The Backbone Trail is a 67 mile long trail that spans the Santa Monica Mountains from Will Rogers State Historic Park to Pacific Palisades and is used by mountain bikers, hikers and horses. There are many ways to access the Backbone Trail since it crosses many roads giving you an opportunity to explore various sections without having to backtrack to where you started or do a two car ride. One of the more popular starting points is from Kanan Rd where there is a nice paved parking lot to park your car at. During peak season it will get pretty crowded so come early since the lot is not that big. |
|
|||||||||||
Backbone Trail from Kanan Rd to Latigo Video
Backbone Trail from Kanan Rd to Latigo Cyn Review
The section of the Backbone Trail from Kanan Rd to Latigo Cyn is a pretty fun ride with some fast singletrack throughout the ride with some uphill pedaling to go along with the downhill fun. It's not just an up and down ride but rather you will be going up and down a couple of times both ways. To do this part of the trail and back is approximately 5 miles for the round trip which should be easy for an intermediate rider. The scenery is nice and a good part of the trail is shaded making it a good one to do on warmer days.
The uphill riding should be pretty easy for an average rider and you shouldn't have to do much if any pushing. Going down the trail is pretty smooth and fast with some nice turns along the way and you can really get your speed up if you like going fast. There are a couple of rocky sections too but nothing to be worried about. You most likely will come across other riders going the opposite way as well as hikers so be sure slow down on the blind corners. The Backbone Trail in general is a lot of fun and this is a good ride to do if you have never done any part of Backbone. It's also a good one to do if you want something quick and are in the area since it's not much of a drive down Kanan to get there and the ride itself if pretty short.
Backbone Trail from Kanan Rd to Latigo Pictures
Directions To This Trail
View Backbone Trail - Kanan to Latigo Cyn in a larger map
To get to the Backbone trailhead at the Kanan parking lot take the 101 freeway to the Kanan Rd exit and then head west towards the beach for about 8 miles and the parking lot will be on the right. There are 2 ways to access the Backbone Trail from the parking lot and the way you want to take is at the end of the parking lot and starts with a short uphill walk (or maybe ride) on the rocky part of the trail. You will actually go over Kanan Rd at the beginning of the trail after the first hill. A good rider can ride 90% of the trail without having to walk.
You can also start at Latigo Canyon and ride the trail the other way which will be more downhill than up. Or you can do the 2 car thing if you really don't want to put in the effort! Latigo Canyon will be a left as you are coming down Kanan on the way to the parking lot. There is a dirt parking lot on the left hand side 3 miles up the road from where you turn off of Kanan. If you feel inclined to do a longer ride then you can keep going past Latigo Canyon as the trail continues on for miles.
