Mammoth Mountain Bike Park located high in California's Sierra Navada
(160 miles south of Reno, Nevada) provide great mountain bike trails in a
resort setting. Well marked and maintained trails with a variety of
difficulties in an alpine setting make for lots of biking fun. Gondolas
bring you and your bike from the base area (8950') to the 11,053' summit
where the Kamikaze Downhill and On The Top trail begin. All days passes
cost $23. Click on any pix for a better view.
Wanna know more, click here.Mammoth Mt.
The Kamikaze Downhill is a fast and wide 3.4 mile downhill. You better
hang on tight and have good brakes before making the plunge on this run.
Looking toward the "Minarets" and the pond where Beach Cruiser Trail runs.
The Summit House, end of the line for the gondola ride and the beginning
for the Kamikaze Downhill.
This view is from Skidmarks Trail accessed from the gondola ride
to Mammoth's summit. It is rated as "most difficult". The hard part
of this trail are the sharp switchbacks on very loose rocky ground,
just as the Kamikaze Downhill is. The danger factor is high if you go
over the side. (easy to do) You might run into patches of snow here.
I found that the upper trails were not as much fun to ride as the
lower ones that begin at the base area. No gondola ride needed but a trail
access pass is required. ($18, includes 2 gondola lifts) Paper Route,
Big Ring, Juniper, Downtown and Uptown trails are all fun and easy to
ride. They wander through some beautiful forests unlike the stark, barren
upper trails, Kamikaze, Off the Top and Skidmarks.
Here's a look at Downtown Trail. Its about 5 miles long and ends up in Mammoth
Lakes Village. With a park pass you can get van shuttled back to the bike park
or for the pedalling inclined, like myself, Uptown Trail gets you back to
the gondola area.
There are more places to bike than just the bike park. Here's a view
of the upper of Twin Lakes. Take St. Mary Rd. about 3 miles from town
(1000' verticle climb) to get here.
In this pix, I'm pedalling along the shore of Horeshoe Lake.
