Fort Ord Public Lands, Monterey, California

Very narrow trail!

Getting There
I accessed the trail from the region near the Laguna Seca speedway. Due to the expansive nature of the trail system it would be easy to access this trail system from all over.

From Google Maps:

Driving directions to Laguna Seca Recreation Area

11.8 mi – about 25 mins

Via CA-68 E - remove

Suggested routes

Monterey, CA

1.	Head east on W Franklin St toward Alvarado St		0.1 mi
2.	Turn right at the 3rd cross street onto Washington St		0.1 mi
3.	Continue onto Abrego St		0.2 mi
4.	Turn left at Fremont St		0.5 mi
5.	Take the ramp onto CA-1 N/CA-68 E/Cabrillo Hwy		0.5 mi
6.	Exit onto CA-68 E/Monterey Salinas Hwy/Salinas Hwy toward Salinas Continue to follow CA-68 E/Monterey Salinas Hwy		7.1 mi
7.	Turn left at B Rd/Canada De La Segunda		105 ft
8.	Take the 1st right onto A Rd		1.0 mi
9.	Slight right at S Perimeter Rd		0.2 mi
10.	Take the 1st left to stay on S Perimeter Rd		0.5 mi
11.	Continue onto Paddock		0.2 mi
12.	Turn left at Pit Out		0.1 mi
13.	Continue onto		0.4 mi
14.	Continue onto Turn 4		0.3 mi
15.	Continue onto Turn 5		0.4 mi
16.	Continue onto Rahal Straight Destination will be on the right		0.1 mi

Laguna Seca Recreation Area Laguna Seca Recreation Area, Monterey, California 93940 93940

These guys at Google have a sense of humor. The directions take you down the track!

Anyhow, that'll get you close.

Navigational Resources

Update: cp16 recently rode these trails, and was kind enough to leave a couple of great, informative comments below in the comments section.  He also shared this link to a map of Fort Ord. While confusing due to the incredible number of trails spiderwebbing throughout the area, this is the best map that I have seen of Fort Ord. (The other one I've looked at wasn't worth posting about.) Click here to check it out!

Also, if you check out the comment section below, cp16 gave a great overview about a bunch of the trails in the system.  Be sure to read it for additional info!

Gorgeous views abound

The Route
Asking for a recommended route out here is basically a trick question. This area is so massive that trying to describe how to ride it all is nigh on impossible. Before I flew out to California, I noted that Singletracks.com listed this place as having 18 miles of trail. After doing 50+ miles in two days and feeling like I hadn’t even begun to tap that place’s potential. I went back to the Singletracks.com listings and read some more reviews, and opinions on the total trail lengths ranged from 80mi-125+ miles. That is a lot of riding!

As you can imagine, all of the trails shooting off everywhere can be a bit overwhelming. However, due to the ecological nature of the area, you can see for miles and miles from the tops of the ridges, making it possible to pinpoint navigational markers and determine your approximate location.

Still, I am no expert at navigating these trails yet.
Two quick words of advice:

• The “Goat Trail” is fantastic!
• Don’t attempt to cross any fences that say “Danger, Live Ordinance!”

All About the Trail
As I mentioned above, this place is big and complicated! At first it feels like all that’s out here is long, long dirt roads and doubletrack. Eventually, you’ll come across a piece of singletrack, and it will be sweet. And then you’ll find another, and eventually you’ll come across several miles of sweet descending, and you will be hooked!

Gravel Grinding
There are gravel roads up the gazoo in this place. There are long, harsh climbs coupled with fast, scenic descents. If this is your style of riding, come out, bring the cross bike or hardtail, and grind it up!

Singletrack
Yes, there is singletrack to be had, and lots of it! Overall the trail is very smooth and buffed out. The only technical aspects are a few washouts and ruts here or there. Many of the terms are bermed up from a lot of traffic, and as a result these trails have acquired some serious flow! The downhills out here are amazing, ranging from fast bombs in wide open fields to swoopy descents down treed hillsides.

On my first time out on these trails, I ran into a local and asked him for some recommendations. He took us to this trail which he referred to as “The Goat Trail.” That downhill has to be ridden to be believed! To sum it up in four words:

• Speed: The smooth trail, consistent drop, and flow (see below) make this a screaming fast ride!
• Flow: Bermed out wide-radius turns abound.
• Air: Several awesome rollers and lips spread throughout the length of this trail.
• Views: This whole area is gorgeous! Take a few minutes to gaze over the hillsides.

Finally, the construction of the singletrack is of an excellent caliber. The trail is narrow, ranging from the 12-18” range down to the 4” ribbon-wide straightaways. The benchcutting in some of the steeper areas is pretty good, with one or two nice exposed sections of trail. A big bonus is that the turns are mostly large-radius, allowing you to carry speed down the length of the trail. That’s something I don’t see very often back in the Southeast. The only downer is that some sections of the trail have been widened out into two tracks most likely due to people riding when wet and then going around the mud puddles.

Bottom Line
Beautifully smooth, flowy, high-speed singletrack descents mixed with a ton of gravel roads. Get addicted to these trails, and keep returning again and again to explore the expansive Fort Ord trail system!

Here's some helmet cam footage of me railing one the best downhills out there. It was awesome!

Rides at this Trail

• More great video: http://www.gregridestrails.com/2010/04/rocking-zeppelin-elite-downhill.html
• Contains a good video showcasing some of the climbing: http://www.gregridestrails.com/2010/04/airborne-zeppelin-elite-first.html
• http://www.gregridestrails.com/2010/04/short-videos.html
• http://www.gregridestrails.com/2010/04/railing-airborne-marauder-on-sweet.html