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Romero Trail, filmed and reviewed by Jim Bernstein Review Date: 7/25/2019 |
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If you live in the LA area and feel like getting out of town for a couple of days but don't want to drive too far then San Luis Obispo is a great place to hit up for some great riding. It's not crowded, the town is nice, there are great restaurants and oh yeah, the trails are pretty nice too! But the key is figuring out where you need to go to find the best trails..
There are a few different riding spots worthy of checking out and it will require a little driving to get there since they are all not right next to each other but then again not that far apart. If you have never gone to the Trailforks website then you really need to because it's a great way to find out where the trails are since they are all listed in one place on a map. Keep in mind that there are most likely other trails that haven't made it to Trailforks yet but the best ones are usually on the site.
You definitely want to check out Montana de Oro State Park which is right on the water and also Irish Hills especially if you want some more technical rocky stuff. There are even some riding spots on the way up along the 101 freeway if you feel like taking your time and checking out some new trails. For the most part you will be earning your downhill by having to ride up the trails but at Montana de Oro State Park you can save a little road climbing if you happen to have two cars but that's about it.
I would recommend hotel reservations if you are planning on making a trip because it's a college town and they have a lot of events going on so be prepared to pay more than you should for a crappy room if it happens to be during one of them. SLO has its fair share of bike shops so if you need supplies or something fixed you should be able to get it covered fairly easily.
San Luis Obispo Trails Videos
San Luis Obispo Trails Reviews
When it comes to the riding, SLO does a good job at delivering some fun rides with various types of terrain. If you want super chunky then you can check out Wednesday Trail in Irish Hills or if you want a long flowy singletrack run then check out Oats Peak at Montana de Oro State Park which is a 5 mile climb and then you turn around and ride back down for 5 fun miles. You will also find some in between type trails that are fast yet give you some technical fun along the way such as Froom Trail at Irish Hills.
For the most part you will find intermediate trails with a few trails leaning towards the advanced status. So if you are new you can still find a few green level trails or you can just take your time on some of the blue trails and you should be fine. These trails tend to be as advanced as you make them based on how your decide to ride them.
Like I mentioned before you will have to do some climbing so make sure to check out Trailforks to see what you are in for before you start your climb. SLO can get hot in the summer making some of the longer climbs a little rough so plan accordingly. It's hard to find a bad trail here so check out some videos before you decide which ones you are going to ride to make sure it's the type of trail you are looking for.
San Luis Obispo Trails Pictures
Directions to the San Luis Obispo Trails
SLO is easy to get to because the 101 freeway goes right through it. To get to the trails you will need to do a little navigation and if you use the Trailforks app on your phone you can choose a trailhead and it will take you right to it. For the Irish Hills trailhead we parked at the Costco parking lot and rode from there. The trailhead is pretty much right there at the back of the parking lot. For Montana de Oro State Park you will need to hop on Los Osos Valley Road to Pecho Valley Road and decide where you want to park from there. You can park on off the side of the road to do some of the upper trails or go down to the official parking lot to do the Oats Peak up and down run or to drop of the second car for the self-shuttle. The shuttle locations are marked on the Trailforks map
