Tahoe Rim Trail - Tahoe City

I don't have a lot of details on this ride. I was a passenger in the truck to the trailhead, and I just followed during the ride. The ride was mostly in the woods, so there wasn't a lot of landmarks to describe. I will tell you this though...it was a lot of fun!

I think we started near a Nordic Ski center, just to the east of Tahoe City. There is a whole network of trails here. This lower section would be a great place to bring kids or beginning mountain bikers. Jeff F. was our guide, and we made frequent turns at the intersections. Eventually we made our way up to the Tahoe Rim Trail, somewhere between Tahoe City and Brockway Summit.

As it turned out, it was an excellent loop for single speeds. The hills were never too steep, and the terrain was pretty smooth. Kristy also let me borrow her 29er, so this was a great trail test of the bike. I was looking for rocks and other obstacles to test the bigger wheels on. It definitely did excel on clearing the challenges. I did however feel like it was slower in the turns compared to my 26er single speed. But like I said, the trail was so smooth that I think a 26er or 29er would be equally fun.



The Girls flanked by Jeff's. Jeff F. was manning the camera.


The best part of this loop is the descent down to the Truckee River. It's very twisty and full of switch backs as you descend down the mountain. Fast enough for a thrill, slow enough to be safe. Much of your speed is dictated by how good you are at turns.

We ended the dirt portion of this ride near Squaw Valley, and rode the Truckee River Bike Path back to Tahoe City. This may be the most crowded spot up at Lake Tahoe. Most likely because of its proximity to interstate 80.

As we got closer to Tahoe City the river was log jammed with rafters, and the bike path was packed with riders of all sorts. You know that dream you have where everyone rides a bike? I rethought this dream after riding this section. Some people just don't belong on bikes! I think Darwin was close to selecting a few of the helmetless riders for extinction.

Sorry for the lack of details on the trailhead, but I think you could probably find some better descriptions elsewhere on the internet. Not to worry though, as you can't really go wrong just exploring this area.

Tahoe Rim Trail

On Sunday we got to ride a section of the Tahoe Rim Trail that I've been wanting to do for several years now. The trailhead is a longer drive from my house, and the trail is only open to mountain bikers on even days. So as you can imagine, planning to ride this trail around a busy schedule can be tough.

We parked the truck at Spooner Lake State Park, and took the shuttle service to Mount Rose Meadows. The Tahoe Rim Trail crosses here, and there is an excellent trailhead. There is parking, bathrooms, and a beautiful meadow that would make a great day trip for a hiking family. A short ride across the meadow and a creek, and we were into the woods on the TRT.

This section of the TRT is very popular with hikers, but it is an amazing mountain bike trail too. It has a nice rolling feel, and the grade is never too steep. There are fun little challenges everywhere, but there is almost always an easy line around them too. The trail seemed to be a nice single speed trail too. Jeff P. was on his 29er single speed, and he was polite enough to wait for me once in a while. I chose to ride my big fat full suspension bike. I think either bike would be a good choice for this trail.

The trail swaps back and forth on the east and west sides of the Carson Range. You get to enjoy views of both Lake Tahoe on the west side, and Washoe Valley to the east.

We came to the Tunnel Creek intersection, and there were mountain bikers everywhere! Kristy and Amy chose the Flume Trail route to Marlette Lake, while Jeff and I continued on the TRT. Both routes offered unique views and fun singletrack. The TRT made a ascent up to the top of Marlette Peak, which in my opinion, is one of the most spectacular views in the area. I could've stayed at the Marlette Peak overlook for hours, but we had to keep moving.

From Marlette Peak, we dropped back down into the woods, and headed towards Marlette Lake. As we got closer to the lake and streams, the wildflowers became abundant. I couldn't really capture the true beauty with the camera, but I gave it my best shot. I was crawling around in the flowers trying to find a good angle, when Jeff P. cried out, "Hey! Do you want to get a picture of a big snake?!?". Not wanting to miss a wildlife shot, I sprang out of the grass to see this fine specimen, only to find Jeff P. taking a leak on the side of the road. You know...I really should know better by now! I declined on the photo opportunity and went back to the flowers.

We met up with Kristy and Amy on the south side of Marlette Lake. We had a snack and then climbed the final hill to the saddle above North Canyon. From here it was a 4 mile descent on a fire road back to the parking lot. The bike shop at Spooner Lake has some post ride refreshments including Haagen Dazs ice cream bars which Kristy and I both enjoyed while we examined our "tan lines". Upon returning home, we treated ourselves to a dinner of sushi and Pad Thai at one of the Carson Valley restaurants. The end to a spectacular day.

I highly recommend this trail/route. Add it to your list of things to do this summer!

More photos of this ride can be found on our Flickr page.

More Playing on the Tahoe Rim Trail.

Amy and I spent another day exploring the Tahoe Rim Trail last Wednesday. It was Charlie's last full day of school so we had one last full play day before summer break. We got an early start and headed up to Spooner Lake. We rode up to Marlette Lake and then made our way to the TRT trail. I got this great picture from the top. Talk about views, this is one of my favorites! We followed the TRT down around Twin Lakes, then to the Flume and back to the car. It was a perfect day for this epic ride!

This section had lots of big boulders that were challenging to maneuver around. In fact I remember an older hiker nipping at my heals, as I hauled my butt and my bike up some of the tougher sections. I sure had fun though, I really enjoyed trying to find the best way through each technical section. It sure feels good when you can get through a spot that seems impossible.

Check out some more pictures taken that day. They are mixed in with our TRT ride, South Camp Loop, from the following week.

Exploring the Tahoe Rim Trail.

Last Sunday Amy and I rode the South Camp loop, up at Lake Tahoe. We parked at the Tahoe Rim Trail trail head on Hwy 50, just before the turn off to 28 going towards Spooner Lake. We didn't start at the TRT though, instead we mounted the bikes, rode past the turn off and then crossed the road. We actually started on a dirt road just past the Ranger storage area on the left. That's when the climbing began and it didn't really let up until we reached the bench. The road was mostly dirt and gravel but seemed to be paved in some of the steepest sections, which made it somewhat pleasant.

I was surprised to see over a dozen ATV and Motorcycle riders zooming past us on the road. It was a bummer, we only saw 3 bicyclists all day! At about 2 miles up we made a right turn and then a left turn after another 2.5 miles. We turned left onto the TRT at about 8 miles and headed up to the peak. That was already 8 miles of climbing, I'm not even going to say what our average speed for the day was. Once on the TRT we enjoyed a nice and easy single track climb with some mild rocky technical spots, but not too bad. I only had to walk the bike through a couple of sections.

It was quiet too, no motorcycles or ATV's are allowed on the TRT, so we were able to enjoy the rest of the ride in peace. This is weird, just a couple of years ago, Jeff and I rode quads and dirt bikes. Now here I am complaining about how noisy they are. How differently we see things these days, more simply and pure. We still enjoy riding single track and seeing beautiful places. Now we can take in the peaceful serenity of natures sounds too. It is amazing how we change and head down different paths, but the beauty is we can choose, as we grow.
At the top we enjoyed the views huddled behind a couple of large boulders, it was too windy to sit on the bench. What a cool spot! I have never viewed our area from up there before, it is amazing to think we climbed all that way, wow! Once refreshed we continued on the TRT back to Hwy 50. Total mileage for the ride was 15 miles.

Three words come to mind to sum up this ride... beautiful, climbing, fun... with emphasis on climbing!

Click on the Tahoe Rim Trail website and pull up the, Spooner Summit to Kingsbury North, map for more details on the route we took.

To view more pictures taken that day, click here. There are some new pictures mixed in as we did another TRT loop yesterday. I got some amazing shots of Marlette Lake with Lake Tahoe in the background. Stay tuned for a post on that ride soon. Plus the girls, Amy, Kathy and I are headed to Lake Almanor tomorrow to ride in the Mile High Century this weekend. Maybe we will break 100 this time! Stay tuned!