Review Date
March 15, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: Anthony Giordani ,  Downhiller

Summary:
plenty of trails all illegal for bikes but every trail you find up there is good riding.

Recommended Route:
from, novato go up pebble beach court,and climb to pointy, then there to the towers.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
there is no other good spots besides big rock.

Review Date
November 21, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: Ham Er Hed ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
There are 2 routes to ride big rock. You can start from the open space access gate at the Alamedo Del Prado exit and get your butt kicked with 4000 ft of climbing in about 5.5 miles on fire road. You can also start at the big rock on the right hand side of the road on Lucas Valley Drive in San Rafael and pedal up a much less intense single track.

Marin County Open Space has a very good map of both trails and several other alternatives. This ride offers some of the best views in the bay area, has very a very fast decent any route you take, and has great riding conditions anytime of the year.

Recommended Route:
If you decide to go up from Lucas Valley (approx 5 miles from the freeway look for the big rock and pullout) you can have a fairly easy pedal for an average rider.

If you decide to leave from Alameda Del Prado prepare and do an up and back ride, prepare to be worked.

For the experienced and in shape rider, ride from Alameda Del Prado all the way up to the towers and down the other side (follow the signs to stay out of private property) ending up at the Lucas Valley entrance. Then turn around and ride all the way back. This will take about 2.5 hours and is awesome if you can handle it.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
In Novato there is Mt. Burdell which has some great fireroad rides. China Camp in San Rafael has some of the best single track in Marin and is great for all levels of riders. Lots of people are hip to the Mt. Tamalpais thing, but there are too many people and too many rangers for me. Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa is also a great ride.

Review Date
May 30, 2007

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: aar0n5150 ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
This trail kicked my a$$. Admittedly I'm not in the shape I once was, but man that's a serious hill.

Starting from the big rock, you follow the meandering switchbacks straight up the side of the mountain. There's little shade, and the climbing was brutal.

The only relief is the staggering views, first of Skywalker Ranch, and later of Mt. Tam and the whole bay area from the top.

Once you get to the top of the hill, catch your breath, turn around, and bomb right back down again. The good news is, it's a ridiculously fun downhill, with just enough curves and bumps to be able to jump around and have fun, while still being able to go pretty darned fast. Other good news is that this trail is relatively unknown, so you get some (relatively mild) singletrack with only a couple hikers and other cyclists on the trail.

Recommended Route:
Ride up. Stop, breath, check out the view. Turn around. Ride down.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
China Camp is the opposite of this trail, with long meandering rolling hills, and a combination of shaded singletrack and narrow fireroads. That's more my speed. Shame it's so darned crowded.

Review Date
February 2, 2006

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: Appendage ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
If you access the ridge near US 101 and go as far as the microwave towers, it's about an 11 mile out-and-back trip. Go a little farther and you can pick up the Bay Area Ridge trail and from there the possibilities are endless. Long, but endless.

Speaking strictly about the ridge, I love riding this ridge but it's not for everybody.

Good points:
1. A total butt-kicking climb. A killer workout.
2. Nice views.
3. Holds up great in the winter. In fact, it's better when it's wet.
4. Easy to get to.
5. Return ride is a great downhill. A lack of blind turns means you can go pretty fast and still be "responsible".

Bad points.
1. Did I say this is a killer climb? Don't go if you're not in the mood for some serious grinding.
2. Very little in terms of technical challenges.
3. Not much in the way a variations possible.

Recommended Route:
Mostly it's out and back kind of stuff for short rides. See the trail description for best access. You can get more creative if you go longer, by hooking up to the Bay Area Ridge Trail at the west end of Big Rock Ridge.