Bommer Canyon Open Access 2/20/16

Bommer Canyon is open tomorrow from 8-2.

http://letsgooutside.org/activities/2016/02/20/wilderness-access-day-bommer-canyon-31/

Anyone have some fun, singletrack maximizing, loop suggestions?

Best place to park? Bommer Canyon Trailhead? Ridge park? Quail hill? Cattle Camp?

 

I usually park at Quail Hill when I do Bommer Canyon.

The last few times I've done Bommer, I went out with Pure Ride Cycles and they have a decent route:

I helped out some riders and guided them on a shorter version of the following; but Shawn took them on this route:
http://www.strava.com/activities/436774425

(Let me know if you can't see the link, I"m not sure if it is set to private or not as I linked someone elses ride)


As far as this ride, I'm totally not sure what the wife has planned for tomorrow yet; I've used up the last few Saturday's with all day biking stuff, so I'm totally giving her first dibs

 

I wish I could come to this tomorrow, but alas I cannot ride until nighttime. Park at the SOUTH side of the fields at Quail Hill Communtiy Park (Fossil Road and Shady Canyon Drive) and take the earthen bike path east-southeast behind the townhomes. Then veer right up the short but steep quail trail, keep cruisin over the wood bridges, along the switchbacks, across the asphalt road, through the open gate, keep cruisin on the fire road and you will find Cattle Crest trail first on your right. You can hit this first or pass it and continue down quail trail, then RIGHT up Serrano Ridge. Along Serrano Ridge you will find Rabbit Run and Fox Run on your right (yellow dots)!and eventually Camarillo on your left (Orange line) Any trail in yellow is this Saturday only so take advantage of these. Cattle Crest, Rabbit Run, and Fox Run are black diamond, Ridge route is milder but very flowy. Turtle ridge is an intermediate up and back. If you see other riders on hard tails, chances are they won't be riding Cattle, Fox, or Rabbit. Once you're out there, ask around for routes, lots of figure 8s to give you 30 miles in a day.

If after ridge route you climb back up West Fork, go under the toll road, head east south-east, continue onto the earthen road for half a mile and go left onto Lizards for some slick rock sandstone fun. After riding the first half of Lizards, you can go left back under toll road at the first earthen road intersection to get back to Serrano and Hogback Ridge or continue on 2nd half of Lizards for steeper fun heading towards SR 133. If you continue on Lizards, ride the boulder at the end and go left (inland) to Stagecoach Southbound Trail through Nix Nature Center to Stagecoach North Trail back to West Canyon and into the Irvine Ranch again. Usually with this program there are rangers with a cooler of water at Bommer Canyon Comminity Park. I would not park there because they will lock the gate at 2pm and you will get stuck if you remain on the trails after 2. See attached maps. Have find, and wear pads for Cattle Creat, Rabbit Run, and Fox Run.

 

I will be riding from Quail Hill tomorrow with a group of Trail Angels; headed over to Crystal Cove around and over to Serrano. Depending on the ability level of the group, we may take advantage of some of the open access areas. Trying to cover at least 25 miles in prep for Rwanda.
Smile and wave if you see us!

 

If you find yourself climbing East Fork, kudos if you clean it because it is steep. Pay attention to the sandstone road surface and you will see stagecoach wagon ruts from the 19th Century.

 

Thanks for the advice. I generally ride LCWP/El Moro/Aliso, how do Cattle Crest, Rabbit Run, and Fox Run compare to some of the singletrack in those parks?

Also, I will be out before 10 (quick ride) so no worries about gate closure. Easier/closer access to park at Bommer Canyon?

 

Cattle Crest isn't that bad at all, I'm surprised to hear it referenced as Black Diamond above. It has some chunk, ya, but I never wanted my pads on for that. It's probably closest to Lizards in LCWP/El Moro. It has some open pedal sections, some longer downhill like the end of Rock-It (less holes), but it throws chunk at you sporadically (But not in the quantity you'd see on Rock-It or Lynx) and it also has some climbing in the front part. I never felt the need to walk any features here (although some chunk sections are hard to clear depending on your gearing!)

I've only ever done Rabbit and Fox once, and one of them I climbed instead of descended, and I do remember those as being Black. Very steep in places, lots of chunk, some drops. I remember walking some features on whichever one of those I did downhill. Not familiar enough with them to compare.

@DangerDirtyD Those are really nice maps, I haven't seen them before, thanks!

 

Parking at Bommer gets you closer to Ridge Route and East Fork while parking at Quail Hill gets you closer to Cattle, Fox, and Rabbit. Either way you start with a climb. Quail hill (after the first face) and Ridge Route are mellower climbs while East Fork is an elevator. Since you already ride LCWP, I assume you know Lizards well, so I recommend sticking to the yellow trails and descend Cattle Crest, Rabbit Run, Fox Run, and Ridge Route. Climb up Shady Oaks each time to get back to Serrano Ridge, or you can HAB sections of Cattle, Rabbit, or Fox to reach Serrano faster. Cattle Creat was rerouted in 2013 to avoid an exposed chute, so @Cougar is correct about its difficulty. The technical sections of Fox run are relatable to Mentally Sensitive at Aliso/Wood Cyns but with more loose cobbles, and Rabbit Run's tech areas resemble Car Wreck, Hawk Drop, and Golden Nugget at Aliso/Wood Cyns.

 

Nice! Awesome advice all around. Appreciate it!

 

Figures, first time in months I have not made this a shop ride. If you feel like trolling my strava (@shawndoh), I have led people through several routes. I like starting at Quail and into CattleCrest. I feel like it's good bang for the buck, in utilizing the access trails. You can ride all the good stuff in there with either 1 out and back or 1 repeated loop. I usually double the second half of Cattle Crest to cover both Rabbit and Fox.
After seeing so many different people ride that area, the cobble texture of Cattle Crest is what I see riders struggle with the most. The tech portions of Rabbit and Fox are so short, it's not much to worry about.

Enjoy!

 

I thoroughly enjoy Cattle Crest and most of Fox Run. There are a couple of short steep-loose-get-your-attention descents on Fox that depending on my day I usually walk.

 

Thanks for the great maps DDD! and commentary from the others. I've ridden there a couple times and nothing to add really, carry a map if you can, I just followed people on my rides but would prob get lost on my own. Rabbit has just one short techy section that many will probably dismount for.

Not really in the open space (actually in LCWP), but I think the second half of Lizards as referred to above is actually "Laurel Canyon Trail" and is hiking only, posted 'no bikes'.

 

Cool beans. I haven't been there since 2014, and at that time Lizards was unofficial. Only signs I saw were a bunch of branches blocking the trailway, and one of them ripped my rear derailleur off once...but only once.

 

Ride Report?

 

Going to put a short one up in I Rode My Bike Today, haven't been on the computer all weekend. Definitely a fun area to ride, your info helped tremendously! Going back next month for sure.