Laguna Coast Wilderness Park lies within some of the last remaining coastal canyons in Southern California. Forty miles of trails lead the visitor through oak and sycamore woodlands and up onto ridges with expansive scenic vistas. Some of these trails are hiking only trails, so pay attention to the trail maps and signage.
On this ride you can see California as it has existed for thousands of years. The Coastal Sage Scrub community covers hilltops and slopes, along with patches of Native Valley Grassland and Maritime Chaparral.
The Ride:
Follow the Willow Canyon double track up a steep ascent (you might want to warm your knees up before launching on this ride).
At mile 1.47 turn right onto the Laurel Spur and Upper Laurel Canyon Trail. At mile 2.6 you will cross under the highway and begin following the Serrano Ridge Trail. At mile 5.62 turn right onto W. Canyon Trail. At mile 5.81 the trail forks. Stay right on W. Canyon/Stagecoach North Trail. At mile 7.15 you cross under Laguna Canyon Road. At mile 7.7 you re-cross under Laguna Canyon Road. Bear right and ride across the parking lot of the Nix Nature Center. Continue on Stagecoach South Trail (which is your first real singletrack on this route). At mile 9.25 turn right onto Camarillo Canyon Road. At mile 10.0 you complete the lollipop loop and reconnect with Serrano Ridge Trail. Retrace your original route and arrive back to the Trailhead at mile 13.25.
I would call this on the advanced side of intermediate. You should be pretty good at staying over your back tire, able to ride brake bumps (just a few sections), and be comfortable with rock drops (2 drops around 2 to 3 ft).
Pretty fun but very short downhill trail. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND riding up willow canyon road to bommer to get to T&A. I parked at the dog park and decided to ride up big bend to bomer instead the other day. Turned into a hike-a-bike trail pretty quick for me. Big bend is a pretty ridiculously steep fire road with loose dirt and rocks which proved incredibly hard to ride up.
| ThankTight, technical, but a little short. Love the rocky drop lines.
| ThankOld emerald trail drops you down into Emerald canyon. It's a hidden gem and kind of hard to find. Although there are some rock sections you can usually fly over them without touching the breaks. You can really get speed coming down this single track. Although it's not the most technically challenging it's still a fun fast and steep single track.
| ThankTrail starts with a challenging steep challenging rocky section. It's difficulty to choose a line this first section considering they all lead to large boulders or ruts. I usually stay to the right. After about a hundred yards of this. It's platoughs into a fast single track with very steep sections and into my favorite part of the trail with rock drop offs and step downs. Best trail in el Moro in my opinion.
| ThankThis trail is a ton of fun. The top is relatively flat and can be ridden like a pump track. It is bordered by cacti, which will keep your line choice honest. The trail will then turn downhill and let 'er rip. There is one section that is a little off camber and can catch you unawares if your to hard on the gas. This is a ton of fun.
| ThankConsider yourself a good climber? This will test your climbing ability and endurance. This goes almost straight up with pitches passing 35% incline.
| ThankThis is a fun trail, which I started riding a lot more when Marie Calendars was closed.
The beginning of this trail is a fun little down, which after the rework is not very technical. There are a couple of poorly placed jumps in this section. The second half is just a fun single track that twist and turns as it undulates through the brush. Its a nice change from the truck trails. I rode this a lot. It was also a great connector to Pac-Man. There is nothing very technical about this trail and I would say most any skill level could negotiate with relative ease.
| ThankI actually like riding it from the bottom up as it was a fun climb.
So many choices! There are an incredible number of trails to take here. Ranging from many different levels of experience. You could spend all day out here if you want.
| ThankFire road that can be used to access/connect the El Moro trails with Irvine Open Space.
| ThankFire road that can be used to access/connect the El Moro trails with Irvine Open Space.
| ThankUPDATE: As of July 2014 the full length of Emerald Canyon has been reopened
| ThankJust another fire road? Maybe, but I like this one, as it offers some nice views. Also this part of the park doesn't seem to garner quite as much traffic as other trails.
| ThankGreat fun Trail!
| ThankJust a steep loose fire road. There are better ways to get up and down the hills in this area.
| ThankUPDATE: As of Feb 1st 2014, work has begun on clearing vegetation along the currently closed section of Emerald Canyon Road. A new 15,000 lb fiberglass bridge will be built/installed in the coming weeks over the washed out section of trail
| ThankThis is not a single track but it is fun. There is a lot of climbing for a short steep descent into Laguna beach. I am not a big uphill guy but you feel pretty good making to the top of this bad boy coming from down on the 133. Fun but I was expecting more out of the downhill.
| Thank"Old Emerald Falls Trail" - not to be confused with "Old Emerald Trail"! Both are steep single tracks and both meet up at the bottom, on Emerald Canyon. Old Emerald Falls Trail is flowy single track that also has some rock sections, both bedrock, and loose rock as well as dirt and sand areas. Some of the dirt parts have some nice berms/corners. Unlike Old Emerald Trail, which is up/down, Old Emerald Falls Trail descends into a meadow which it meanders through until it reaches the end.
| ThankA single track, that the official park map lists as "steep" - and it is. It also has several rock garden/sections along the way. Just as an FYI, it is a multi use trail for horses and hikers as well, and somebody had (very) recently been there on horse back...
| ThankLaguna Ridge trail also known (unofficially) as T&A, is a steep, rocky technical downhill single track. About half way down it flattens out for a short while before becoming, yes, you guessed it steep, rocky and technical again. Watch out for a few rocks to huck, as well as cactus encroachment on certain parts of the trail.
| ThankStagecoach is a nice single track that features a somewhat unique feature - an exposed earthquake fault line! (see pics). The climbs aren't too difficult and the descents are fairly flowy, although some of the corners/berms towards the Nix Nature Center end are beginning to develop ruts.
| Thank