Lake Hodges - North Side

Lake Hodges is located just south of Escondido CA and while not exactly the mountain biking gem of San Diego county it has plenty to offer, especially if you take the climb up Bernardo Mountain.   Although the place is mostly flat with the primary routes being fire roads there are quite a few singletrack options that spice the place up.   This is a great place to take a beginner because they can stick to the easy stuff and add in the many side loops as their skills progress.  Lake Hodges is also a popular place for night riding.  

Here is a map of Lake Hodges.   Click here for a high resolution version the map (780kb)

Download the TOPO file here. Note I did not do a profile for this ride as I did layout a single route.

 

Directions:  There are several parking options for the North Lake Hodges ride.   I normally use the Park and Ride lot. 

	From Escondido and other places north: Take I-15 south and exit Via Rancho Parkway.  The exit takes you to a stop light.  Go straight through the light onto Del Lago (crossing Via Rancho).  About 2/10ths of a mile on the right, just after a McDonalds, is a Park and Ride parking lot.  Park here.
	From San Diego: Take I-15 north and exit Via Rancho Parkway.  Turn left and go across the overpass.  Turn right onto Del Lago.  About 2/10ths of a mile on the right, just after a McDonalds, is a Park and Ride parking lot.  Park here.
	Self Storage parking:  Exit Via Rancho Parkway and go right.  At either the 1st or 2nd light (according to wither you where going north or south on the I-15) turn right onto Sunset Drive.   Follow sunset around past the Self Storage place to the parking lot.
	Del Dios:  Del Dios Country Store is located at the west end of the Lake.   Take I-15 and take the Via Rancho Parkway.  Turn west and take Via Rancho Parkway 3.3 miles to Del Dios Highway(CR S6) and turn left.  Take Del Dios Highway .70 miles to Lake Drive.  Turn left on Elm street then turn left on Lake Drive.  Look for  Del Dios Country Store on your right.   Park on the road here or turn left at the country store and park along the street somewhere.

Ride information: (Points referred to in the description are shown on the map)

This trail was burned in the 2007 Wildfires so refer to that status page until this page is updated.

      I prefer to start this ride at the Park and Ride off of Del Lago.  From the parking lot, go back to the intersection of Del Lago and Via Rancho Parkway.  After crossing the intersection head west along sidewalk on the south side of Via Rancho.  About 30 yards or so from the intersection you will see a single track dropping off to your left.  Take this trail.   You will almost immediately come to a T-junction, hang a left and follow the fire road  for a while as it heads south paralleling the I-15.  After crossing a field, it will shrink down to single track and then cross a concrete ditch and then into the Lake Hodge area proper at Point A on the upper fire road. 

    If you parked at the Self Storage lot, you will go south on a concrete path south along the east side of the I-15 and then go under the freeway.  When you come out from under the freeway the path will then turn north and then take the another fire road that it just south of upper fire road at Point A and at the bottom of the hill.  You are now at the east end of the lower fire road.  

    Which every way you come into this area you have the option riding east on the upper fire road or the lower fire road.  There are a handful of singletrack trails between the upper and lower fire roads.  I recommend starting out on the upper fire road.  When you get to Point B take the single track to your left and then hang a another left about 20 yards after that.  This singletrack will take you down the left side of small hill to the lower fire road.   Once down on the lower fire road hang a right and head east at this point you will notice that you are on broken pavement (Point C). This broken pavement is actually part of the old highway 395.   Follow the old highway for a 1/4 of a mile and take the singletrack off to your right.  This will take right back to where you came off the upper fire road at.  Hang a left at the fire road and continue east.

Panoramic view from point B looking southeast.

You will continue east along the upper fire road for 3/4th of a mile before you come to the next significant single dropping down to the lower fire road.  The single track that drops you down to the lower fire road from here is quite fun.  If you are not going to be climbing up Bernardo Mountain you may want to go this  way.  After you take the single track down you will hang a right on the lower fire and with about 100 yards.  You will come to one of the Felicity Creek crossings.  This area is quite lush and there water flowing here year round.  From year you will just follow the lower fire road eastward.

 

If you are planning on climbing Bernardo Mountain I recommend not dropping down the singletrack at Point D.  Instead continue along the upper fire road for .35 miles more to another singletrack heading down to your left.   You will know if you have gone to far on the upper fire road as you will see signs that say "No Bikes Allowed".  Anyway take the singletrack to your left.  It is very short, but tree covered and quite lush.  It will soon take you down to another Felicity Creek crossing. 

One of the trails that drop down from the upper fire road down to Felicity Creek

After you cross the creek you will climb out to a single track.  If you do not plan on climbing Bernardo Mountain go left.  If you are up for the climb, (you should want to) hang and right.   The single track is pretty flat to very mild climbing at this point. You will soon come to junction where the single track heads uphill and to your left and a fainter singletrack continues straight.  Hang a left here and continue uphill.  The trail get a little steeper and goes through a pretty cool veggie tunnel for around 40 yards or so.  A small rut in the middle of the trail coupled with the close in vegetation requires you to pay close attention to your line as you climb, especially if you have wide handlebars.   Once you come out of the tunnel there is another faint trail going down and to the right.  Don't go this way, instead stay to your left and continue on the well used trail.  The trail will soon skirt around a fence surrounding a water tank.  The section by the by the fence can be a little tough to climb.   

Once past the water tank you will continue with some climbing until you come to Point E on the map where trail makes a sharp right turn and the views to the east start becoming impressive. Looking to the East you can see the fire roads that you came in on as well as Interstate 15.  At this point you are about 3/4ths  of the way up the climb.   Most of the trail above this point get a little more technical and in places steeper and looser.  

 

Views from Point E about 3/4ths of the way up the climb

       

As you start nearing the top the trails moves around to the west slope of the mountain and provides some even better views of the lake.  When you do get to the top climb over some the rocks to find a notepad to sign in and give you thoughts on the climb and the views.  When you have your fill of the place return down the mountain the way you came.

Views from the top of Bernardo Mountain
       

As you come down the mountain you will eventually come back to the point where you picked up this singletrack.  This time instead of taking the single track back down to Felicity Creek (which is now down and to you left) continue on straight where the singletrack has some more fun to offer.  It will eventually merge back onto the fire road at Point F.  From here continue east on the fire road for 1/2 mile where you will see a Y in the trail at Point G.  Take the trail to the right and up which immediately turns into singletrack.  The picture to the left is that junction.

This upper single track is quite nice and parallels the fire road below for over a mile.  There are several options here to drop down the lower fire road.  I recommend staying on the single track as long as possible.  There is a series of single tracks that parallel both the fire road and the main paved access road into the lake.  Most of the time take options to right as they will keep you from having to get on the pavement.  There are a couple of really quick but steep up and down sections.

 

Eventually you will have to get near the pavement.  Even then there are two trails (more like lines) that are right next to the road that will at least keep you on dirt.  Follow the access road east until you are forced onto the pavement by a creek crossing.  This will take you right into a large parking lot by Lake drive and the entrance to vehicle entrance to Lake Hodges. You will also see the Del Dios Country Store across the street.

The trail continues on around the lake for 2.4 miles of mostly uninterrupted singletrack.  It is mostly buff, but there are a couple of spots that will challenge beginners.  Below are some views from the Del Dios single track 

                   

That section of singletrack ends with a quick but rocky and loose rise up to a old paved road at Point H.  You will hang a left here.  The pavement quickly turns into a smooth dirt road.   Follow this along until it ends near the dam.  From here there is a single track that turns uphill and continues toward the damn.  This singletrack ends at Lake drive almost directly above the damn at Point I.

From this point you will turn around and go back the way you came.  However when you are head back along the paved road make sure to check out a nice side loop by continuing on the paved road (At Point J) towards the Lake Headquarters.  You will continue on past the headquarters to the right and follow the pavement towards launch ramp number two. When you get to launch ramp you will see a skinny singletrack on the east side (Point K).  Take this single track.  At the first left in the single track go left and go up really steep section that is only 30 or so yards long.  This gets you up on the ridge above the Lake Headquarters that has a nice view.   You can ride east along the ridge for quite some ways and there are a couple of trails heading down the ridge to the north where they rejoin the lower fire road.  Once back on this fire road you can continue east back to where you parked.

A view from Point K looking west.

The mileage for this route will vary with the side loops and options you choose.  Skipping Bernardo Mountain and hill behind the Lake Headquarters will make this about a 15 mile ride.  Do the ride as described here and it will be around 23 miles.