This landmark opportunity is the direct result of more than three years of partnership building with the parks department by IMBA California, Access4Bikes and the Bicycle Trails Council of Marin. A successful opening of Bill’s Trail will set the stage for bicycle access to several other singletrack trails in Marin, which is widely considered to be one of the birthplaces of modern mountain biking. Despite its historic role, Marin has seen precious few opportunities for mountain biking open to the public in recent years.

Take Action! Tell California State Parks you support their decision to open Bill’s Trail to bicycles. The commentary period ends on June 26.

Additional Information

Located within the Mt. Tamaplais watershed in Samuel Taylor State Park, Bill’s Trail winds through native ferns, wildflowers and hazelnut trees. It averages a reasonable 7-percent grade, and its six switchbacks provide riders with multiple views of the surrounding landscapes. While it is expected that bike access on Bill’s Trail will be limited to alternate days at first, the parks department states that this stipulation will be open to further review.

California State Parks is expected to announce opportunities for bicycling on other nearby routes in upcoming months. The Diaz Ridge Trail, which runs through Mt. Tamalpais State Park and Golden Gate National Recreation Area property, is scheduled to receive a major reroute this summer. This project could produce shared-use singletrack joining State Parks and National Park Service properties.

A small number of local hiking and equestrian groups have vowed to fight against any new access for mountain biking in Marin County, despite plentiful evidence that well-designed trails can be successfully shared by various user groups, and that mountain biking is a sustainable, low-impact form of recreation. “I think that, broadly speaking, the community of trail users in Marin is ready for this,” says IMBA California Policy Advisor Tom Ward. “We have seen great success with our volunteer mountain bike patrol program there. Mountain bikers care deeply about protecting the gorgeous trails and natural areas in Marin, and we will continue working with like-minded groups.”

• February 18, 2009 -- The San Juan and Candy Store Mountain Bike Trail
• February 17, 2009 -- Last Day to Support Bikes in National Parks
• August 28, 2008 -- Riding Green – 10 Tips for Riding Responsibly

The San Juan Trail, and the Candy Store Trail are just about 35 minutes from my house, and I never even knew they existed 3 months ago. But they have become two of my favorite trails. Now I am not a hard core XC rider, that said, we shuttle these two trails, they do have some pedaling mixed in with the downhill and it’s a pretty good workout (for me). Usually we go in a group and park one car at the bottom to bring the driver of the other car back to the top to get his truck. You need a forest Adventure pass to park there; the rangers do patrol the area periodically to check for them. A year pass is only 35 bucks, well worth it.

I ride with my 2 sons mostly and some of their friends, yeah, I know, my two sons! Yep, well I am 50, and have been doing the 2 wheel thing since I was old enough to push a pedal or twist a throttle. My 2 rides on the San Juan Trail, and 2 on the Candy Store section, have been in the best conditions, winter, cool temperature and 3 of the rides were after rain or during, making the sandstone like trails the perfect texture for some great riding.

This is single track riding, mostly between bushes and manzanita. That Manzanita will rip you right off your bike, shred your jersey, poke your arm, maybe draw a little blood, and then not even look like you touched it. There are some awesome switchbacks, fast narrow sections and some sections that weave under a canopy of trees, it is almost too beautiful of a scene to just bomb past. 

I ride with a helmet cam, let me clarify that, I ride with a mini dv camcorder attached to the side of my helmet, I have gotten some awesome video of both of my sons doing some great riding, over some really cool obstacles, AND, I have gotten some great crash footage of them.

Over the bars, riding off the trail into the bushes, some high speed cross rutted crashes that look pretty spectacular, Oh yeah, and I have gotten some first hand views of myself going down on several occasions, funny thing about the ones where I crash. They just don’t look as bad from the cameras view, as it seemed from my view.

Both of the trails are similar BUT! The Candy Store cut off has some sections with a lot of rock drops; these are really a blast if you’re up to it. We did a ride with a group of 13 riders, when we came to one of the sections with a set of three rocky sections in a row to navigate over; only 3 of us did it, the rest walked down it. Lenny bombed it first on his Foes, then Anthony my son made it look easy on his Intense, finally, and a bit nervously, I did it on my trusty Kona, and it was awesome! Have done it twice now!

A lot of fun downhill after those sections, some narrow mountain side traversing ducking under branches, and some perfect placed rocks to either ride up and over, or around, and since it was the winter when I was there, there was even some water crossings. Make sure you check your bike out before you ride here, and have tubes, patches, pump, multi tool, and a camelback.

My son’s derailleur came apart on a downhill section last time we went. By the time we stopped he had no idea where it came apart at. We still had too far to go to just give up and coast and push back. So we walked back up the trail, looking for small screws, the little geared cog and bushing and washers, believe it or not, we found all five pieces, spread across about a 25 foot section, Yahoo! Lucky for us.

About a half mile climb is at the end of the ride that gets you back to the parking lot across the street from the Candy Store (hence the name Candy Store trail) and its only 4 miles to the turn off that takes you back to the top, heck, you could do it a couple times is one day if you wanted.

Maybe next time I am there, I will see you there, I will be the old guy, behind you, and that you can’t seem to pull away from. Happy Riding,

Mike Solesbee

• May 26, 2009 -- Support Historic Opportunity for NEW Mountain Bike Access in Marin County, California