The Guadalasca Trail in the Sycamore Canyon park area offers some great semi technical singletrack downhill fun... depending on the time of day you ride it and how you ride it. The trail consists of an uphill and downhill section no matter what way you decide to ride it. Going up the north side is the easiest and has the best downhill going down the other side. On the way up it’s a wider almost fire road like trail and going down is where it becomes singletrack so it’s up to you if you want more fun or more of a workout.

Guadalasca Trail, Filmed and Rated by Mike Treiber Review Date: 10/14/2013 Trail Ratings  Fun Factor:  Technical:

On the way down it starts out with some switchbacks and as you get further down you will get longer stretches of trail that become faster as well. The entire trail is about 4 miles long with the downhill section taking up around 2.5 miles of the 4 mile total. There are some rocky and rutted areas as well as some loose rock but it's not anything an intermediate rider can't handle.

Guadalasca Trail Video

Guadalasca Loop Trail Review

Like mentioned above the fun factor as well as the technical factor for the Guadalasca Trail varies depending on how and when you ride it. The trail gets a lot of traffic from hikers and bikers going up and down so it's best to do it late in the day or during the week. The fun factor goes up to a 4 and the technical factor goes up to a 3 if you are able to ride down at full speed and not have to worry about slowing down or hitting anyone.

At the beginning you will have to contend with some switchbacks but can still get some good speed in between the turns. As you get closer to the bottom there are less turns so you can really open it up and pour on the speed. Just be sure to watch out for ruts and rocks because it's easy to lose control if you are going really fast and not paying attention. It's possible to hit 15-20+ MPH on some sections which seems faster than it is on the rougher terrain. Guadalasca Trail is definitely one you should do during non peak times since you don't want to be slowing down for others plus you shouldn't be riding fast on trails with a lot of people in general.

The hardest part about the Guadalasca Trail is getting there. If you are coming down Sycamore Canyon from Newbury park then you will either have to ride up the downhill side Guadalasca itself or make your way up Hell Hill to Guadalasca North and ride up a little farther from there. Hell Hill is a very steep fire road that goes on for a mile and will suck the energy right out of you. But once you get to the top and take a break it’s definitely worth the effort for the ride down. It's recommended that you do this on a full suspension mountain bike unless you just plan on taking it easy and cruising down slowly.

Guadalasca Trail Pictures

Directions to the Guadalasca Trail

To get to the Guadalasca Trail you can start in Newbury Park or down off of PCH near Las Posas Rd. If you are starting from Newbury Park you can start off of Potrero Rd near Wendy Dr. and make your way down the main Sycamore Canyon fire road. When you get to the Wood Canyon fire road you will make a right and head up until it gets to a T. From there make a left to go up Hell Hill and then a right at the top on Guadalasca Trail North which goes up a little more before coming down. You also have the option at the T to go right and go up the part of Guadalasca Trail that you will want to ride down. Or if you are coming from PCH you can ride up Laguna Peak La Jolla Fire Road to get to the top but either way you will be doing some climbing.

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