Review Date
November 11, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: page nicol ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
I wanted to try something different and not too far inland from the coast. Most of the reviews were good and I went to another website which gave some good trail notes. Overall I really liked the area. Lots of single track, some great uphill sections,good rocky/rutted technical, some fun bmx jumps and drops, good fire roads to air out the legs. I would agree most of the area is intermediate, but there were some areas I had to get off and walk both uphill and down. They look doable but not by me. You could easily get 15-20 miles in and I'm told you can hook-up with other areas to the south to add even more miles. Lastly I went on a weekend and there were only a handful of bikers/hikers, so not too much traffic. Go out and try it.

Recommended Route:
I started at the Riparian Park Parking Lot, crossed the river and went straight towards the lake up to the top of Cerro de la Calavera. Going up was tough but not impossible. There were some pretty steep downhills on the east side, but I went back the way I came up. After this I went south towards the water tower and then finally to the east to hit the BMX area. Put in about 10 miles in 1.5 hrs.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Hodges, Daley Ranch, Black Mtn, Del Mar Mesa

Review Date
May 20, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: rockit ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Calavera's is a highly underated trail in SD county. If only sticking around the lake I can see why people are giving it a low rating. There are so many hidden gems in a around the area. Spend sometime and it will pay off. You can easily put together a 10 mile loop and never see the same area twice. Give it a try.

Review Date
February 2, 2007

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3 votes

Reviewed by: etrogden ,  Racer

Summary:
Someone is building illegal trails out here. Please stop! We will lose Calavera just like we lost Flightline if this continues. Let's enjoy the existing trails and keep them open. We really need to go out of our way to be good neighbors and stewards of our last remaining trails.

Review Date
August 20, 2006

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: manny40 ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
After reading the reviews on these trails, I decided to go and see for myself. I'm still a rookie mountain biker, but my skills have improved significantly over the recent months; Having said that, and having visited Hodges, Daly Ranch among other places, I have to say Calaveras lake is a very good place to visit. It does indeed, offer a variety of riding terrain appropriate for all skill levels. I found some challenging technical single track, and adrenaling inducing downhills. Anyone who claims Calaveras is not worth the visit, is woefully underappreciating a beautiful, local resource.

Review Date
February 25, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: cheetaprowler ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
calaveras is so underrated, people think that just because they cant find the trails and the drops, that there are none. my friend and i are always out there building new stuff and trying to make the place a better spot for downhilling and freeriding. we have made new trails with drops ranging from 2-20 feet, fun racy singletrack, very techy enduro sections, and 3 fun bridges: a skinny up a pipe, a five foot to flat drop, a 2 foot entry launch (which leads to the five footer), and a fun pivot (teeter-totter) bridge. the reasons that people cant find these things are because 1. they are unfortunately very spaced apart, and 2. we have to hide the enrty to our best trails because they cut through the natural preserve.


P.S.- my friend and i will be out there building new freeride stuff all of this summer because we cant build much while school is going on.

Recommended Route:
bringalottawatta and just explore. if you are riding a bike with tons of H.A. and BB height try the crazy rock gardens on the mountain, if you are looking for DH try the west facing side of the mtn. because there are three VERY fast and VERY rocky trails that i rate beginner, intermediate, unsane. all you have to do at calaveras is explore the place a little bit and you will be satisfied.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
FLIGHTLINE