Great read and great photos. And as a disgruntled Marin resident, thank you this - “evidence of mountain bikers was also inescapable.” That area of China Camp is known locally as the “backside” or “Darkside” - it’s full of extremely exposed, ridge-hugging, narrow XC trails and very steep old school rutted jank that combines the thrills of little to no maintenance, sticky clay in the winter, and clouds of dust in the summer. All of it exists in a weird legal gray area - technically none of it is legal, but most of the landowners or land managers don’t enforce any rules (with some notable exceptions).
As to the route, some notes for next time:
\- re day 1, you somehow chose the absolute worst way to descend to the west off Bo Ridge. Nobody goes that way. I guess you have learned this the hard way. The right way would have been to turn left slightly sooner and go down Randall, which gets (a little) more maintenance and at least attempts to stay under 12% grade. From the Randall trailhead it’s a relatively short pedal up highway 1 to Five Brooks.
\- re day 2, mostly looking good, but once again you’re descending off Bo Ridge in the worst possible way via the very aptly named Shafter Grade, arguably the worst fire road in the entire watershed. Instead the way to go would have been either to pedal up Sir Francis Drake from Olema to the Cross Marin Trail entrance, or take Jewell from Bo Ridge also to the CMT. From there, the key move is to detour back onto Drake right before the campground, head up Devils Gulch Rd, and then climb Bills Trail, a 3.6 mile purpose built (legal!) singletrack that climbs through a gorgeous West Marin Forest environment and puts you at the top of Barnabe Peak (1500 ft) with spectacular views of Point Reyes. Then you can drop back down the trail or the (steep af) fire road to get back the campground in Samuel P Taylor State Park.
April 8, 2024, 7:37 a.m. - Bro-Tato
Great read and great photos. And as a disgruntled Marin resident, thank you this - “evidence of mountain bikers was also inescapable.” That area of China Camp is known locally as the “backside” or “Darkside” - it’s full of extremely exposed, ridge-hugging, narrow XC trails and very steep old school rutted jank that combines the thrills of little to no maintenance, sticky clay in the winter, and clouds of dust in the summer. All of it exists in a weird legal gray area - technically none of it is legal, but most of the landowners or land managers don’t enforce any rules (with some notable exceptions). As to the route, some notes for next time: \- re day 1, you somehow chose the absolute worst way to descend to the west off Bo Ridge. Nobody goes that way. I guess you have learned this the hard way. The right way would have been to turn left slightly sooner and go down Randall, which gets (a little) more maintenance and at least attempts to stay under 12% grade. From the Randall trailhead it’s a relatively short pedal up highway 1 to Five Brooks. \- re day 2, mostly looking good, but once again you’re descending off Bo Ridge in the worst possible way via the very aptly named Shafter Grade, arguably the worst fire road in the entire watershed. Instead the way to go would have been either to pedal up Sir Francis Drake from Olema to the Cross Marin Trail entrance, or take Jewell from Bo Ridge also to the CMT. From there, the key move is to detour back onto Drake right before the campground, head up Devils Gulch Rd, and then climb Bills Trail, a 3.6 mile purpose built (legal!) singletrack that climbs through a gorgeous West Marin Forest environment and puts you at the top of Barnabe Peak (1500 ft) with spectacular views of Point Reyes. Then you can drop back down the trail or the (steep af) fire road to get back the campground in Samuel P Taylor State Park.