I spent the past week in Reno Nevada for one reason. To be closer to Downieville, CA. Downieville is known for one thing. The Downieville Downhill. One of the top rated downhill mountain biking trails in California, if not the country. Of course I’m gonna go check it out!
The problem is that Downieville is not close to anything. It’s about a 2 hour drive from just about anywhere. So it’s not easy to get to. On the plus side, it’s a beautiful drive through the Sierra Valley.
From here it’s about a 30 minute ride to the trailhead up the mountain. I attempt to schedule a shuttle ride but they are all full. I did not anticipate having to make a shuttle reservation ahead of time. Next availability is in 4 hours! But as luck would have it, someone canceled as I was talking to the shuttle company. Bingo! Just like that – I have a ride.
The Downieville Downhill trail consists of several trail segments stitched together with 85% of the trail being singletrack. In total, it’s 17 miles of downhill with 5,000 feet of vertical drop. Let’s do this!!
