Reviewed by: Jay Dubb , from Costa Mesa

Summary:
I never did really get what all the excitement is with this trail. Other than the interest from the big bike crew and the fact that it is a very fun, twisting trail,....the "Luge trail" is a very short section of trail & if ridden properly takes all of a matter of 2 minutes to ride. I remember way back when we called it the morrel trail (late 80's) and it was a bail out option as we climbed STT or just a quick change of scenary as we bombed down STT. Now it has taken a life of it's own & I hear of guys refer to it as "epic". PLEEEEEESE, it IS fun,...DO it,...but take it for what it is, a short quick little run down to Live Oak Road.

Recommended Route:
If short on time, park at bottom of Whiting Ranch, ride up to Santiago Truck Trail, take STT to Old camp & come down the Luge. Out to Cooks Corner & back down through Whiting to the car. (You can skip the climb to Old Camp if you want to shorten the loop. Also can be added to the Harding/Jop/STT loop for some extra.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
I highly recommend STT all of the way out to Modjeska Grade instead of the Luge. STT used to be a wide fire road, and has begun to actually feel like a single track in a lot of places. By dropping in on the Luge when coming back from Old camp, you end your "trail" in minutes, however, to continue down STT, you have some awesome high speed ripping for a long time back to car (just check your speed when approaching the hordes of trail users coming up).

Reviewed by: Erik , from Huntington Beach, CA

Summary:
Great place to get in a night ride during the week.. The ride to trail head is boring and will get your heart rate up a notch or two.. Climb up to Old Camp can be challenging depending how hard you push it, if you take your time, it is not that bad.. Turn around and bomb back down the trail, don't miss the little jump on your right, enjoy your decent.. Hit the Luge, watch out for cacti, poison oak, and tons of baby head boulders.. You can loose it pretty bad on this section of trail, so stay under control.. But it can be a blast, its like a roller coaster that you have control of... Enjoy and watch out for horses, every now and then you will come across them...

Recommended Route:
Park at Cooks, ride up Santiago Cyn Rd, right on Modjeska Grade to top, right onto Santiago Truck Trail, up to Old Camp, back down to Vulture Crags (Luge), left down the Luge, bottom go right up steep hill, continue til you hit asphalt road, go right up to water tank, stay to left, come down quick little single track back to road, onto Live Oak go right, head back to Cook's..

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Holy Jim, Horse Thief, Whitting, Harding, Joplin...

Reviewed by: Captn , from LAGUNA HLLS

Summary:
INTERMEDIATE, STEEP HILL ON THE GRADE. ONCE YOU GET TO THE TRAIL HEAD NOT TO BAD. THERE IS A BIT OF SOME HILLS, AND SOME HILLS TO GO DOWN. ITS ABOUT A DOUBLE TRACK I WOULD SAY. THE LUGE OR THE REAL NAME VULTURE CRAGS IS A SINGLE TRACK WITH CURVES, ROCKS, SOME RUTS DEPENDING ON THE WEATHER. YOU COULD JUST TAKE IT EASY DOWN OR YOU COULD BOMB DOWN WHAT EVER YOUR LEVEL IS. NIGHT RIDES ARE ALSO FUN. WHATCH OUT FOR CACTUS AT THE BEGINING.

Recommended Route:
PARK AT COOKS CORNER GO RIGHT UP THE CANYON TO MAJESKA GRADE TO THE TRAIL HEAD. FOLLOW THE TRAIL UP DOWN ALL THE WAY TO A HILL ON THE RIGHT. OR YOU COULD KEEP GOING UP THE TRAIL TO OLD CAMP,THEN YOU WOULD TURN AROUND AND HAVE A LONGER DOWN HILL TO THE LUGE AND ON TO THE STREET BACK TO YOUR CAR.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
JOPLIN, HOLY JIM, TRABUCO

Reviewed by: Paul , from Irvine, CA

Summary:
Good ride. Moderate climb up the hill, but the Louge is worth all of the work. Night riding is legal here and is a lot of fun!

Recommended Route:
Park at Cooks Corner, ride up to Modjeska Grade rd. to the trailhead. Ride up as far as you want to go, but make sure you take the louge back down!

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Whiting, Aliso Wood