Nobel Canyon, Mount Laguna, San Diego County, California

November 1, 2008 by Dean Patterson
Filed under California

Believe it or not San Diego does have Mountains. I lived there for a few years and thought nothing more of playing in the ocean, what mountains? Not until I used my long arms and broad shoulders to show a friend what surfing was like did I get turned onto mountain biking by my friend with calves oddly similar to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s in Conan the Barbarian did I find out about Mount Laguna. Located at 6,000 feet above sea level in a forest of Jeffrey pines sits Mount Laguna, there’s even snow for a few months in the winter, who knew? Mount Laguna is located about one hour east of San Diego traveling along interstate eight in the Laguna Mountains on the eastern edge of the Cleveland National Forest. Mount Laguna is quaint, comprised of a general store, cozy lodge and cabins, greasy spoon restaurant, Billy Bob post office, and car camping campgrounds abutting the Pacific Rim Trail.

Within the Laguna Mountains lays the royal by name “Noble Canyon” single track trail. Nobel Canyon is comprised of moderate to forearm rock pounding single track with seat adjustments needed every few miles. I just say screw it and keep my seat all the way down on this down hill ride. Until they make a handle bar lever for an adjustable seat, keeping the seat lowered is easier than getting off your bike to make adjustments every few minutes. Nobel Canyon is a beautiful ride traversing three different ecosystems, bambi style alpine meadows with Chester chipmunk oak trees giving way to skin scraping scrub which is the local chaparral descending into dry sauna gnat infested desert ambiance. Keeping this in mind you can find weather at the top of the mountain requiring a jacket and at the bottom of the mountain you’ll be sweating with your shirt off enjoying the opportunity to sun tan. My Conan friend apparently had a bone to pick with me after I almost got him drowned in six foot surf. He never once mentioned to me on this ride that I might want to consider walking certain sections. Keeping in mind when I first went down Nobel Canyon I was fairly green albeit an athlete with some skills but green non-the-less when it came to mountain biking. Note to first timers: Nobel canyon has some gnarly sections feel free to walk these parts. Needless to say I did not get this warning and by the time the three hour round trip was over let’s just say I was bruised, battered, and limping. My Conan friend offered to drive my cars back home I looked so messed up. He on the other hand was boulder hopping, flying through the air up cliff faces and down them, cruising over treacherously technical terrain, and generally screaming with joy most of the trip.

Some people opt to take two cars to Mount Laguna. Obviously parking one at the bottom and driving to the top via Sunrise Highway with the other. We did not. We started at the lower trailhead just outside of Pine Valley down Old Highway 80 and Pine Creek Road at the Pine Creek Picnic Area. Starting at the bottom of the mountain you travel for a good hour and a half up and up a patch work paved gravel jeep road called Deer Creek Road and Laguna Meadows Road. For those uninitiated to hill climbing, let me just warn you that this up hill climb will drain your energy, requires several stops if not flat out walks, and will make you worthless for the fun down hill single track of Nobel Canyon so make sure you bring lots of water and some sort of high energy quick food. I like an apple and a sneakers candy bar when I get to the top. And again, it can be hot as hell at the bottom and darn right freezing up top so bring layers during the few winter months.

Once you reach the forest of the upper Laguna Mountain, the fun starts. Nobel Canyon begins with some frolicking kind single track through the alpine forest with gentle climbs and drops good for peddling hard and jumping around. Not long into it the official hour and a half long decent begins with lots of quick silky sections of packed fast dirt no rocks. Twenty minutes or so you’ll roll past a gate a notice a gradual change in the terrain. Hear things start to warm up with technical skills needed over rocky terrain, sharp switchbacks, and brush that scrapes away at your legs. Along this up one third of the trail you’ll encounter narrow rocky terrain as well as friendly fast sections, just keep your seat down as drops and sharp turns can come at you unexpectedly. The middle third of the trail has some technical aspects adjacent to steep drops into an unfriendly ravines. The flora and fauna changes drastically so stopping once in a while is a good thing if you’re into that type of thing. About halfway down there is series of very technical trail which looks like a moonscape. Rocks and ruts completely cover the trail and I for one walk some of these sections. That said, Conan charges down these sections with the skill of a mountain goat navigating sheer cliff faces. At one point in the trail there are some large boulders off to the left side shortly after you go over a stream. If you are like Conan then feel free to do what he does and boulder hop around are just peddle hard and jump off some of these obstructions. I tried this and not going fast enough or pulling up hard enough, did a nose dive flailing right over the handle bars as my from tire hit first at a nasty angle. The bottom third of Nobel is dry desert style riding with occasionally rocky patches so keep an eye out. There is also a nice lush valley where you cross what on what some days in winter and spring can be considered more of a rushing river than a creek. Eventually about an hour and a half from the top and three hours later you arrive back at the bottom.

Finally thoughts on this ride, if you’re in San Diego then go for it. Of the several rides I have done in San Diego County Nobel Canyon is one of the best. Not only does it offer the technical ride a challenge, I have seen some hot shots with full protective gear on doing Nobel, but it also offers the intermediate a good place to learn technical skills. This is not a trail I would recommend for a beginner because I don’t think it would be fun for a beginner, to much work and no play make Jack a dull boy. However, it is beautiful, covers a lot of ground, changing scenery, and fantastic views. Nobel Canyon definitely lives up to its name and helps to put San Diego County on the mountain biking map.