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Description Starting at
the parking lot at the south end of Moorpark Road, the trail begins
as a fire road heading west. After about a half mile, at the top
of a short hill, the eastern half of this trail splits off towards
the south. Another hundred yards on, the fire road becomes Spring
Canyon Trail and Los Robles Trail West heads up the hill, fondly
known as Space Mountain, as a single track. Space Mountain starts
with a short steep climb, then settles into a gradual climb with
several sharp switchbacks. The trail is in good shape, but has a
lot of sharp rocks embedded in it and some occasional ruts. Intermediate
riders will have to walk part of this and novices will walk most
of it. At the top of Space Mountain a traverse begins and has a
great view of the city below. About 3 miles from the parking lot
is a short, steep downhill section with two sharp switchbacks, just
before the trail crosses a private road. From here there is a gradual,
then steeper climb, to where the trail forks to the left. (To the
right is a very short connector to the top of the Rosewood Trail
right and down, and left to the picnic table where we always stop
for a snack and a view of Newbury Park below, during the day or
on night rides.) Going left at the fork, the trail heads down and
around a couple more switchbacks, then becomes very straight as
it runs along a fence. However, there are some very steep, rutted and
usually loose hills in this stretch, first up and then three downhill
stretches. Almost everybody walks parts of these uphills, whichever
direction they are travelling. (Going east, you can bypass these
climbs by taking the Felton Street Connector and riding on Lynn
Road to the bottom of Rosewood trail, which is much easier to climb.)
After passing the Felton St connector, the trail is particularly
fun as there are no steep climbs, but lots of turns but few
rocks. Finally, there is one more short rocky climb and then it's
downhill to the parking area on Potrero Road. The connector trail
to Sycamore Canyon is directly across the street. Riding back along
the trail is just as much fun as riding out, but of course there
are a number of loops that can be done as well.
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"Space Mountain" gets its name from the switchbacks
From Moorpark Rd to the picnic table, the soil is
quite sandy and the trail is well drained so it doesn't get muddy
during the rainy season. In the winter, we ride here a lot because
all other local trails are too muddy. However, west of the picnic
table, this trail is as muddy as anywhere else.
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Printable map (1.3 MB)
Rosewood Trail has some switchbacks, too.