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Backbone Trail in Malibu
30 reviews
4.07 of 5
Great mix of fire road climbing, singletrack speed, rocky technical sections, and lush scenery. Best in the Santa Monica's.
From the trail head, climb west to Castro Peak, towards the antennae. The fire road you want to stay on follows the ridge line (Castro Crest), rounds the south side of the peak under the antennae, then drops sharply to a saddle on the west side of a box canyon. Take the singletrack to the west, which leads through Newton Canyon to Latigo Canyon Road and is about 2 miles of (mostly) downhill fun. Cross latigo and continue down to Kanan Dume. This section of trail is over grown thanks to El Nino, but still fun.
Turn around at Kanan Dume and double back to the saddle at Castro Crest. From there, take the singletrack down and to the right, into the bowl. CORBA did a great job fixing this trail in the spring, the result is buff singletrack in a lush valley with sections that challenge good riders but are easily walked by the less skilled. The last mile is an easy climb back to your car and your frosty cold beverages.
You can reach it from the SF Valley but I like driving up to the top of Corral Canyon Road from PCH (Thomas Guide, page 628). The trail head there is a great place to kick back after the ride (hint: bring a cooler and some beverages). Nearby pseudo-slickrock formations are fun to warm up on.
Summary: This is what I would call the definition of an XC trail. Lots of ups and downs with some mild technical stuff throughout. Started at the Kanan Tunnel trailhead and rode to Corral canyon (i think?) parking lot, then back.
Lots of fast sections on the return trip. lots of rocky parts. some of the climbing sections can be killer and they last just long enough to make you hate it.
Recommended Route: Take Kanan Dume south from 101 and park at 3rd tunnel parking lot. Grab the trail that starts pointing directly south. Right from the start its a short killer uphill climb up and over the tunnel heading east. From here it is a couple (2-3) miles of solid XC singletrack, mostly up. Cross Latigo canyon rd and pick up the trail again on the left side of the parking lot. Climb another couple of miles of XC single track that is a little more technical than the previous section. End up at a FR. you will see a peak (castro peak?) and antenna towers to the left. Cross FR veering a little right and pick up a single track down. 1st mile down is rocky with some tight switchbacks and then turns into some really cool fast dry creek bed type of single track with lots of rocks to just fly over. Another 1.8 miles brings you to a parking lot. I think this is Corral Canyon? Then back out the way I came in.
Other recommended trails in the same area: Sullivan canyon. Cheseboro. Viper. Backbone to Will Rogers.
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Summary: Awesome trail conditions. (full parking lot too). Most of the gnarly ruts from last winters rains are filled in which makes for a better ride. only a couple stream crossings. Some of the bushes could be trimmed back. Overall this is a really fun trail network!
Recommended Route: Parked at Kanan/Backbone trail head. Head west cross Latigo and continue up to Castro peak... turn around and up Bull dog, back down and head home.
about 12.5 miles
Other recommended trails in the same area: chesebro!
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Summary: I rode the Backbone from Coral to Kanan on Sunday 3/27. It's mostly dry now, but your bike will get pretty muddy from the stream crossings. There are a few washout areas, but considering the extent of the rain and the condition of other local trails (like Sullivan Cyn, for instance) this trail is remarkably dry and intact.
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Summary: Just wanted to give some info on the anti-NPS ranger sign and the big maximum security style fences avec razor wire that straddle a fine fireroad...
Came across these signs and thought what the #@!*&^ last spring. Turns out there is a multimillionaire radio broadcaster (owns a conglomerate of radio stations) who wants to build a vacation house on top of the mountain. There is a whole article about this in the LA Times that details what an a-whole this guy is, and how he treats these legal battles where he becomes the victor over public interests, neighbors, and anyone who stands in his way as a form of sport. I wish I could remember his name, but I felt free to shimmy underneath his monstrous barriers. I didn't find the silky singletrack that everyone talks about, but I didn't really look that hard.
Recommended Route: I went South/East from the Corral Canyon parking lot and played on the pseudo-slick rock and had a blast. Will actively search out the single track to the North/West next time
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