I woke up on November 1st to snow on the ground! While we’ve gotten the first taste of winter, I think we’ll still have a few more weeks of fall mountain biking before the winter really sets in. These are my favorite mountain bike rides in the Truckee to hit up this fall. They’re low enough that they’ll usually rideable into late November.
Happy Face and Woodsplitter
Happy Face and Woodsplitter are both single direction downhill trails in the Sawtooth network. They both are off the same climbing trail, so are a great option to lap until dark. Happy Face is a bit longer and easier than Woodsplitter - it’s a flow trail while Woodsplitter is a (fully rollable) jump trail with a couple of techy rock rolls.
Happy Face is about 4.25 miles with 530 feet of climbing and Woodsplitter is about 3.75 miles and 470 feet of climbing.
Donkeytown and El Burro
Another spot with a couple of quick lap option is Five Trails, which has both Donkeytown (formerly and likely still better known as Jackass) and El Burro (formerly A1). Donkeytown is the longer and easier option while El Burro is shorter and rockier. Both have optional features and jumps, but nothing that isn’t rollable.
Donkeytown is about 4.75 miles with 710 feet of climbing and El Burro is about 3.25 miles with 520 feet of climbing.
Animal Trail
Mountain bike trail popularity can really be impacted by what’s trendy, with awesome trails falling out of favor for no real reason beyond that it’s not new anymore. Animal Trail in the Prosser area is one of those fun trails that is never busy anymore, but is still a ton of fun. It’s more chunky than flowy, but still really rideable. For a fun loop, climb up Lower Animal Crackers and ride down Animal. If you want to add some mileage and climbing, you can ride up to the top of Prosser Hill on Upper Animal Crackers.
The Animal loop is about 4.7 miles and 1,120 feet of climbing.
Sawtooth Loop
If you’re looking for a more cross country style ride in Truckee this fall, Sawtooth Loop is what you’re looking for. This trail gives the Sawtooth Trail network its name, and it was the first bike trail in that area. It’s not a ton of climbing, but the rock gardens gives you more of a workout than the elevation gain shows. I recommend riding the loop clockwise, but either way works. Be sure to save some energy for the last mile. It’s not steep, but the last bit of climbing on tired legs always gets me.
Sawtooth Loop is about 10.5 miles with 700 feet of climbing.
Lower Mother Lode and Fools Gold
I’ve been riding a lot in Tahoe Donner these last couple of seasons. Pairing Lower Motherlode with the newly rebuilt Fools Gold is my new favorite quick loop in TD. To access these trails from Alder Creek Adventure Center, you’ll climb up Wild West climbing trail and the Sundance and Firewalker fire roads until you connect with Lower Motherlode. Fools Gold is rated as a black diamond trail, but it’s definitely on the easier side of advanced, with some rock rolls that are good for sessioning.
Riding Lower Mother Lode and Fools Gold from ACAC is about 8 miles and 820 feet of climbing.