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Backbone Trail in Malibu
32 reviews
4.13 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: Great trail so close to the city. Some great single track, especially after a light rain that waters down the dust. Uphills are just long enough to make you hate them if you love to just ride downhill and just long enough to make you love them if you are an XC head.
Recommended Route: Park in the dirt lot on the right about 8 miles in if you are headed from PCH. Head out on the trail head that starts in the lot. Once you climb out of the first downhill section take the single track that is across the fire road and to the right. its a nice long trail that starts steep and levels out for a great ride.
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Summary: Great rolling single trak, climbs are just long enough to make you suffer a bit. Great scenery. A+, especially when everything is green.
Recommended Route: We like starting just above Malibu Country Club. A great 20+ minutes of really cool single trak before you get to Kanan 3rd tunnel (actually the tunnel is marked T-1).
Other recommended trails in the same area: Chesebro, Boney, Tapia Park over Camp David Gonzales.
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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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