Steve's Mountain Bike Page
Turlock, California

China Hole, Henry Coe State Park 

October 14, 2000

Henry W. Coe State Park, about 25 miles southeast of San Jose, is the largest state park in northern California. The park contains over 100 miles of biking trails. Of the bike trails within the park Roger says they "... are not appropriate for beginning singletrackers, as they tend to be narrow and technical. If you are not in good aerobic “shape”, please do not attempt any ride other than the Frog Lake Out-And-Back." The park web site says "The rugged terrain offers a variety of riding options ranging from moderately difficult to extremely difficult. There are practically no easy trails for bikes." Since we had never been to the park before we picked the China Hole trail which is a 10 mile out and back, moderately difficult ride. The first 2.5 miles consists of  mostly steep downhills on the Manzanita Point Road, a dirt road. The China Hole trail is a very narrow, all downhill, single track through Manzanita and very thick brush, with several switchbacks, and often above very unnerving steep cliffs and hillsides. Basically the trail is 5 miles out via steep downhill's and then you turn around and climb back up the same steep hills for 5 miles. On the way down we became a little concerned about going back up. However, we must be in better shape than we thought because the return was not as difficult nor time consuming as we had anticipated. Except for the very narrow trails above steep cliffs and one long section we practically had to bushwhack through, the trip was not very difficult. There were no falls nor incidents to report. I'm very glad I had my knee/shin guards on while bushwhacking. The park is quite spectacular, has very few visitors, and it feels quite primitive. Be sure to visit the buddha-nature maps & books website, which contains a variety of books, images, maps and other resources on the park. 

Click on an image to enlarge it

Manzanita Point Road	China Hole trailhead	The trail	Up the trail
China Hole	China Hole	Neil	Neil
Scenery	Yes, I'm on a trail	Ouch!	Map 285 kb

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