Southern California Mountain Bikers

Los Pinos - Downhill Shuttle Ride

Jan 2 Sat 10:00 AM

Location: San Juan Trail - Lower Parking Area

Hot Springs Canyon Rd
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675
858-673-6180

Estimated attendance: 3 people attended.
5.002 (2 ratings)
Who organized?
Mark Warrick

For everyone who joined me for San Juan and thought it was too easy, I challenge you to Los Pinos. This is similar in distance and starts and ends all at the same places, but will surely kick your butt. The Los Pinos Trail is hardly ever used by mountain bikers, so overgrowth along the trail is to be expected. Arm and leg protection are recommended. Big Bikes are NOT recommended as this route has a LOT of hike a bike sections (just like the "rock gardens" on San Juan).

Los Pinos has been described as a "roller coaster" with constant ups and downs which equates to a constant workout with small climbs and small descents. That said though, if you're not tired after coming down Los Pinos, I'll be very impressed. Cross-country riders who like challenging technical climbs and nearly 100% single track trails are going to love this ride.

Trail stats for Los Pinos:
Distance: Approx 11 miles
Climbing: Approx 2000'
Descent: Approx 4600'
Difficulty: Very technical
Ride Time: Approx 3-4 hours
Bike to Bring: XC

Check out a TOPO map of the ride here:
http://topos.3fbc.com...

Check out the elevation profile here:
http://topos.3fbc.com...

This is a shuttle ride and this time we won't have somebody taking us to the top. So good news is that it's free, bad news is that you must be able to transport at least one other person and one bike in your vehicle to participate. Meet at the Lower San Juan Trailhead parking area. (Forest adventure pass is required.)

If you happen to have Facebook, you can RSVP there if you like:
http://www.facebook.c...

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Posted Jan 31, 2010 9:26 AM

Mark Warrick

Co - Organizer

Just a little FYI, after some follow up with the Trabuco Rangers, they that the property near the end of the trail is in fact private. They said on the weekends usually no problem since school is not in session but they would like people to call ahead just as a courtesy anyway. Lazy W Ranch can be reached at (949) 728-0141 - website: http://www.lazywranch.org/
Posted Jan 12, 2010 11:07 AM

Mark Warrick

Co - Organizer

I'm in contact with the Trabuco District Office of the Cleveland National Forest. They would like to know which ranger told you that you cannot go on the Los Pinos trail without permission (even the bottom portion you mention) because this trail IS on their list of designated trails.
Posted Jan 4, 2010 5:27 PM

Paul Sylvester

"Life is like a box of cherries" as the saying goes. While we didn't do the intended Los Pinos trail we did do the San Juan. As usual it was awesome. Parking lots at both ends were packed with cars but because the trail is quite long it didn't seem crowded. As mentioned by Chris G you are supposed to get permission with 24 hour notice to cross the private land at the end of the Los Pinos trail. I'm not sure what you do if you arrive there without permission as it would be impossible to go back?
Los Pinos - Downhill Shuttle Ride happened on January 2, 2010 10:00 AM
Posted Dec 31, 2009 9:11 AM

Mark Warrick

Co - Organizer

Awesome Paul - I think you're going to really enjoy this trail. It's a tough ride but one which I think you'll be happy to add to your book of "done that" trails.

Who attended?

3 attendees
- Paul Sylvester
  
  “ "Life is like a box of cherries" as the saying goes. While we didn't do the intended Los Pinos trail we did do the San Juan. As usual it was awesome. Parking lots at both ends were packed with cars but because the trail is quite long it didn't seem crowded. As mentioned by Chris G you are supposed to get permission with 24 hour notice to cross the private land at the end of the Los Pinos trail. I'm not sure what you do if you arrive there without permission as it would be impossible to go back? Anyway we shall do it another day and, ah shucks, we had to settle for San Juan. I take my hat off to Dennis who did it on a hard tail (he might sleep on a bed of nails but who knows?), good job. Sorry the rest of you missed a spectacular day and a great trail. ”
- chris g
  
  “ well. we weren't able to do los pinos since we found out you need to get permission from the ranch 24hrs in advance to we shuttled san juan. what an awesome day. the parking lot was packed but the trails weren't too crowded, and the weather was PERFERCT! thanks to paul for loading all our bikes (and us) up to the top. there had been work done on the trail and it was in GREAT shape. Denise did a great job ridng down san juan on his hard tail...yikes! ”
- Mark Warrick
  
  Co - Organizer