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Hayward Plunge

Average Rating:    (3.81 of 5)

No. of Reviews: 16

awsome downhill, super technical, lots of speed (45 mph avg.), lots of turns, and bad @#$ jumps(jumps are really just mounds on the trail about a foot tall, but you get launched off of them) Super long(8min to get to bottom @ 30mph), nice view of forest and best thing is there is NEVER any sort of wind because you are in a forrest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Latitude
37.66500241632242
Longitude
-122.07709550857544
Trail Directions
take decoto road northbound, (toward mission blvd) When you hit mission blvd, take a left, go straight for about 7 or 8 miles until you get to the Hayward plunge indoor swimmingpool,(you cannot miss it) Make an imidiate right once you have passed he pool(soory, I do not know the street names) Then manage your way up the steep hill, you will pass a cemetary, once you com to the end of that road, make a right, there should be a high school to your left. make a right where the street divides. you will drive about 1000 feet or so, make a right on bottom of the hill, right before the turn, keep going up the street untill you get to durham, there make a left and park. You now are at the top and ready to go. There is actually two trails that you can mob down. one will be at the begining of durham road, and the othe is about 200 feet down durham to your left
Trail Length
8
Trail Level
Advanced
Trail Type
Singletrack & Fire Roads
City/County
Hayward
   


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Reviews 1 - 5 (16 Reviews Total) View All | Next 5

Review Date
June 5, 2010

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

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Reviewed by: 1wyattearp ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Been riding this trail for 35 years. Fun for experienced and beginners alike. Nice creekside trail with different terrain. Rocks, ruts, downhill, flat, sharp turns and water crossings. Its all here. Nice night ride too. Have seen Mountain Lions at night twice over the years and rode over one lion kill (deer). Watch out for hikers and horse riders. PLEASE be nice to them and dismount. We want them to say to others how nice the bikers are!!

Recommended Route:
There are two top trails and one lower. Find your way to Oakes and Durham. Park. At the intersection is one trail head. Approx 100 yds on Durham is another. The one off Durham is easiest. Ride. At the trail bottom (Campus dr) go across the street to the church. Find the where the trail resumes on the right side of the parking lot, follow it past the big drainage tube, and continue down to the Hayward Plunge. Have lunch at Jack in the Box across the street.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Wilder Ranch near Santa Cruz



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Review Date
May 21, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

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Reviewed by: motormonkeyr6 ,  Downhiller

Summary:
The 1st reviewer said speeds up to 45 BS. The fastest I have gone is prob somewhere around 30. There are not many hikers on the trail mainly because no one knows where it is. Its deffinatly fun no doubt. I wouldnt drive 30+ mins for it though. Someone has been building some burms and kickers *wink* latly. If your a Dj'er there are some jumps on the lower section that you will enjoy. Dont bring your big hit full Dh big. We ride 7points, bullits, Nomads, etc. In all my riding I have seen less than 10 ppl on the trail. I ride it once a week.


It can be very leafy in the fall and winter. Beware.

Get ready to drift!!!! :)

Recommended Route:
Trailhead on the left of oakes )going up oakes.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
JMP, Chabot



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Review Date
April 2, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

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Reviewed by: roach666 ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
This is the first time I've ever written a review about anything so bare with me. I used to ride this trail a lot when I was younger and I really enjoyed the night rides but it has been years since then. I just had my girlfriend shuttle me up this morning and all I can say it was great. I'm just getting back into Mt. biking so I wasn't going very fast but the trails seem to be very technical. I could tell that Hayward Park services is really not maintaining the trail, but the ride was still good. The inclined killed me (had to dismount and hike it).

Recommended Route:
Here is the exact directions of how to get there:

From Decoto Rd:

L- Mission Blvd.

R- Fletcher (first right passed the Hayward Plunge. Fletcher turns into Walpert St.

R- 2nd St. (the very end of Walpert)

R- Campus Dr.

L- Oakes Dr.

The trail is is where Durham and Oakes intersect. There are two trail heads. One right where the two streets meet and the other is down just aways on Durham St.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Lake Chabot, Garin Park, JMP and Redwood in the Oakland/Berkley Area.



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Review Date
September 23, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

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Reviewed by: rzims ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
What an awesome trail
I parked at Memorial Park on Mission and rode up to the top where it meets Durham rd.
It's got a few creek crossings, some single track and is a pretty trail since it follows the creek and is in the shade.
It wore me out on the uphill since I'm just getting back in to riding after a couple of years off but coming back down made it all worth while.
Some parts can be slippery on the downhill so be aware.
My computer said jsut over 7 miles up and back.

-Rich



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Review Date
January 18, 2004

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

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Reviewed by: Cohiba101 ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
I just moved to the Bay Area from Europe and decided to search for some trails close to where I live. After checking MTBR.com I found the "Hayward Plunge" trail.

Since I'm more of a downhiller, I prefer starting up at the top trailhead on Durham rd in Hayward. I get a friend to drive me up first though. =)

The starting section is fairly rutted, steep and consists of doubletrack with some tight switchback sections. Make sure your brakes are working and that you have your bike set up for downhill (i.e. lower the seat and get behind on the bike!) After that you enter a small forest trail which varies from tight technical singletrack sections to doubletrack.

Especially on the first part of the trail you can get some nice air off some jumps, but watch out for oncoming hikers or horse riders. Hitting either at full speed could really ruin your day. With this in mind, you can still get some good speed up, but if you are going as fast as the first reviewer mentions (40 MPH +), you're risking an accident with another trail user.

Overall the trail is pretty technical, and you've got to react fast in some sections. A few stream crossings are in there as well, but I mainly hoof those.

Once you arrive at the bottom, you'll see Campus Drive. If you cross the road there, you can continue on to the "Wally Wickander" trail, which starts with a few uphill sections, but then the rest is all downhill with some small jump opportunities from berms along the way. You will pass a few picnic and BBQ areas, and see some nice little valleys and a waterfall. This part of the trail ends at the Hayward Plunge swimming pool and recreational area, where you'll find a small ampetheater and some tennis courts.

Overall, a fairly technical trail, and a superb training opportunity for those ppl who can't get away for long rides during the week. And if you can have someone drop you off at the Durham trailhead, even better!

I once tried climbing uphill from the Campus Drive trailhead, but on my trailbike (GT STS-1000 DS) that was a real killer. Basically, it is all uphill until you reach the entrance at Durham road. Without a doubt this would be a real challenge to hillclimbers if you started out from Campus drive (or even from the Hayward Plunge park entrance)!

Still, its worth checking out if you live in the area. A full loop is about 8 miles.

Recommended Route:
Take 880 to Jackson Street, go east(away from San Mateo Bridge). Merge onto Foothill Blvd. Turn right on D Street, which turns into Fairview Avenue. Go uphill on Fairview. Turn right on Oakes, then right on Durham road. Durham is a small street, not to be confused with Durham road in Fremont. After about a hundred yards on Durham, you run into the Hayward Recreation Map at the trailhead.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Lake Chabot, Hayward Peak



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Reviews 1 - 5 (16 Reviews Total) View All | Next 5
 


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