The south-eastern terminus of the Backbone trail is a mere fraction of this 67-mile-long behemoth, which traverses the Santa Monica mountain range from Point Mugu north of Malibu to Will Rogers State Historic Park near Santa Monica. These final seven miles of the Backbone are a gleaming gem of the Santa Monica mountains. This trail can be ridden up or down and is accessible from several places including the Pacific Palisades, Topanga Canyon, Woodland Hills and Encino.

Named because it follows the boney ridgelines of the coastal Santa Monica mountains, the Backbone Trail System is not all legal for bike travel—some day we hope it will be. These final seven miles that drop down to Will Roger's State beach are however, open to mountain bikes and are a phenomenal route to take while looping through several of the neighboring canyons and ridge lines in this area.

The terrain is typical of coastal California with an abundance of chaparral guiding the singletrack from start to finish only to be interrupted by the occasional oak canopy, a view of the Wilshire District and Downtown LA, some ripping rocky descent lines and finally the Santa Monica coastline. It's one of those rare trails that makes you feel as tall as a mountain while the canyons dive away on either side and the only thing in front of you is a ribbon of brown just begging you to charge down the grade.

A good route riding from West LA involves climbing up either the West Ridge fireroad or Sullivan Canyon and then taking Mulholland fireroad to Topanga State Park (TSP) and saving the Backbone descent for last. Or if you are in the Valley, take Mullholland into TSP for the descent and then return via West Ridge or Sullivan. If you want to mix things up do the loops backwards for more singletrack climbing or piggyback the Backbone descent on top of a descent of Sullivan Canyon for a thirty-plus mile loop. - Alan Davis

The official Backbone Trail website: http://www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/backbonetrail.htm