Trail Facts

The Trail

Skill Level: Intermediate

Trail Type: Cross Country

Length: 10 miles

Elevation Gain: 1700 meters

Elevation Loss: 1700 meters

Location

Trail Name: Crystal Cove / Moro Canyon

City(s): Laguna Beach

State: CA

County: Orange

Description

I first rode Crystal Cove State Park over twenty years ago; in fact it was the first real mountain bike ride that I ever went onthe start of it all. Back then the park was an oasis of solitude on barren stretch of PCH south of shwanky Corona Del Mar. Now the park is surrounded by several clusters of McMansions, Newport Coast Drive and a toll road. And although it may no longer be a quiet little beach canyon, the trails are still as good as ever, and more importantly, there are more of them as the park has expanded inland into what's now called Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.

The park is basically a medium sized canyon called El Moro, which is surrounded by two ridgelines all outlined by a healthy dose of fireroads. If you stay on the coastal side of the park you'll be limited mostly to the fireroad action, but if you head to the back of El Moro canyon and the Laguna Wilderness expansion there's a nice selection of quality singletrack including sandstone slickrock formations and technical climbs and descents. Laps around the park usually average about 10 miles and 1,700 feet of climbing each.

This has become a popular outdoor getaway spot so expect to find many other users here, both on bike and foot. Leave your dogs at home, they are not allowed in the park. Watch out for rattlesnakes, skunks, tarantulas and other crittersthis is their home.

If you hold a State Beach parking pass you can park in the lot off of PCH at El Moro Canyon Drive. If you don't have a pass you can also park there, but be prepared to cough up $10.

The trick for free parking now is to use the cul-de-sac at the end of Ridge Park Road off of Newport Coast Drive. Parking there is free and at a much higher altitude so you begin your ride descending instead of climbing. Plus you start off riding on Bommer Ridge, which gives you almost immediate access to the singletrack and the newer expanded areas of the park.

Adventurous riders may also enjoy connecting Crystal Cove to Aliso Woods Park on the south side of Laguna Canyon road. Alan Davis

Location

Driving Directions