The Chumash Trail is part of the Rocky Peak Park area and is located in Simi Valley, CA and connects to the Rocky Peak fire road which offers access to many of the other trails in the area such as the popular Hummingbird trail. There are also trails that will take you down to Corriganville Park as well where you can ride some tamer trails. Rocky peak is known for being very rocky hence the name and if you don't like rocky technical trails then this may not be for you, at least not the top part of the trail. After climbing to the top you can take a rest, enjoy the view and get ready to ride back down. A good rider can ride up about 80% of the trail which is 2.8 miles long. There are some rocky sections near the top that are difficult to ride up. Once you start going down you will have to deal with some technical rock riding but then it will gradually get smoother and faster as you progress down the trail. |
|
Chumash Trail Video
Chumash Trail Review
Chumash can be considered an intermediate trail because of the amount of climbing to get to the top as well as the technical rocky areas at the first part of the trail. If you like technical riding as well as faster singeltrack then Chumash is definitely one to check out. It is one of the best trails to ride in Simi Valley and also gets a lot of use so watch for hikers and other bikers coming up as you are riding down. After riding up it you will definitely feel like you earned the ride down and will have got your exercise for the day. At the bottom you can take the steep downhill section where you can get your bike up to speeds of 40 mph if you have the guts or go around to the right and enjoy the longer but less steep ride down. You may even run across riders with downhill bikes and armor who really like to fly down the trail but it's not needed for most riders.
Chumash Trail Pictures
Directions
View Chumash Trail in a larger map
There are two ways to go about doing this trail. You can ride up the trail and then back down or take the Rocky Peak fire road to the top from the Rocky Peak trailhead. Either way you are riding uphill and we find that riding up Chumash and back down is the way to go. To get to the bottom of the trail take the 118 Freeway and exit at Yosemite Ave. Hang a right if coming from L.A. and a left if coming from the Thousand Oaks area off the 23 freeway. Then make a right on Flanigan Dr. and take it all the way until it ends and you will be at the start of the trail. There is usually enough parking on Flanigan Dr. to accommodate everyone.
If you choose to start from the Rocky Peak fire road then you will have to park at the entrance at the Rocky Peak Rd exit and ride up the fire road to the start of Chumash. There will be a wood sign designating the start of the trail on the left hand side. When starting from the bottom you will have 2 ways to get up the first section. There is a steep but relatively short climb or you can go around the hill to the left and have less of a climb but go a longer distance. Both ways connect back up to each other.