John Nicholas Trail – top down!

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.

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.