Review Date
June 14, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: rpalmer ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
I found this trail by accident. Just yesterday (June 14, '09) I was headed up to Mr. Toad's Wild Ride via Armstrong Pass Trail. Armstrong Pass Trail, by the way, was an extremely fun uphill ride, and for obvious reasons even better coming down. The weather turned on us as we were approaching the pass and we had to turn back (we're talking heavy snow in June -- it does happen!) Rather than ride back down the Fountain Place Road, we saw the trailhead to Corral Trail and figured, why not? Our maps showed it led to the same place where we had parked our car so we decided to give it a try. Thank goodness we didn't make it over to Mr. Toad's because I may have never discovered the Corral Trail! The name is deceivingly boring, because this is possibly the sweetest trail I have ever ridden. I've ridden CA coast, Arizona, Utah (Wasatch, Moab, & St. George) and seen a lot of premier singletrack, but this was some kind of special! The turns are all beautifully banked, they have jumps built into the trail (you'll find yourself midair all of a sudden), the scenery is incredible, and there is one long section that is just straight with slight banked curves and some crazy dips that will get your adrenaline pumping like crazy (I didn't know it was possible to go that fast on singletrack!). This is a roller-coaster ride, and not a beginner's downhill. It is intense and fun and long and you've got to have some skills if you try it, especially if you are into balancing on top of fallen logs or other crazy stunts that they have literally built right into the trail. This is world class and deserves more attention than it gets.

Recommended Route:
Get someone to drop you off as close to the top of Fountain Place Road if you can. It was gated off about 3/4 of the way up when I was there. If you can't you can just ride to the top of the road, its not that bad. Steep in places, but its just a road. If you still have energy, continue up Armstrong Pass Trail as high as you want and come back down -- that downhill is also premier, not to be missed. The Corral Trail starts right below the end of the road and winds through the trees before hitting some exposed cliffside territory, but it is not particularly dangerous unless you are being stupid. It winds around there and does some crazy up-and-downing for a while before finally dumping you out on a parking lot on Fountain Place Road. From there, you can take Corral, or turn right onto Sidewinder, which eventually joins back up with Corral. I opted for Sidewinder, which looked more interesting from the map. This is a well-named trail. Constant banked switchbacks were actually a lot of fun! I hardly needed my brakes. After joining back up with Corral, it was a straight, fast shot down to Powerline Road, which connects to Fountain Place Road and the best place to park.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Flume Trail, TRT from Heavenly to 89