Summer in January at China Camp

After last week's Sea Otter Classic training ride on Mt. Tam, yesterday's mountain bike ride at China Camp was a walk in the park. Located just a few miles outside of San Rafael in Marin, China Camp provides some of the only singletrack mountain bike trails in Marin, and the views of San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay, and the surrounding bridges and mountains are magnificent.

Yesterday I rode what many consider to be the classic China Camp Loop covering about 10 miles and providing about 1100 feet of total elevation gain. Access China Camp from North San Pedro Road. You can park on San Pedro just outside the campground entrance to the park, and head up Bay View Trail immediately inside the park entrance. While there are a number of intersections, the basic route I took yesterday had me cover most of Bay View Trail, down Miwok, across Oak Ridge Trail, and then back on Shoreline trail. For complete ride details and distances go to China Camp - Bay View - Shoreline Trail at MarinFatTire.com.

This loop is great for beginner and intermediate riders alike, and the singletrack portions of Bay View trail dish out a few obstacles that will keep even more experienced riders on their toes. If you're like me and do most of your riding on fireroads around Mt. Tam, it's worth a trip to China Camp to brush up on your technical skills. A quick warning - from about .3 to .75 miles, you'll have some steep climbing up a very rutty fireroad, but stick with it and then the rest of the ride involves traversing fun singletrack and doubletrack trails with great views.

On your way to or from China Camp, check out a new bike shop on San Pedro called Bikes and Beans where you can get a jolt of espresso or any other essentials before your ride.

Finally, while it doesn't show all of the trails, the China Camp Bike Trail Map on page five of the linked pdf provides you with a great overview of the area.