Buckhorn features the best of classic Southern California riding: long climbs up well maintained fire roads followed by steep, challenging singletrack descents. It adds beautiful views and a remoteness that's sometimes missing in SoCal mountain biking. Your cell phone won't even work back here!

Start with a nine-mile climb that gains nearly 3,000 feet depositing you at the top of this Epic's namesake, the Buckhorn descent, which tumbles 1,600 vertical feet in just under three miles. Before you begin the downhill be sure to take in the stunning view of the Dick Smith Wilderness Area.

Winding, rolling singletrack and fire roads eventually deposit you at Mono Dam, where you can take a refreshing dip. You'll finish along the Gibraltar Mine Trail, which passes an abandoned mercury excavation. This path's history goes back much further than the 19th century as ancient Chumash Indian rock art sites dot Indian Creek upstream from the trail. Complete the last stiff climb near the end of the ride and you're rewarded with a long, rolling descent back to the parking lot more than five hours later.