Steve's Mountain Bike Page
Turlock, California

Wilder Ranch

October 9, 2000

Wilder Ranch State Park,  located on the Coast Highway about 1.5 miles north of Santa Cruz, has 34 miles of hiking and biking trails winding through coastal terraces, redwood forests and valleys. It was raining most of the day so I only took the camera out twice. Therefore, there are only a few pictures. Despite the cold and wet weather, and the fact that the map we used was very inaccurate, the trip was a lot of fun. There is an abundance of excellent and quite varied single track. The highlight of the trip was the Enchanted Loop, which contained two long, steep downhill descents over dozens of huge redwood tree roots. These were the most challenging descents we ever made. We had to get so far back to prevent endos that our chests were on our seats. Unfortunately, it was so dark in the redwood forest that I couldn't get a decent picture. The few worthwhile shots I got were from placing the camera on a log and using the self timer. The trails were quite muddy and near the end of the trip it was a little difficult to get into and out of the clipless pedals. This was my second trail ride with the clipless pedals and except for the mud problems, I had no trouble with them. Despite being quite challenging, this was perhaps one of the few trips in which I had no falls whatsoever. Here is the  map we used. We do not recommend using it because it does not match the markers on the trails. There is a much more accurate map available at the working ranch (see below). According to the map we did use, we took the Wilder Ridge Loop, Enchanted Loop and Baldwin Loop, ending up at the north end of the park. After crossing Highway 1 we didn't find much of the Old Cove Landing Trail (there is no such trail on the official park map) so we mostly followed the railroad tracks back to the parking lot. With better weather and a more accurate map this would be a great place to ride! The out of focus picture of me is meant to show some of the redwood roots.

  Here is an official map with all the trails marked, just as you encounter them on the trail. For printing I have drawn over the trails and split the map into two parts, print both out and tape them together. Here is the top, here is the bottom.

Click on an image to enlarge it

Enchanted loop	Redwood root	Enchanted loop	Enchanted loop	Enchanted loop
Me out  of focus	Rainy trail	Neil	The coast	Coastal tree

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