Quail Hill Preserve and the Shady Canyon Bikeway in Irvine

Shady Canyon Bikeway in Irvine

The Quail Hill Preserve is a fun little dirt loop located just off the 405 freeway in Irvine.  It’s more suited for a short walk or a leisurely ride on your mountain bike. It’s also a great jumping off point for the Shady Canyon Bikeway in Irvine.  You can park your car in the Quail Hill Preserve parking lot and experience one of the best paved bike trails in all of Orange County.

As you head south from the preserve, the Shady Canyon Bikeway passes through some really beautiful neighborhoods.  The grade is uphill for the first mile and a half and downhill for the next mile, so you can get a nice workout in a relatively short period of time.  At 2.5 miles south of the Quail Hill Preserve, The Shady Canyon Bikeway links up with the Bommer Canyon Trail, or you can continue west on the paved bike trail and link up with the Bonita Canyon trail.  Bommer Canyon is a dirt trail which will take you all the way to Crystal Cove. You’ll need a mountain bike, a helmet and a lot of time to make it to the beach and back up. I don’t recommend attempting a 20 mile round-trip beach journey it unless you are a beast, because the ride back up Crystal Cove is pretty rough.

If you want to start at the Quail Hill Preserve and ride North on the Shady Canyon Bikeway, there is a good route which will connect you to the University Trail. You can link up with the University Trail and head west towards William R Mason Regional Park. This route is a leisurely 8 mile round-trip ride on a paved trail. I highly recommend plotting your route on Google first, because the trails in Irvine can be very confusing and they essentially go on forever in every direction.

Quail Hill Preserve in Irvine

Shady Canyon Bikeway Orange County California

Shady Canyon Bikeway in Irvine California

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Alta Laguna Park. West Ridge Trail

Alta Laguna Park

Alta Laguna Park is a fantastic neighborhood park located high in the hills overlooking Laguna Beach.  Alta Laguna has a playground for the kiddies, tennis courts, restrooms and an absolutely amazing birds-eye view of the beach.  It’s also a great jumping off point for some of the best mountain trails in Orange County.

If you plan on heading up to Alta Laguna for some mountain biking, you can park your car in the parking lot or  on the street. You pick up the West Ridge Trail at the locked gate at the end of Alta Laguna Blvd. The West Ridge Trail is a wide, hard packed, dirt trail that snakes north, paralleling Laguna Canyon Road far down in the canyon below. The trail is in great shape and its wide enough to bomb the steeper sections at full speed.  The trail is mostly downhill from Alta Laguna, so be prepared for some rigorous uphill riding on your return trip. There are several side trails that connect to Wood Canyon Trail at the bottom of the canyon. If you plan on riding all the way to the bottom to Wood Canyon, I would highly advise a two car shuttle to drive back to the top, unless you really want the exercise.

If you don’t want to ride all the way to the bottom, you can follow the West Ridge Trail from Alta Laguna Park for 1.5 miles and turn around at the water tower. The return trip from this point is not nearly as grueling as riding all the way to the bottom. Be sure to bring sunscreen and plenty of water because you will be completely exposed to the sun on the trail. 

Directions to Alta Laguna Park:

From Route 1 in Laguna Beach, turn onto Legion Street. In a quarter mile, merge right onto Park Ave. Continue uphill on Park Avenue. You will come to a few confusing intersections and stop signs. Just keep on Park Ave. After 1.3 miles, make a left onto Alta Laguna Blvd and follow it for a quarter mile to the end. The park and the mountain bike trails are impossible to miss. 

West Ridge Trail. Alta Laguna Park

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Best of OC 2012: Outdoors

Best of OC 2012: Outdoors

The OC Register's Best of Orange County  is a great reference for local hikes, biking trails, camping and surf spots in Orange County. I get ideas for a ton of hikes from reading through their list, so I thought I would share it.

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Mountain Biking in El Moro Canyon

Moro Canyon

Today, I rode my mountain bike from Balboa Peninsula, taking the back routes through the affluent suburban neighborhoods to Coastal Peak Park. Ridge Park Road ends at the park and it’s a very daunting ride from the bottom of the hill. The park sits at one of the highest points in the area and there are some amazing overlooks along the way to take in the views, but the views wont help your legs pedal any faster. From the park, I hit the Bonner Ridge Trail, took a wrong turn and ended up on the Rattlesnake trail. The Rattlesnake trail is in horrible disrepair. Ultra-hardcore mountain bike enthusiasts might call it a “technical” route, but the reality is that the rattlesnake trail is ruined and in dire need of some serious work to make it a viable bike route. I was able to connect to a nice wide-track road in the middle of El Moro canyon and bomb almost the entire last two miles of the trail at serious breakneck speed. It was the first time that I’ve worn a helmet in all year.

At the bottom of Moro Canyon, there is a connector trail to get you back to the bike route on Pacific Coast Highway, but you have to hike your bike up another steep trail. I chose instead to ride my bike on the beach and pick up the bike trails at Crystal Cove about a half mile north. Trust me, the concrete ramp up the beach is a lot less brutal than the connector trail in Moro Canyon. It might be possible to bike Pacific Coast Highway, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have a death wish. The speed limit on this section of PCH is 55, but most people drive 70 and the shoulder in nonexistent.

By the time I was back at Balboa Peninsula, I had ridden a little over 18 miles. Somehow, I felt as if I was biking up hill almost the entire ride, except for the canyon itself. I definitely learned a lesson. The next time I bike Moro Canyon, I’m going to use a two car shuttle; park one car at the bottom of El Moro, and drive the bikes to Coastal Peak Park.

El Moro Canyon Trail Map

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