Mountain Biking
Forest of Nisene Marks SP
Santa Cruz, CA
THINGS TO DO
Riding in the Forest of Nisene Marks SP and the Soquel Demonstration Forest
Mountain biking in Santa Cruz County
by Dave Smith owner of Shuttle Smith Adventures
For me, a great mountain bike ride is in located between the Forest of Nisene Marks SP and Soquel Demonstration Forest in Aptos, California. In this slice of biking heaven, you will find approximately 12,700 acres of premium mountain bike riding and approximately 62 miles of fire road and single-track.
Mountain biking and hiking into the park is like going back in time. The redwoods in the park are huge and beautiful. In fact, one of the trees in the old Redwood growth area is roughly 45 feet in diameter! Scroll down for the rest of the story...
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The Details
The ride that I describe here is definitely for the advanced riders. It goes through both parks for approximately 27 miles – taking approximately 3½ to 4 hours of ride time. It is a tough ride – dropping approximately 5000 feet and climbing up 2500 feet.
From Aptos, you will need to take a shuttle or get a ride up to the top of Buzzard Lagoon Road. The way I usually go is up through Eureka Canyon to Buzzard Lagoon Road. When you reach Buzzard Lagoon, make a left on dirt road and go up it for about one mile until I reach the the top of Aptos Creek Road. If you take my shuttle service, this is where I park and drop-off riders.
The ride starts at the top of the mountain at the intersection of Buzzard Lagoon and Aptos Creek Roads. You begin by going down Buzzard Lagoon Road for approximately a half a mile or five turns. You will then take a steep, single-track trail to the right called Cusack trail. This technical single-track trail is beautiful. It runs through madrones and redwoods with just the right amount of sunlight.
Next you will go through a nice meadow and, if you’re quiet, you could come up on some deer feeding there. After the meadow you will come to one of my favorite places because you'll pass a spring coming right out of the mountain, and then coming off the ridge onto a cross slope of the other mountain, you will see it open up in to a huge mountain range.
After that you’ll have a little technical rock climb for about a mile until it connects back to Aptos Creek Road. I stay to the left of that trail.
When you hit Aptos Creek Road, make a left and go up another mile or so. You’ll come across some rolling hills and several small jumps off to the right. This will lead you to the intersection of Ridge Trail – the entrance to the Soquel Demonstration Forest. At the entrance, you will find good directional signs and maps on the information board. For additional maps of the area, Google virtual State Park maps or go to bike map dude. Both have great maps of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
Note that there’s a great vista at the top of Santa Rosa Lea. On a clear Day you can see all the way down to Moss Landing's electrical power plant towers and the Monterey Bay.
From this point you will travel down toward San Jose through the Soquel Demonstration Forest. Take the Ridge Trail – it's a legal single-track trail that follows the top of the Soquel Demonstration Forest and connects to several different trails along the way including one of my favorites – the Braille trail. It's a technical trail that has natural wood teeter totters, skinie and log jumps made from fallen redwood trees. The Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz (a local bike club), and others have built the fun wood features without nails or screws. Everything is very natural and has been approved by the Park Ranger.
For safety reasons, make sure you go with someone else to session the jumps before going over them blind. Some of the jumps are very big.
The Braille trail is an intense mile and a half of single-track, and, in my opinion, it is one of the best rides in Santa Cruz County.
When you hit the bottom, make a right on Hinns Road and pedal up to Sulfur Springs Road. It is a fire road, where you can hike your bike up to the top.
Take a left on Corral trail which is connected to the Ridge Trail where you started the loop in Soquel Demonstration Forest. Be prepared – it could take you about two hours.
Once you’ve completed the loop, take a break and enjoy the views of the beautiful Monterey Bay from the top of Santa Rosa Lea – which is at the 2,562 foot elevation.
Now head down the fire road (i.e., Aptos Creek Road) that is located to your right, facing the ocean. This is a nice, very steep, exhilarating ride to Sandpoint approximately 4 miles away. With a fast 1000 foot drop, It's very STEEP, so make sure that you keep your speed under control. Also, if you come up on other riders or hikers, make sure that you give them a courtesy hello or make a noise so they know that you’re there. It’s all about sharing these awesome trails, and staying SAFE.
When I reach Sandpoint, I like to stop at the bench located on the right and enjoy the views.
From the bench at Sandpoint, you’ve got a easy 9 mile ride down the fire road to Aptos Station.
After this ride, you have definitely earned yourself some good food and a beer. For a quick refresher, I usually like to stop a Britannia Arms located just to the right as you exit of Aptos Creek Road.
This is one my favorite rides.
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This article is written and submitted by Dave Smith owner of
Shuttle Smith Adventures – (831) 234-3383
Use this information at your own risk. Explorer1.com / Digital Renaissance
take no responsibility for this content or how you use it.
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