Mountain Biking Marin County: China Camp State Park
This spring, Greyson and I had a chance to ride a new-to-us trail system in Marin County at China Camp State Park. Marin County doesn’t have a ton of mountain bike legal trails, but the ones at China Camp State Park are. We had a great time riding at China Camp - we really didn’t know what to expect, and we were pleasantly surprised. The trails are definitely old school xc style, which we don’t really have any chance to ride in the Tahoe area. The nine mile loop we did was a great early spring ride. The trails weren’t super challenging, but there was enough variety to keep things exciting, and there were some great views of San Pablo Bay as well.
Mountain Biking China Camp State Park // tahoefabulous.com
We stuck with the front side of the park, parking on North San Pedro Road across from the main trailhead. Parking on the road is free, but there is a $3 per person trail use fee that goes towards park and trail maintenance. We headed up Bay View Trail which starts with a climb of about 615 feet over two miles. The trail is really well graded, though, so the climb never seems too difficult.
Mountain Biking China Camp State Park // tahoefabulous.com
Mountain Biking China Camp State Park // tahoefabulous.com
At about mile 3.7, we made a left turn on to Oak Ridge Trail. Since we were going east, this segment was mostly downhill after a climb of less than 50 feet. Oak Ridge Trail had some gorgeous views out across bay at the higher points of the trail. Oak Ridge Trail ends, and we turned left onto Shoreline Trail at about mile 5.4, which we stayed on for the rest of our loop. This segment parallels San Pedro Bay for the majority, so there are more great views. Shoreline is also more rolling than Bay View and Oak Ridge trails, and the trail climbs about 600 feet and descends about 575 feet in around 4 miles. We skipped a small section of this trail due to it being closed during construction, and rode double track and road for the last half mile back to our car, for 9.1 miles in 1:16 moving time.
Mountain Biking China Camp State Park // tahoefabulous.com
While not extremely technical or flashy, I thought that the trails at China Camp were fun with some great views. There was enough elevation gain that we got a good workout in, but weren’t overwhelming on our out of shape legs and lungs. I’d highly recommend the trails we rode in China Camp State Park to beginner mountain bikers or anyone who wants to do a mid-winter tune up ride. I wouldn’t plan a trip to Marin County just to ride these trails, but if you’re in the area with your bike and looking for something to do, a visit to China Camp is worth it. These trails can definitely be ridden on a hardtail or cyclocross bike- we saw several of each on the trails.
Trail Stats:
Location: Marin County, California
Mileage: 9 miles
Elevation Gain: 850 feet
Difficulty: Beginner
Click here for my Strava route.Graton Rancheria, Coast Miwok, and Ohlone lands
While we were in the area, we had to check out the then-newly opened Splitrock Tap & Wheel, a bike shop/restaurant and tap room in Fairfax, California. Splitrock is located in downtown Fairfax, but has its own lot with plenty of parking, as well as indoor parking for your bike. It’s a one room affair, with long tables sharing spaces with bikes and bike accessories and the kitchen and bar in the back. It’s the only US distributor of Whyte Bikes, which Greyson is interested in as his next potential bike purchase - so this was one of the main reasons we stopped.
Splitrock Tap & Wheel combines bike, pizza and beer - three of my favorite things. It was pretty busy when we were there, and it took a long time to get our food. However, they were newly open and I’m guessing that things run more smoothly now that it’s been open for awhile. Besides, there was plenty to look at and the staff was happy to answer lots of questions about the bikes, so waiting wasn’t too bad. The fast service on the beer end of things didn’t hurt either! When the pizza came out, it was delicious and worth the wait. I’d recommend Split Rock Tap & Wheel if you’re looking for somewhere to eat in the Fairfax/San Rafael area, especially if you are into mountain biking - the novelty of the space is worth a visit.