Review Date
October 15, 2006

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 1 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: imtnbke ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This trail is so bad, and this park's treatment of mountain bikers is so insulting, that it's hard to know where to begin.

So I'll start with the park brochure. It says, "Hiking, cycling, horseback riding," etc., "are popular activities at Ed Levin Park." It continues, "Hikers, equestrians, and cyclists may enjoy the park's 19 mile trail system." So far so good. But then there's the disclaimer, which swallows everything that precedes it: "[T]he Bay Area Ridge Trail traverses the park, and is the only trail open to cyclists." In other words, you can have your Model T in any color you want, as long as it's black.

And what an awful two miles of trail the Bay Area Ridge Trail is in this park. From the EBRPD's Mission Peak Regional Preserve, Agua Caliente Trail runs about a half-mile to a junction with Calera Creek Trail, which drops steeply down to a flat section that parallels a golf course. The surface consists of roughly plowed dirt clods, so you're fighting your way against major rolling resistance. It's littered with cowpies. The beginning of Calera Creek Trail is a steep and loose descent that might cow beginning or intermediate riders (and if that doesn't cow them, the literal cows blocking the trail might). There are also one or two muddy sections to add to one's unenjoyment -- this after many dry summer months.

When you arrive at the parking lot after this dreary descent, you'll notice that other trailheads are bristling with unfriendly no-bikes signs. But most of those trails look so wretched that only a masochist would want to ride them anyway.

It would be interesting to know if any of the higher-elevation trails are decent, but they're all off-limits to bikes. If anyone else agrees with me about Ed Levin County Park, maybe an e-mail to the parks department would be in order: http://www.parkhere.org.

Recommended Route:
Enter from Mission Peak Regional Preserve and descend to the Ed R. Levin County Park parking lot.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
I liked climbing from Ohlone College up the Peak Trail in Mission Peak Regional Preserve.