Los Gatos (in town, near Summit Cycles), or the bottom of the Jones Trailhead
Finish at
Where you start!
For Kids
This trail doesn’t start at St. Joseph’s Open Space. It starts near it. There is optional single track, and the hills are at the start. It’s got quite a fun downhill. If you ride it easily then I’d recommend the single track.
For Adults
Well the kids’ description above is super useful isn’t it? The good news is, there’s only so many places to go at St Joeseph’s so once you are there you can pretty much follow your nose. You can park in central Los Gatos (somewhere near Summit Cycles), or somewhere up towards the Jones Trail entrance.
You can either bike along the flat by the reservoir and then up a steep trail in to St Joseph’s or start from the Jones Trail entrance. This is not a flat ride, and you may find there is some complaining either way.
Either way you will want to make your way up to the outlook at the top, up the Manzanita trail. There are some fun fast downhills on the way down with some nice lips for safe opportunities to get a bit of air. The Serpentine trail downhill is proper singletrack and it quite fun.
The Saratoga Gap trail is in the Santa Cruz Mountains and has plenty of climbs, downhill, singletrack and more! You will be surrounded by a temperate rainforest, and you will get to a beautiful viewpoint (Turtle Rock) and on most clear days you will even be able to see as far as the ocean. You should definitely use this trail if you want to go somewhere with heaps of singletrack.
For Adults
This is a ride only for experienced, confident kids who have reasonable stamina. It’s a respectable adult ride! Start at the parking lot at the junction of Highway 9 and Highway 35, then immediately cross Highway 9 on the Santa Clara valley side. There are a few fun switchbacks and also a terrific view across the Pescadero Creek basin from Turtle Rock.
Note that the far end of the ride (one of the most fun bits) is closed in the winters to avoid erosion.
If you’ve got this far, this website is not for you any longer, and you should go and check out adult mountain bike guidebooks! Congratulations!
This trail is flat and easy, and can be ridden by anyone. It is a good place to learn and if you can’t ride it then you’re weird. This trail is also short. It’s a gravel surface. You can also learn tricks on it. It’s not a loop.
For Adults
The easiest trail in this guide! For kids totally new to biking – a completely flat trail alongside the railroad.
There’s only about one train a week. Usually Tuesday or Sunday mornings… (This used to be the main railroad from Santa Cruz and Los Gatos to Palo Alto and San Francisco — the “Mayfield Cutoff” — but is now just used to access the quarry above Cupertino).
Stevens Creek reservoir - Canyon Picnic area parking
For Kids
This trail requires car shuttle. It’s a hard trail, so I’d recommend doing the John Nicholas trail first. You can ride down but it has a large uphill so I’d recommend making your Mom or Dad ride back up it.
For Adults
A great option for kids who are confident on a bike but don’t want to have to ride up a hill!
Start at the Monte Bello open space preserve parking on Page Mill Road. Ride the White Oak trail (bearing in mind it can be closed when it’s been wet) then join up with the Canyon trail all the way down Steven’s Canyon.
Don’t go if it’s rained a lot in the previous few days because there’s a ford across Steven’s Creek shortly before the end of the ride, and in extreme rain it’s impassable.
An adult will need to ride back up again to get the car (or do some kind of car shuttle thing).
Kids and adults alike should look out for fun jumps and singletrack diversions on the side of the Canyon Trail. Some of them are officially permitted, others are not.
The Steven’s Creek Trail is a trail that goes from Mountain View to a little cafe next to the Bay. There are no climbs or obstacles, but this trail is rather long. Once you get to the end of the trail you can refresh at the cafe with all types of food. You go over bridges, roads, and much more. If you’re looking for a ride that is not in the hills, and you don’t want to do much climbing, this is definitely the ride for you!
This trail is safe. It has a sidewalk, so you never have to use the road. You can even rent bikes for this purpose. It has some uphill, but not much. Also, it has a ferry to take you back to where you started.
For Adults
An iconic ride! And easy for almost any kids (and grannies). Start at one of the bike rental places near Fisherman’s Wharf, ride along the shore to the bridge and over the bridge. You come down off the bridge, past Fort Baker and then up a small hill before descending into Sausalito for ice-cream! Then jump on a ferry back again with your bikes.
Navigation is easy because you will be following swarms of people. So: what you want to know is — are your kids fit enough for it? Well, first of all, the bike rental places have all forms of bike trailer, seat etc. and will try to discourage your kids from giving it a try solo. If your kids have the stubbornness to squeeze their own bike out of the bike rental places, they’ll definitely have the stubbornness to make it over the bridge. Helen first did it solo at about age six.
And it’s a classic Bay Area thing to do. It’s a must.
There are two hills – first, climbing up to the bridge, and then a second hill after Fort Baker.
A short trail that is in Fremont Older, near Saratoga. If you want to ride from Saratoga, you will have a decent climb on the road, up to the trailhead. Then you have a small climb up to a viewpoint (hunter’s point). First, there will be some singletrack with no scary drops to the side, but with TONS of poison oak. There are a few small roots in places but if you’re a beginner, the only thing that will bother you is the climbing. Then you get a bit of fireroad, that has tiny spurts of steepness on it. Once you get to the viewpoint, you will get a stunning view over the whole of silicon valley. You will not be able to see this view if it is foggy or misty. After that, you will have a descent into a valley. This valley has a few switchbacks, and is not amazingly steep. There is no poison oak and there are a few scary drops off the edge. Once you get to the bottom, there will be a climb, becoming less steep the further you go along. Once you get to the top of the climb you will be at the top of the first bit of singletrack. As you know, there are a few roots, and a bunch of poison oak. If you have NOT come from Saratoga, your car should be in the car park at the bottom of the trail. If you came from Saratoga, you have to go down the road over to Saratoga. Once You get there, you should know where your house is.
For the adults
A short but fun loop without a long drive. Go at a quiet time – Fremont Older gets very busy.
Climb up from the parking lot to Hunter’s Point to look at the terrific view (possibly the best view of Silicon Valley from anywhere), and then follow the trail down into the deep valley. The climb back up isn’t too long, and on the whole gets easier as you go up – if the kids can keep pedalling for the first bit, they’ll keep going all the way.
You can extend the ride by adding in the Toyon Trail at the other end of the Fremont Older open space — the other main singletrack loop in the preserve — but it’s got much steeper gradients.
Ohlone Bluffs does not have much climbing but it has a long drive. It’s mostly flat. At Ohlone Bluffs you can see many wild animals including pelicans, seals, and hikers. If you don’t want to do this you’ll have to climb. This trail is the only trail with hikers and without hills. So if you’re a beginner and you go, you’re going to need to to do this.
For Adults
Ohlone Bluffs is a pancake-flat ride along the cliffs above the ocean. It requires no skill, and you can go as far as you want then come back again. With any luck you’ll see pelicans. Make sure you take a look down into each of the (many) coves you go past because there’s a good chance you’ll see seals too.
Avoid windy days! – although the waves can be spectacular.
You can get down into some of the coves too, which are mostly sandy but you may find some rockpools.
You can turn this into a longer loop through the rest of the (incredibly beautiful) Wilder Ranch State Park – but it changes the character of the ride entirely – kids need to be much fitter.
This trail does not have much uphill, nor is it rocky. Pack water because the average time is about 1.5 hours. This trail is also so downhill that you barely need to use your pedals. The only climb is a small one at the very start. It has some scary edges but not loads. Also if you do fall you’ll be caught by the trees.
This trail requires a car shuttle. A parent will ride back up or you will use two cars, one at the top one at the bottom. It’s fairly easy and suitable for beginners. You need knobbly tires for this. Also suspension and gears are unnecessary, but they help. It has some switchbacks. This trail is recommended for your kids if they are new to mountain biking.
For the adults…
a beautiful view from the trail.
This trail is the most fun in the Santa Cruz mountains for inexperienced kids! The trail is wide and smooth nearly all the way. There are drops to the side of the trail, but they’re not scary. Even inexperienced kids will enjoy this ride.
For a shorter ride (1-1.5 hours) start at the (oddly named) Sunnyvale Mountain Trailhead, which is much closer to the start of the downhill. If you choose this option, the trail is 99% downhill – with just a small climb at the very beginning. For a longer ride (about 2-2.5 hours) start at Castle Rock State Park, and bike along the Skyline Trail to the start of the John Nicholas trail then down. The Skyline Trail undulates with some uphills as well as down, so will require a bit more fitness from the kids.
There’s a small section on a very quiet road (Sanborn Road) back to the parking lot. There’s very little traffic.
For the shorter version of the ride, any bike will do except a full-on racing bike. Even a kids’ bike without gears and with fairly smooth tires will be OK. Just make sure the brakes work perfectly – it is a long way downhill.
The negative is – someone has to come back up again! Either one adult rides back up all the way, or you can leave a car at the end and drive back to the start to collect bikes.
Highlights for the kids (and maybe the adults):
If you do the longer version, you can get beautiful views over the Big Basin to the ocean.
If you do the longer version, there’s a rope swing on a tree at the very top, just before you start downhill.
At the rope swing, the tree is filled with concrete. I’ve no idea why. Any ideas?
If you do the longer version, you’ll go past some local climbing crags. Indian Rock is just near the start of the trail (worth a diversion, as there are usually climbers on there) and you’ll go past Lyme Disease Rock on the left (!!). Climbers rarely use that – I can’t imagine why. If your kids want an adventure, they can try to spot the bolts on the top of the crag, to which climbers attach their top ropes.
There’s a viewpoint soon after you start the main downhill, with a view over Silicon Valley.
You get to a small reservoir, the Lake Ranch reservoir. This is unusual because it’s got a dam at each end. In fact, the whole valley has two ends! That’s because it’s the San Andreas fault valley. If you and your kid stand each end of the dam, you’re on different tectonic plates. (We like to have Seismic Hugs in the middle of the dam, imagining us being torn apart by the inevitable quake.)
There’s a picnic bench at the end of the dam if you want somewhere for lunch.
There are often turkeys somewhere on the trail. Ensure Dad makes the appropriate Dad joke – what are baby turkeys called? Goblets.
