Riding along the California Coast

That's ~900 miles of coast (if you drive Highway 1), how much time do you have?

Ah sorry, I'm north of SF, gonna have to let others hook you up!

Coastal only? Sorry, can't exactly help. However, if you are willing to come inland a little bit, I'd definitely suggest riding at Greer Ranch! Come up I-15 from San Diego, then split off on I-215 in Temecula, then Park on Scenic View Drive in Menifee, CA. The trailhead is here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Greer+Ranch+Trailhead/@33.6211888,-117.1702503,1878m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x80db7d599842bf13:0xe324c80dd7645bf5!8m2!3d33.6220492!4d-117.1718364!16s%2Fg%2F11t71ks7nw?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDExMy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D 
Follow that fire road up into the trail network, which is mostly on your right. There will probably be at least a few other riders there any time of day to give you some guidance. 😎

Also, eat tacos at Mi Pueblo, also in Menifee: https://mi-pueblo-authentic.restaurants-world.net/ There's a great LBS three or four doors over, as well. 

Lots of good riding in Santa Cruz area but ideally you'd meet up with someone who can show you around, as most of it's not on maps, and has no signage.  As long as it's been a couple days since the last rain, dirt will be good.  Currently everything is super dry, as it hasn't rained in nearly 3 weeks.

About 1-1:30 north there's trails in Pacifica with views of the ocean.  Not as good quality but fun can be had, and the views are spectacular.  Some of them got pretty badly rutted in the Christmast/New Years monsoon and I doubt they're fixed yet though.

If starting in San Diego, Noble Canyon is a must. It is about 45 minutes east and it a fantastic rip. 

If you are going up the coast then riding Aliso and Laguna Beach are great with awesome views. 

Santa Barbara has some of the best shuttle trails around, just be ready for the rocks

San Luis Obisbo has a couple of awesome trail networks excellent bike shops like Art's Cyclery. 

Santa Cruise and Nisene Marks have excellent trail systems as well. Demonstration forest is also quite popular. 

Sounds like you are in for quite the road trip!

🚨 wall of text incoming 🚨

There's so much riding in California. To narrow it down, here's some coastal riding areas, as in, "you can see the coast from the riding area". What bike(s) are you bringing and what kind of trails do you like?

From south -> north, excluding SD and Orange Country because there's a ton to ride in just those areas alone:

The Santa Monica mountains have a lot to offer, basically all of it is on Trailforks. It's a very large area and it's easy to link up trails, so you can go for some really sick long rides. The eastern end has steeper trails with more features, lots of them built by riders. The western end is mostly multiuse/XC trails and has more of an out-there feel. Definitely link together a ride in the eastern side if you're on a trail or enduro bike. 

Apparently Harmon Canyon in Ventura has a fun flow trail, but it gets pretty hammered by rain. Check conditions before going there. Maybe not a destination ride per se but people have good things to say. Rice by Mama has great Thai food, so does Rice by Mama 2. Apparently they're beefing but I'm not sure why. 

Santa Barbara has a lot of long trails you can do either as a big pedal day or as a shuttle from Camino Cielo. The trails have a semi-backcountry feel, some exposure higher up, and the rocky sections can get really chunky. The ocean-facing trails get ridden the most, but there's also options that drop down the north side of the ridge. I've ridden San Ysidro and Tequipis and didn't think either were all that sick, but apparently Cold Spring, Tunnel, Jesusita, and Arroyo Burro are considered better. It can get surprisingly hot here in the summer, even on the ocean-facing trails.

Pismo Preserve and Avila Ridge are not really destination rides, but in case you're curious - Pismo Preserve is multiuse and nothing too special. Avila ridge is actually a really fun quick lap, but it gets very crowded with hikers, especially on weekends. The end of the trail is very exposed. 

San Luis Obispo has some in-town trails at Madonna Mountain and Irish Hills. Most of it is very rocky. Mariposa at Irish is really fun for fast chunk. The rock garden -> north side jumps -> lemon grove lap at Madonna is pretty good, although rock garden is a little sketch (very chunky, good lines aren't obvious). Short flow trails have been built recently at Laguna lake and Righetti hill.

Also in SLO is the Cuesta grade, which is similar to Santa Barbara - long trails, can pedal from town or shuttle from the ridge. There's a ton of ways to link these up. Most of the trails that drop from the ridge are old mining roads that gradually became singletrack. So, they are very fast, very straight (infamously, there are no turns in SLO), and have a lot of loose rock. Shooters and Morning Glory get ridden a lot and are the least sketchy in terms of loose rock. The trails further up the ridge are super rocky. Back in town, Taqueria Santa Cruz is good for burritos, High Street has a strong sandwich game, and Firestone is overrated. 

Out in Los Osos, Montana De Oro is a highly underrated riding zone - fun trails that actually have corners on a gorgeous piece of the coast. The hazard peak -> manzanita -> either east boundary or barranca -> canyon view -> hazard peak lap is excellent and fun on an XC, trail, or enduro bike. Oats Peak is a little more XC oriented, add it on as bonus if you'd like. Up the road in Cayucos the gas station has really good burritos. 

Between SLO and Monterey there isn't really much riding, especially in the Salinas valley (hwy 101 corridor). In Big Sur there are some vibe rides you can do, but those are more about the stunning scenery than the trails themselves. 

In Monterey there's Fort Ord, which is generally pretty flat and sandy XC riding. This is basically where they host Sea Otter, and it's telling that everyone at Sea Otter drives an extra hour to blow up Santa Cruz rather than ride Fort Ord. Across 68 is Toro Park, which I haven't ridden but seems to be the go-to for most Salinas and Monterey folks.  

Fortunately or unfortunately, a lot of Santa Cruz is pretty impossible to navigate - there's no maps, no trail signage, and no landmarks in a very dense forest where everything looks the same. If you can find someone to show you around, go for it. Otherwise, go to Wilder Ranch for some XC or Demo Forest. At Demo, the flow trail can get pretty blown out, so don't sleep on the tech trail options. In town, Taqueria Vallarta gets it done, although people might fight me on that. 

I second MdO as the one spot I’d recommend in SLO county. It seems to pretty much sum up the best parts of riding here: remarkable environment. There are a couple fun trails that are worth an ebike time attack followed by scenic beers and a long stare out to sea. I’ve discovered the hard truth that this is gravel bike country. 
Can you not just go to Seattle or Bellingham? 

Absolutely 1000% you should plan to ride in Laguna Beach on your trip. If all you rode was Laguna and Santa Cruz, you'd have a great time. Everything else is bonus. I would also recommend riding "The Plunge" at Simi Valley, if you like long travel bikes and rocks.

Fair. 

it is truly rad to hear a rattlesnake as you try not to wash out on a flat corner above the big blue ocean. Vultures circling, hawks swooping, eucalyptus wafting…MTB can bring the California something heavy! 
 

Also, if you want more of a proper trail bike trail at Simi Valley (instead of just smashing straight down the fall line), Chumash trail is phenomenal. Here's a ride I did there, when I accidentally found it: https://www.strava.com/activities/14228291446

And here's the TF link for the Simi Valley trail system: https://www.trailforks.com/region/simi-valley-5341/?activitytype=1&z=12.7&lat=34.29753&lon=-118.66527&content=trails,labels,region,poi,directory,polygon,waypoint,nst,routes_featured

Okay full disclosure you know what?—I rode Cuesta grade today after a while and it was worth it. Put it on the list next to MdO. It’s all green and wild and the trails are hilarious: there’s a layer of loose coffee mugs on top of encrusted space heaters…reminds me of driving an old truck with a speed wobble that gets worse and worse until boom you break through the sound barrier and it becomes somehow kind of smooth. I truly cannot imagine being introduced to mountain biking here and sticking with it 😆 

So yeah, I’m in a way better mood and you’re going to have a blast on your CaliCoastalCruise. The scenery really is bonkers here c’mon

If you want a tour of the local goods in laguna, hmu.  Good to include how much suffering you're into, most of the routes that would cover the must rides are in the 3k range, 4,500 optimally.  It goes by fast, the views are nice with steep climbs and much steeper descents.  

One day I want to return to this thread, looking for inspiration.

Thank you!
Mx

I’m open for Santa Cruz tour guiding!

Got introduced to MTB during my college years at Cal Poly. I used a Giant XTC one size too large for me during my learning curve. Riding on Morning Glory and Shooters with that thing came with its share of dirt samples, or rock samples? 

I second all the SLO recommendations. MDO and the grade (Morning Glory and Shooters) are some of the best trails you can find. If anyone likes some spicy enduro, Pick and Shovel off the grade is a good one, but you’d have to have some local knowledge on the best exit strategy for that trail as it ends in private property (or at least it did many years ago).

Also, inland option is Temecula - as someone else mentioned, Greer is essentially a free bike park and trails are all one-directional which is nice. Vail Lake is run by the KOA and costs $15/rider on the weekend, but catch it in the AM before the daily afternoon winds come in and that trail system has plenty of XC/trail/enduro options to offer. 

I grew up in osos, and I have nothing but love for MdO. Only thing I’ve got to add is to be ready for poison oak and ticks!

I’ll also recommend the Montana de Oro area.  Used to live down there and that was a beautiful area and the trails are fun.  Outside San Luis is a little town called Pozo, it is a big moto area.  If you can round up some locals it’s a fun shuttle spot.  Nothing super technical but really fast and loose.  

Be aware that everywhere down there will have poison oak, maybe a lot of it.  Some people are lucky and it doesn’t seem to affect them and other people (like me) get it horribly.   Use the special soap for washing it off.  I also found that using body lotion on your arms and legs helps make a barrier so it doesn’t get in your pours.  

 

MdO is fun, I prefer Johnson Ranch.  Shooter and Morning Glory are also good.  Here's a good trail map.

https://www.trailforks.com/region/johnson-ranch/?activitytype=1&z=14.7&lat=35.24647&lon=-120.69434&content=trails,labels,region,poi,directory,polygon,waypoint,nst,routes_featured

I would also make a point of riding in Simi Valley/ Agoura Hills area, Rocky Peak and Cheseboro Canyon have some really awesome trails.

You don't need Tecnu for dealing with poison oak, Dawn dish soap works fine.  I react strongly to PO, and shower with Dawn after digging.  Moderate water temp (don't want hot as it causes pores to open up and let the urisol oil in), lather up starting with hands and wrists first, then working to any other possibly exposed areas (arms, lower legs/knees, waist, neckline, face).  Wash all clothes separate from normal clothes on sanitary cycle with extra rinse.  I've been digging a new trail that goes right down a ridgeline that is a literal poison oak forest, and as long as I follow the decontamination protocol, I haven't gotten any rashes or spread it to my family.

But yeah, PO is super common on the California coast, and especially this time of year it's tricky to spot because it is growing like crazy but hasn't turned danger red yet.

Pretty much nailed it.  I am basically a PO/Poodle Dog control lab rat as if I get within 5' of the stuff, I'm getting it.  I do recall the days when I made the statement that "I'm immune to poison oak."  Then I got it once about the size of a penny... then each time bigger/worse.  I now keep a spray bottle in the back of my truck with a tea spoon's worth of dawn mixed with water in it.  I also use a waterport so I can spray myself down with said spray bottle, then rinse trailside.  Despite all of that, I have a mild case of it each year that starts in December, and ends in May and it basically becomes endemic in my system.  It doesn't help that this is the time each year I'm doing trailwork and trail maintenance, and half of that is honest to god trimming back PO.  

I digress... trails are running good here in Laguna and in the Santa Anas.  More rain is coming, which means more tune ups and more digging.