place for a more that a couple of minutes. Third, plan on doing this ride in the late summer or fall. The stream crossing are difficult to negotiate in the winter and spring due to their large size and no bridges. You will be challenged to keep you feet dry even in the summer or fall.

The route involves 4 miles of road, 12 miles of fire road, and 8 miles of singletrack. Believe it or not, but the 8 miles of single track will take longer to ride than the other 16 miles even though you are descending over 2,000 feet along the way. The first single track section involves some steep narrow trail where you will be skidding your back wheel downslope. The next few miles involves narrow single track that requires intense focus to stay on track. The last 3 or so miles follow an old mining flume, which parallels the slope and rewards you after a challenging day.


Directions
0- Start at Nordheimer Campground. If you want to avoid the day use fee drive about 100 yards up the Nordheimer road and park in a turnout at the base of the Orleans Mountain Trail. Head up the Salmon River to Forks of Salmon.
4.0- Turn right onto Cecilville Road.
4.25- Turn right onto Forest Service Road 10N04. Stay on this main road for the next 6 plus miles.
10.7- Continue right onto Forest Service Road 10N03.
11.9- Turn right onto Forest Service Road 10N05.
15.54- ***Turn left onto the Nordheimer Trail. This is an important and difficult turn. The trail is not marked with a sign and it is not obvious. We piled some branches and rocks in the road. The only way Errin Odell found it was by hiking from the bottom. There are no intersections going down the trail, but there are a few places where the trail disappears near the stream crossings.
24.25 End at Nordheimer Campground.












Additional Trail Photos are HERE

MTB- Orleans Mountain Trail

This is a special ride which takes an adventurous attitude. I'm not going to post directions or a map because I don't want anyone to get lost. Hopefully, some day I will if the trail conditions improve. There are a couple of tough hike-a-bike sections where the trail disappears and you need a guide or good GPS. For now, check out these fantastic photos from Errin Odell's and Sean Tetrault's recon mission. How does 5,000 feet of descending over 7 miles of singletrack sound?? Not only is the ride epic, but check out the scenery!



Click on a photo for a larger view

MTB-Arcata Community Forest

Distance: Variable
Climbing: Variable
Difficulty: Moderate
Start: Arcata, CA

It has taken me a couple of years to document the most common mountain bike ride in Humboldt County. This is because there really is no "Arcata Community Forest" ride. There are so many different ride options because of the dense network of trails. In my opinion, you really can't get lost either, but people have. All you have to do is point your bike downhill and you will eventually arrive in Arcata as long as you stay on a marked trail.

The trail system is the result of planning and work by the city of Arcata and many volunteers.

Here is a link to the city of Arcata's forest map. However, it is older and does not include reconstructed trails or new trails such as trails 6, 10, 11.5, or 18. I have an edited map shown below. The trails in red are reconstructed or new and I highly recommend trying to incorporate them into your ride. I recommend you park in Arcata and ride up to avoid vandalism to your vehicle at the trail head parking. I have personally not had problems parking at the Fickle Hill Road parking area.

MTB- Paradise Royale

Distance: 12 miles
Climbing: 2610 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Start: King Range, Tolkan Campground, Shelter Cove

This is the best legal mountain bike ride in Humboldt County. The trail was built with over 4,000 hours of volunteer help. Unlike other rides on my blog, there is good information on the web about this ride including an IMBA article and a BLM Opening Ceremony article . The BLM also has a nice route map which I have posted below.

To get to the start, drive approximately 22 miles west on the Briceland/Shelter Cove Road from Redway. Turn right on King Peak Road and drive approximately 3.5 miles north to Tolkan Campground. There is a trailhead closer to Shelter Cove Road, but the campground has toilets and is located off the dirt road where your car won't get quite as dusty.

The most popular way to do the ride is clockwise, descending down Castle's Moat to Bear Creek and climbing up Prince of Pain. The real payoff is the descent of Mad Queen's Careen, which is a swoopy singletrack with jumps and fast turns. The trail is marked really well so I have not included a que sheet. Just print out the BLM map, follow the trail, and have fun!!!! My GPS showed 12 miles and 2610 feet of climbing. The BLM article states the trail is 14 miles long. I can't explain the difference, but have heard from a couple of other riders who have measured it at 12 miles too.

Click on the Garmin Connect link for a map and other ride details:

Garmin Connect - Activity Details for Paradise Royale

WARNING, you have to cross Bear Creek two times. During the winter swift waters could be hazardous. There is no bridge so be careful.

There is an excellent map in Adobe PDF on the BLM website:

MTB- Grasshopper Peak Lookout

Distance: 14 miles
Climbing: 3350 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Start: Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Weott

6.66 MILES TO THE TOP


This is one of those rides that you do once to check off your list. If you are deciding between this and Look Prairie/Thornton Loop, choose the later. This is because the climb is really steep and particularly aggravating. It might be worth it if there was 10 miles of sweet singletrack waiting for you at the top, but there is not. Maybe I was just having a bad day, but I saw my GPS read 30% a couple of times as I granny ringed it up a steep climb at 2.5 miles per hour. I cursed the climb and threatened to turn around more than once. When I got to the top my GPS read 6.66 EVIL miles. If you do this ride, please don't curse me, because I warned you! I rated the difficulty as moderate because of the steep climb, but it is a short ride and technically easy since it is all fire road.

Once you get to the lookout you have a 360 degree view. If you look to the east you will see signs of the 2003 Canoe fire, which started from lightning. The fire burned particularly hot near the lookout. There are many miles of roads to explore throughout the area if you want to extend your mileage. Most folks will settle for a fast ride back down the road. However, for the adventurous there are a couple of simple backcountry trail camping sites you could use. There is Grasshopper Trail Camp, Hanson Ridge Trail Camp, Whiskey Flat Trail Camp, and Johnson Trail Camp. For more information contact Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Directions to the start:

Start at the base of Grasshopper Road, which is located 5.25 miles west of Highway 101 on Bull Creek Road. There is a sign on Bull Creek Road which says "fire lookout 7 mi." The road is just west of the entrance to Albee Creek Campground. There is a small parking area on Bull Creek Road and and a small parking area a little way up Grasshopper Road. The directions to the lookout are well marked at each intersection. There are only three turns:

• At 0.72 miles stay left at the intersection of Squaw Creek Ridge Rd.
• At 4.14 miles stay right at the intersection of Johnson Trail Camp Rd.
• At 6.33 miles stay right at the intersection of Grieg Rd.
  

Squaw Creek Bridge Crossing (Click for Larger View)

MTB- Bremer Boy Scout Trail

Distance: 9 Miles
Climbing: 2342 Feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Start: Willow Creek





UPDATE December 29, 2019

I can’t recommend this ride anymore.  It was obscure when I road it 10 years ago.  Since then there has been no trail maintenance and the access road is sketchy due to cultivation activities.  I could just delete the post but I’m leaving it up.  Who knows, maybe a scout troup will maintain the trail from the bottom so it can be hiked.

The "Boy Scout Trail" is a little known mountain bike ride just above the Bigfoot golf course in Willow Creek. The 2.21 mile singletrack trail is named the "Boy Scout Trail" because it was adopted by Boy Scout Troop 97 of Willow Creek. However, it has only been sporadically maintained over the years by local mountain bikers. The trail was maintained for several years by Willow Creek mountain bike pioneer John Dostal, but has recently fell into disrepair and is seldom used. The upper portion of the trail is blocked because of serious snow damage, which has left a dense layer of young hardwoods in the way. I had to do some serious bushwhacking to find my way. The top of the trail is marked by a small brown sign, which currently has no marking, but used to say Bremer trail. The trail is accessed by the unmarked Forest Service 7N05 road, which crosses private property. There are several new gates and a lot of no trespassing signs. Stay on the main road and follow the map points and you can access the trail. If you run into a locked gate, you have gone the wrong way, except at mile point 5.5 where you want to continue straight through the gate near the Forest Service boundary. The climb is steep and relentless. Bring along your granny gear and expect to use it from mile point 2.8 to the top at 5.9 miles. However, the singletrack is truly unique. The trail is only a foot or so wide, covered in leaf litter, and has several sharp switchbacks that only the "Hans Rey" type could clean. There are a couple of tricky points where the trail disappears in the heavy leaf litter. I hope to improve the trail signage in the future and clean up the top section so it will not be lost to the forest.

To get to the start take Highway 299 to Willow Creek. Turn north onto Country Club Road, which is the cross street at the Chevron gas station. At 0.9 miles turn left on Patterson Road. After 0.5 miles turn right onto Bigfoot Ave and park at the Bigfoot Golf Course on the left. To begin the ride, head back to Patterson Road and follow it north to the 2.8 mile mark where you turn right and begin climbing the gravel fire road.

Overview Map, click on the image for a larger view and to print out in landscape view:


Southern Detail Map, showing the Bremer Boy Scout Trail:

MTB- Look Prairie Thornton Loop

Distance: 13 miles
Climbing: 2,762 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Start: Near Weott


Humboldt Redwoods State Park is located approximately 40 miles south of Eureka. There are miles of awesome singletrack. Unfortunately, most of the trails are off limits to mountain bikes. This loop includes the best legal single track in the park, which is the Thornton multi-use trail (MUT). The ride will take you through prairies, second growth redwood forests, and old growth redwood forests. The climb up Look Prairie road is very difficult. In fact, every time I have climbed this route I have wondered why I do it. However, the remainder of the ride will soon make you forget the difficult climbing.

0- Start at the base of Look Prairie Road, which is located 4.3 miles west of Highway 101 on Bull Creek Road or 0.7 miles east of the entrance road to Albee Creek Campground. A great way to do this ride is to campout at Albee Creek Campground. The Look Prairie Road starts out as a gravel road which winds its way up through the prairie at a reasonable grade. However, the gradient quickly steepens. This is not a good single speed ride and beginners may find themselves walking short sections. It took me a full hour to climb 4 miles and I lost traction and had to hop off my bike a couple of times. About half way up the climb you enter old growth redwood forest and the road feels more like a wide leaf covered trail. The upper third of the climb is not as steep and is more enjoyable.

3.45- Left on Peavine MUT and continue climbing for another half a mile.

4.0- Descent! You have reached the top of the ridge and the first descent. You will travel along the top of the ridge which climbs and descends along the Peavine trail.

6.85- Left on Thornton MUT. You will have 5 miles of fantastic single track descending. The route is well planned and descends at a gradual rate as it twists and turns through the forest.

11.83- CAUTION gate ahead. Be careful on the steep descent to Albee Creek Campground because there is a gate at the end of the trail.

11.89- Turn left at the campground check-in station and travel over the bridge and head back to Bull Creek Road.

12.2- Turn left on Bull Creek Road.

12.96- Finish

Click on the map for a larger image and to print it out. For best results print in landscape.