TR - Noble Canyon & Big Laguna Loop (San Diego, CA)

[derstuka]

Ok, I know this is an out of state TR, but what the hell! Most of mine are outstate anyways! Don't be a hater!

Ok, to get to the trailhead from San Diego: Travel east on Interstate 8 until you hit the Pine Valley exit. Turn left on Pine Valley Road, then left onto Old Highway 80. Travel down 80 for 2 miles, and turn right onto Pine Creek road. Just travel straight down this road for about 3 miles, until you see the "Noble Canyon" trailhead sign.

Pine Valley is about 3600 hundred feet in elevation where you start. I normally get back on the paved forestry road, and I take that up until it crosses the Noble Canyon Trail for the 4th time or so. From there, it is single-track until you hit Sunrise Hwy (elevation close to 6000 feet, give or take a couple hundred feet) , then I take a left and proceed to Big Laguna Lake and that is pretty much a loop around lakes and thru the woods. You can take the Noble Canyon singletrack for the whole way to Sunrise Hwy, but that takes FOREVER, and it extremely difficult with all of the rock gardens and such. The road up is a grinder climb. It gains a couple thousand feet by the time you hit the trail (where I get on).

Coming back down from Big Laguna to Noble Canyon is a blast. The trail is pretty advanced in some parts, and easy in others. One thing it does have is lots and lots of rocks. You need to bring your game face for this ride. Every year it gets more technical with erosion. The pictures do not do it justice as far as showing the level of difficulty. Arguably, this is San Diego County's best ride. I left my truck at 8am, and got back to it at about 12pm. This is much longer than some people ride it. They usually shuttle it, or don't ride up to Sunrise Hwy. My legs were so toasted that they were shaking. By the time you finish (the route I took) I would say it is close to a 3000+ elevation gain with all of the ups and downs, plus the climb over the saddle at the end. Another cool thing about this trail is that it goes thru like 3 climatic zones. From lush forest to semi-arid desert.

Oh, and I was alone, so no action shots... :sad:

[accadacca]

Hey that looks like a fun trail. Thanks for sharing. :2thumbs:

[Sombeech]

That looks like a decent trail. I added it to the index. Thanks man.

[live2ride]

I want to come out and go riding out there in Diego, How long is the drive from slc? That trail looks pretty cool and I hear that there are some kick ass trails down there. Great pics man

[derstuka]

I want to come out and go riding out there in Diego, How long is the drive from slc? That trail looks pretty cool and I hear that there are some kick ass trails down there. Great pics man

Yeah, well the pics would have been better with some actions shots, but, you can do, only what you can do, ya know? I took a nice branch into my side, and damn, I thought I had cut myself wide open from the feel of it. Just some big red welts, no worries.

What kinda riding are you into? I mean, are you a freerider, cross-country, downhill, or a little bit of everything. Can you climb? San Diego has some good riding, but it can't hold a candle to Moab or anything. I think you would love Noble Canyon/Big Laguna Loop. Lots and lots of technical sections. San Diego has a lot of rocks, and loose dirt on most trails. We have a ride called Anderson Truck Trail which the upper section is called World Cup 1 & 2, and I don't even attempt half of it. Some crazy sh*t to me. If you look at the trail index, San Juan Trail in Orange County, CA is a blast. 26+ switchbacks. It is probably my favorite SoCal ride. However, what we lack in trails, we make up for in HOT women! :rockon: :rockon:

[accadacca]

However, what we lack in trails, we make up for in HOT women! :rockon: :rockon:
You referring to the SDSU chicks?

Utah has a fair share ya know..... :cool2:

[derstuka]

However, what we lack in trails, we make up for in HOT women! :rockon: :rockon:
You referring to the SDSU chicks?

Utah has a fair share ya know..... :cool2:

Yes, SDSU chicks, as well as USD, UCSD, AND the beach areas ho's! I don't doubt that Utah has its fair share, but, DAMN, you need to take a tour of SDSU, and the beach out here sometime. I know, I know, it is all relative, but still... :hitit:

[Ross]

great pictures.

looks like a pretty sweet trail. Area around Big Laguna Lake looks awesome.

[derstuka]

great pictures.

looks like a pretty sweet trail. Area around Big Laguna Lake looks awesome.

Thanks, this is what happened when a friend and I did the same ride about 1 month ago. The San Diego mtns rarely get snow, and when they do, it is usually gone within 2-3 days, however, about 6 weeks ago, the mtns got hammered by about 3 feet (with 10 foot drifts reported) around Big Laguna Lake and Noble Canyon. The most in like 50 years, if not more. Soooooo, after some warmer weather (and a 2 week span) a friend and I decided it was time to check it out. Well, it didn't go so well. It started out in Pine Valley with no snow and about 65, then as we got higher and higher it was still clear. Then, the occasional patches came about, then it was solid snow, and for some stupid reason, we kept trudging forward, with dumb hope that Big Laguna would be clear because of the sun exposure. Well, we ended up hiking and pushing our bikes thru about 8 miles of snow. When we got to Big Laguna, it was all snow covered and cross-country skier's were around. Long story short, my upper was fine with a shirt, but I seriously thought my toes were gonna fall off. We took the highway back down. Here are some pictures. It fun, until we got totally depleted of energy.

Whoops, the pictures are in reverse order...ahhhh, I hate that! Sorry.

[live2ride]

I want to come out and go riding out there in Diego, How long is the drive from slc? That trail looks pretty cool and I hear that there are some kick ass trails down there. Great pics man

Yeah, well the pics would have been better with some actions shots, but, you can do, only what you can do, ya know? I took a nice branch into my side, and damn, I thought I had cut myself wide open from the feel of it. Just some big red welts, no worries.

What kinda riding are you into? I mean, are you a freerider, cross-country, downhill, or a little bit of everything. Can you climb? San Diego has some good riding, but it can't hold a candle to Moab or anything. I think you would love Noble Canyon/Big Laguna Loop. Lots and lots of technical sections. San Diego has a lot of rocks, and loose dirt on most trails. We have a ride called Anderson Truck Trail which the upper section is called World Cup 1 & 2, and I don't even attempt half of it. Some crazy sh*t to me. If you look at the trail index, San Juan Trail in Orange County, CA is a blast. 26+ switchbacks. It is probably my favorite SoCal ride. However, what we lack in trails, we make up for in HOT women! :rockon: :rockon:


I am not a free rider by any means, I am a Cross Country rider who loves to climb. I would rather climb as much as possible and as technical as possible. I still like downhill but ride a bike with 3.5 of travel and can't huck it. I just plain like to ride and climb my ass off. I figure I will climb as much as I can then the downhill is the reward for the climbing. Mainly Crosss country, technical but I can hold my own on everything.

[accadacca]

:lol8: Yup you SoCal boys don't know what to do in that white stuff. :lol8:

Damn live2ride should we call you live2climb. :ne_nau: I like to earn my downhill but much prefer it to the uphill puke sessions. :nod:

[derstuka]

I am not a free rider by any means, I am a Cross Country rider who loves to climb. I would rather climb as much as possible and as technical as possible. I still like downhill but ride a bike with 3.5 of travel and can't huck it. I just plain like to ride and climb my ass off. I figure I will climb as much as I can then the downhill is the reward for the climbing. Mainly Crosss country, technical but I can hold my own on everything.

Same here, I love to climb as well (only because I know it will lead to some downhill). Hell, you have loved that ride I did yesterday. Lots of gut puking climb, with a killer downhill reward. That is how I look at it. Downhill is the reward for the climb. :2thumbs:

[Deathcricket]

Oh thanks for the nice pics. I actually grew up in this little tiny town right near there (20 miles) called Descanso. Looks like everything is growing back nicely since the huge fire. That's great to see.

[Deathcricket]

I want to come out and go riding out there in Diego, How long is the drive from slc? That trail looks pretty cool and I hear that there are some kick ass trails down there. Great pics man

I've never been to SLC yet but had driven several times from my home in St George. Assuming you don't hit traffic or take a lot of potty breaks you can make it in 5 1/2 hours. But the places he's showing here are in the mountains so add an hour once you hit San Diego. So tack on maybe 4 extra hours till st george and your talking 11+ hours. Hella long drive

[derstuka]

Oh thanks for the nice pics. I actually grew up in this little tiny town right near there (20 miles) called Descanso. Looks like everything is growing back nicely since the huge fire. That's great to see.

Of course! How could I not know about the huge metropolis of Descanso? I guess you used to shop at the huge Raintree Market, Descanso Merchantile, or went big and shopped at the Mtn Market in Pine Valley. Then of course there is Frosty Burger in Pine Valley..YUM YUM!

Yeah, it is growing back nicely, but upper Noble Canyon sure did take a big hit. It looked like you were riding on the surface of the moon awhile after the fires.

[Deathcricket]

Of course! How could I not know about the huge metropolis of Descanso? I guess you used to shop at the huge Raintree Market, Descanso Merchantile, or went big and shopped at the Mtn Market in Pine Valley. Then of course there is Frosty Burger in Pine Valley..YUM YUM!

Yeah, it is growing back nicely, but upper Noble Canyon sure did take a big hit. It looked like you were riding on the surface of the moon awhile after the fires.

Obviously you haven't explored the whole town my friend. You forgot to mention the "firestation/sandwichshop/videostore" called Perkins. Either that or you blinked and missed it. j/k :roflol:

Anyways cool pics bro. Looks like I have to get into Mtn biking now as well as, Hiking, climbing, canyoneering, caving,etc. Too little time! I'll see if I can dig up a couple fire pics of that area and we can do a "before and after".

[derstuka]

Of course! How could I not know about the huge metropolis of Descanso? I guess you used to shop at the huge Raintree Market, Descanso Merchantile, or went big and shopped at the Mtn Market in Pine Valley. Then of course there is Frosty Burger in Pine Valley..YUM YUM!

Yeah, it is growing back nicely, but upper Noble Canyon sure did take a big hit. It looked like you were riding on the surface of the moon awhile after the fires.

Obviously you haven't explored the whole town my friend. You forgot to mention the "firestation/sandwichshop/videostore" called Perkins. Either that or you blinked and missed it. j/k :roflol:

Anyways cool pics bro. Looks like I have to get into Mtn biking now as well as, Hiking, climbing, canyoneering, caving,etc. Too little time! I'll see if I can dig up a couple fire pics of that area and we can do a "before and after".

Here is some pics from during the fires. That was a crazy time. I didn't see the sun for like 2 days, and it looked like it was snowing out. Most were taken around the Balboa Park area of San Diego. Keep in mind that this is like 12 in the afternoon.