Santa Rosa Plateau
Rating: aMTB1, aMTB2
Staging
Dirt parking lot with no facilities
Description
There are just a couple rock gardens that are questionable (see videos) and a few tricky ruts so, hesitantly, i am rating this route aMTB2. It is almost all aMTB1 though. I rode the rock gardens by myself BUT they are definitely tricky. Support rider highly recommended.
There is also a lightly cambered section and a steep creek crossing on Manazanita. Exercise caution. Be ready with low gear.
If you want a fully safe aMTB1 route, stick to Sylvan Meadows Road, Shivela, Manzanita and Cajalco. Avoid tovashal, unless you have a support rider. That is where you will find the tricky rock gardens. Personally, I was very thankful for a little rowdiness. This area is super mellow.
This is a small area and in order to make it a decent loop (still only 8 miles), i had to do flower petal type loops from the staging area.
Now, I embedded the route with Strava instead of Trailforks because TrailForks would not let me include Fenceline. It is a hike only trail. Its short and aMTB is ok so i put in the route because its the only way to make Shivela a loop. Its not fun though. It is very narrow, wheels in the grass, and along the road. Just a means to loop back.
That said, all the trails on the south side of the road are hike only, but ok for aMTB. I did not ride these. Apparently theres some cool old adobe buildings to check out if you want to extend the ride.
If you have questions, contact me.