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The Reseda Backbone Area and Topanga State Park

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[1] Caballero Canyon Trail

Description The Caballero Canyon Trail is a quite short but very fun singletrack. Some sections are a bit rocky and most of it is a good climb, so novices and even some intermediate riders will find it to be quite a challenge. The trailhead starts on the east side of Reseda Blvd, a couple of miles south of the 101 Freeway, almost directly across the street from the Braemar Country Club. There is quite a bit of parking on both sides of the street.

The Caballero Canyon Trail is the most popular entrance to this section of trails so there is a lot of traffic on it, both bikers and hikers, so please slow down, be careful and be courteous to other people on the trail!

 Length (miles)

1.6

Climb (feet)

600

Descent (feet)

70

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[2,3] Mulholland Fire Road (AKA Dirt Mulholland) and Farmer Trail

Description Dirt Mulholland is an unpaved extension of Mulholland Drive. Beyond what is shown on the profile below, it extends eastwards about a mile to Encino Hills Drive, where the pavement starts. It also extends westward an unknown distance since I've never ridden west of Temescal Ridge Trail. There's not much to say about it except it's a fireroad and connects the access trails along the ridges and into the canyons.

Farmer Trail (called Farmer Fire Rd on some maps, but I have my doubts that this was ever a road) is a 1.0 mile long singletrack that roughly parallels Dirt Mulholland. It is generally quite loose, often very steep and often very narrow with a steep cliff on the downhill side and overgrowth on the uphill side. It drops about 300 feet from the east to the west end, the recommended direction for riding. This trail is not recommended for novices!

 Length (miles)

3.4

Climb (feet)

780, starting at Temescal Ridge Trail and riding east to West Mandeville Fire Rd

Descent (feet)

680

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[4] Temescal Ridge Trail

Description Temescal Ridge Trail begins at Dirt Mulholland at the north and heads south to Pacific Palisades, but here it has only been mapped to where it connects to Rogers Road. Its claim to fame is that it connects to the Hub and Rogers Road singletrack. The Hub is where the Temescal Ridge Trail meets the fireroads that make up the Eagle Rock Loop. It has an outhouse which is best used while holding your breath. Further south, there are two connections to Rogers Road. The original, more northerly, starts along a cliff that is slowly sliding into the valley. It could disappear completely at any time. To replace that route is a new singletrack that starts about a quarter mile further south. Besides being less steep and much more stable, the new singletrack goes through more attractive surroundings.

 Length (miles)

2.8

Climb (feet)

880

Descent (feet)

640

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[5] Rogers Road

Description The Rogers Road singletrack is considered to be the best biking trail in the Santa Monica Mountains by a lot of people, and for good reason. A lot of it is smooth, but there are long sections that are a little rocky and a little rutted - just enough to add a bit of a challenge, or to bump up the fun factor, depending on your level of skill. There are spots that have great views of the Santa Monica coastline or downtown Santa Monica with downtown LA in the distance.

Normally we get to the trail from Temescal Ridge Trail and start at the top so it is mostly downhill on the way out, but with a couple of short climbs. We stop at the large oak tree and have a snack while we wait for everyone to catch up. From there we can see the back side of the Getty Museum in the distance. And there are lots of other things to look at. Once Mark and Tony mooned a helicopter that was coming quite close until we notice large letters spelling LAPD on the bottom (sadly it happened too quickly to get a picture). There is another hazard near the oak tree besides helicopters. For about a quarter mile of the trail leading to the tree from the top, there is a lot of poison oak growing in from both sides, so ride this section carefully if you're sensitive, and hope you don't meet someone oncoming that forces you to go off the trail. Downhill of the oak tree the trail gets noticably steeper until the bridge overlook. Less experienced riders can wait at the oak tree for the stronger ones to return from the bridge overlook, or can get a head start on the way back. Normally we don't ride past the bridge because it's quite steep and so it's a tough climb back out, the start of a long way back to Reseda Blvd where we started. However, it's only a few miles by road to Sullivan Canyon from Will Rogers State Park, so you can make a loop ride and skip the climb back up Rogers Road.

Connecting to the Sullivan Ridge Trail (important note - three independent maps show that the following directions will get you to Sullivan Ridge, but I have not personally traversed these roads to verify it!): When you get to Will Rogers State Park Rd by the polo field, turn left and follow it to West Sunset Blvd. Sunset Blvd has a lot of traffic but fortunately there are back streets so you only have to ride on it for a couple of blocks. Turn left onto Sunset and watch for Amalfi Dr. It should be the first cross street you come to. Turn left onto Amalfi and follow it for several blocks until you come to Capri Dr where you go left again. Capri ends after a block where you go left onto Casale Rd, which soon turns into Sullivan Fire Road. You can continue up Sullivan Ridge all the way to Dirt Mulholland, or turn right down the steep horse track to get to the Sullivan Canyon Trail. It is about 4 miles from the polo field to the horse track into Sullivan Canyon.

There is another way to get to Sullivan Ridge from Rogers Road, on a trail that connects them through the intervening Rustic Canyon. It starts a little above the bridge on Rogers Road and the first hundred yards show up on the map at the top of this page as a tiny red squiggle. Here's a description from someone who has ridden it: "this is an important connector to sullivan ridge a/o canyon if you don't want to go all the way down to will rogers park or simply want to avoid street riding. i have ridden this trail several times recently and its kinda gnarly in sections. i'd say about 3/4's ridable, the remainder is steep with deep ruts, roots and some rocky jumps that can be v dangerous and should be walked.  at the bottom is a now [August] dry stream crossing and nearby are the remains of buildings that have some urban lore attached. the ride up to sullivan is a combo of old pavement and singletrack that is fairly easy. there are 2 ways to go that drop you on the paved section well before the gate onto the fire road. this is a fun trail and necessary to complete a loop if you don't like riding on the street, but it's not for everybody. from ridge to ridge i'd say it's about a mile +/-." Thanks for the description, Dennis!

 Length (miles)

6.5

Climb (feet)

approximately 500

Descent (feet)

approx 2100 (the difference in altitude from the bottom to the top is 1600 feet)

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[6] Eagle Rock Loop and [7] Cheney Ranch Road

Description The Eagle Rock Loop is a fire road loop that passes by Eagle Rock where we always stop, take in the view and have a snack. We ride the loop counterclockwise. From the Hub, take the East Topanga Fire Road (the one that goes up the short but quite steep hill). On the right, about 0.9 miles from the hub, is the Cheney Ranch Road, a nice out-and-back diversion of about a half mile. Despite its name, it is more of a single track and is quite a bit more rocky and technical than the fire roads of Eagle Rock Loop. Towards the end it gets very rocky with large steps - you can push through the last couple of hundred yards to the end, or turn around there. Back on the fire road, a few hundred yards down is Eagle Rock on the left. About a mile and a half from the hub you make a very sharp left turn onto Eagle Springs Fire Rd and ride it back up to the Hub.

 Length (miles)

2.8

Climb (feet)

680

Descent (feet)

680

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[8] Sullivan Ridge Fire Road

Description There are two trails along Sullivan Ridge - the fire road, and a single track that runs mostly parallel but crosses it from time to time. The single track is quite a bit steeper in some places compared to the fire road, and has some sections of loose rock. The profile below is for the single track which has a little more climbing than the fire road. At the bottom, just past the gate, is a single track on the right that has some nice whoop-de-doos before it rejoins the main road which is paved at this point. About half way between the ends of the whoop-de-doo single track is a horse track, quite steep and loose in some places, that leads down to the Sullivan Canyon Trail. Normally we ride down the whoop-de-doo single track then back up the pavement to the horse track, then into Sullivan Canyon to return up the Sullivan Canyon Trail.

 Length (miles)

4.2

Climb (feet)

500 (for the single track)

Descent (feet)

1500 (for the single track)

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[9] West Mandeville Fire Road (Westridge)

Description We generally refer to this as the Westridge Fire Road but the correct name is the West Mandeville Fire Road. There are two trails down the ridge - the fire road, and a single track that runs mostly parallel but crosses it from time to time. The single track is quite a bit steeper in some places compared to the fire road, and has some sections of loose and rutted dirt. It also has some very steep climbs. The profile below shows the single track, not the fire road which is more gradual.

A few hundred yards from Dirt Mulholland at the top is an old Nike Missle tower. There are bathrooms and water fountains here. A few hundred yards downhill from the Nike site, the first single track starts on the left and then crosses back over the road several times. The last descent on the single track is basically a dirt face that almost everyone scrambles down, so once you learn where it is, you can skip the last section of the single track and stay on the fire road to the bottom. The pavement and Westridge Rd starts on the other side of the gate. To get to Sullivan Canyon and make a loop ride, go down Westridge and turn right onto Bayliss Rd. Bayliss curves around to the left and then you make a very sharp right onto Queensferry Rd. Follow it to the end to get to the Sullivan Canyon Trail.

 Length (miles)

3.7 of single track and fire road; 4.9 miles to Sullivan Canyon Trail

Climb (feet)

550 feet on the single track

Descent (feet)

1260 feet on the single track, 1800 ft from the top to Sullivan Canyon

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[10] Sullivan Canyon Trail

Description It is a beautiful ride up Sullivan Canyon, shaded by the trees and with many stream crossings. Most of the year there is a small amount of water in the stream. This is a utility road and every few years the utility company grades it, but after the first few winter rains, it reverts to a double track, it's usual state. From the bottom, the trail climbs gently and almost impreceptibly until about a mile before the end where it becomes quite a bit steeper. At this point the road starts climbing the north end of the canyon, where it becomes extremely hot in warm weather because is faces the sun to the south. Less experienced riders will probably walk the last half mile up to Sullivan Ridge Fire Road. Despite the shade in the canyon itself, this climb out at the north end should be avoided during the hottest three months of the year.

 Length (miles)

4.1

Climb (feet)

1380

Descent (feet)

230

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Thanks for looking at Steve's guide to trails in Ventura County, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) and other locations.

 

Caballero Canyon Trail Dirt Mulholland Dirt Mulholland Farmer Trail Temescal Ridge Trail Temescal Ridge Trail Rogers Road Rogers Road Rogers Road Eagle Rock Loop Cheney Ranch Rd Sullivan Ridge Fire Rd Sullivan Ridge Trails Sullivan Ridge Trails West Mandeville Fire Rd (AKA Westridge) West Mandeville Fire Rd (AKA Westridge) Sullivan Canyon Trail Sullivan Canyon Trail Parking and Caballero Canyon trailhead, on Reseda Blvd,
across the street from the Braemar Country Club Trailhead and parking at the
south end of Reseda Blvd Cheney Ranch Rd trailhead Eagle Rock The Hub Nike missle site Parking on Mulholland,
where pavement meets dirt Trailhead at the north end of Westridge Rd Trailhead at the end of Queensferry Rd Trailhead for Rogers Road on the
Will Rogers State Park loop Parking at Will Rogers State Park