Mountain Biking Report 5-4-21: The mountain biking has been good since my last post. Snowman has been doing a ton of riding and training down in the Bishop and Round Valley area riding mostly single track.
I will be moving most of my ride time on my mountain bike up to the high country as we move forward now.
The plan is to ride every trail and route in Southern Mono County over the next fews months and get video and photos of all those rides. There will be a trip report post from each ride with a write up, maps, a video and of course edited photos.
The idea here is to expose you to all the place’s you and your family can mountain bike in the Eastern Sierra. My goal is then to inspire you to come here for a mountain bike vacation of your own.
Taking a look at the current conditions from a mountain bikers point of view, all trails and roads below 8500 feet are now melted out and ridable over the entire Eastern Sierra.
We had a below normal winter so we expect the higher mountain trails that still have snow to all open very early this season. The melt off for most trails will be over in less then a month.
As of this post on May 3rd, in the Mammoth Lakes area there is some great riding out of Shady Rest, try the Knolls Loop or the Sawmill Road out to 395 and back or ride on to Lookout Mountain.
If you check out google maps you will see there are tons of service roads between Shady Rest, 395 and the Scenic Loop. Over the years I have ridden all these roads and have created my own loops and routes just by looking at the map and getting to know the routes on my bike.
Try it out, take a look at the google map then get out there during the morning hours while it’s still cool. While most of this area is dirt roads, you will get a great feeling just riding through the jeffery pine forest and when the view opens up through the trees it’s amazing.
Checking in on the Uptown and Downtown trails you can ride a loop from the Village up to the ski area garage and back down again as of a few days ago.
Above that there was still snow, but only maybe 1-2 feet at best and it’s all dirty so it will be melting fast. I did not see any crews from the road working on Uptown yet.
The Mountain View Trail still needs some time to melt out but my bet is you will be able to ride the lower half in the next couple weeks. I will be doing a ride on uptown later this week and will ride up MVT and see what the live status is and how far you can make it.
Mammoth Rock Trail should be all melted out this week. If you’re in shape ride up Old Mammoth Road to the trail head and then loop back home when you’re done.
If you’re want to do a shuttle and park a car, and the gate is closed 1/2 mile down from the trail head, there is limited parking. Please note this is a shared use trail and you will encounter uphill riders, hikers going each direction and horses.
I like mixing in the dirt with the paved trail system here in Mammoth Lakes, as of now all those paths are melted out, cleaned up and rideable below Twin Lakes in the Mammoth Lakes Basin.
Out on the Scenic Loop Road the Inyo Craters Area is ready to ride with all the snow melted out now. This is a good time to ride these trails / roads before it dries out and becomes more sandy later in the summer.
Just south of Mammoth try out Lower Rock Creek Canyon as its a blast right now, but do watch for uphill riders and hikers / dogs on the trail. Please beware that starting May 4th they are doing a controlled burn near this trail so you will want to avoid this area until the following weekend.
The Mammoth Mountain Bike Park is set to open Friday May 28th, expect crews to be out soon clearing snow and getting the trails below Main Lodge ready to go. If you look at the webcams you can see there is still snow down near Canyon Lodge.
Once all that snow is gone you will be able to Ride Big Ring, Lower Paper Route and the other lower mountain trails. Right now I would say we are 1-2 weeks away from that happening.
Ok so now you have some of the low down on what’s up with Mountain Biking on the East Side.
I plan on put a lot of time and effort over the next few months getting you tons of information on local mountain biking. I will be adding in some video and photos to this post when I update again over the weekend.
Please come on up and take a ride in the Eastern High Sierra. When your legs are fried there are tons of other spectacular things to do.
Some good times ahead… Snowman out
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Known Mountain Bike Rides Now Open in the Eastern Sierra
Inyo Forest near Mammoth Lakes
Big Smokey Loop
Little Smokey Loop
Lookout Mountain
Lookout Mountain Loop from Shady Rest
The Knolls Loop
Shady Rest Park Area
Sherwin Creek Road and Side Trails
Lower Mammoth Creek Road to the Junction of 395
Mammoth Rock Trail (watch for snow patches higher up)
Toms Place
Lower Rock Creek Canyon
Crowley Dam and Gorge Trails / Forest Roads
Bishop
Andysland
Silver Canyon
Wilkerson Loop
Silver Light Loops
Mill Creek
Mesa
Coyote Canyon