Find the top rated bike trails in Redding, whether you're looking for an easy short bike trail or a long bike trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a bike trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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The Stanford Hills Trail is a short spur off the much longer Sacramento River Trail, the gem of Redding's trail network. The paved path primarily serves to transport residents of the Stanford Hills...
Over the years the Bureau of Land Management, with many partners, has worked diligently to develop one of the premier trail destinations in the West. North of Redding, the Sacramento River Rail Trail...
The Blue Gravel Mine Trail winds through southern neighborhoods of Redding. Although the trail parallels Buenaventura Boulevard and Canyon Creek Road for its entire route, it is generally set far back...
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The Middle Creek Trail provides a gentle 2-mile climb along a former railroad bed from the river bottom up to its intersection with Iron Mountain Road. From there, the trail follows an old stagecoach...
Tucked away in Northern California's Shasta County is the charming town of Redding, which over the years has worked diligently to become one of the premier trail destinations in the West. The pride of...
Paved trails on either side of Clover Creek combine with a loop around a retention pond to form a larger trail loop through Clover Creek Preserve in Redding. The scenic area offers views of the...
Tucked away in Northern California's Shasta County is the charming town of Redding, which over the years has worked diligently to become one of the premier trail destinations in the West. The pride of...
The Middle Creek Trail provides a gentle 2-mile climb along a former railroad bed from the river bottom up to its intersection with Iron Mountain Road. From there, the trail follows an old stagecoach...
The Blue Gravel Mine Trail winds through southern neighborhoods of Redding. Although the trail parallels Buenaventura Boulevard and Canyon Creek Road for its entire route, it is generally set far back...
Paved trails on either side of Clover Creek combine with a loop around a retention pond to form a larger trail loop through Clover Creek Preserve in Redding. The scenic area offers views of the...
Over the years the Bureau of Land Management, with many partners, has worked diligently to develop one of the premier trail destinations in the West. North of Redding, the Sacramento River Rail Trail...
The Stanford Hills Trail is a short spur off the much longer Sacramento River Trail, the gem of Redding's trail network. The paved path primarily serves to transport residents of the Stanford Hills...
Over the years the Bureau of Land Management, with many partners, has worked diligently to develop one of the premier trail destinations in the West. North of Redding, the Sacramento River Rail Trail...
Tucked away in Northern California's Shasta County is the charming town of Redding, which over the years has worked diligently to become one of the premier trail destinations in the West. The pride of...
Paved trails on either side of Clover Creek combine with a loop around a retention pond to form a larger trail loop through Clover Creek Preserve in Redding. The scenic area offers views of the...
The Middle Creek Trail provides a gentle 2-mile climb along a former railroad bed from the river bottom up to its intersection with Iron Mountain Road. From there, the trail follows an old stagecoach...
The Stanford Hills Trail is a short spur off the much longer Sacramento River Trail, the gem of Redding's trail network. The paved path primarily serves to transport residents of the Stanford Hills...
The Blue Gravel Mine Trail winds through southern neighborhoods of Redding. Although the trail parallels Buenaventura Boulevard and Canyon Creek Road for its entire route, it is generally set far back...
My wife and I did this loop on two different occassions while visiting Redding. We had no trouble finding the trail head or sticking on the trail. The scenery as you head toward the damn is absolutely gorgeous--large boulders, spring flowers, and the beautiful blue and green colors of the fountain head of the Sacramento river.
The trail on one side of the river is almost totally flat, while the trail on the other side is a roller coaster of short up and downhill climbs. There are several creeks you cross and plenty of benches to stop and enjoy the scenery. There are even some public restrooms.
I'm sure we will do this trail on every visit to Redding.
This is a well maintained trail, but very confusing for visitors. The route is through various parks, parking lots, senior centers and private neighborhoods. However, there is a total lack of directional signs. Even a simple sign with a directional arrow would be sufficient. The trail on the north side is hilly, but the trail on the south side is more of a converted rail bed. We rode the trail on a Friday and it was very busy.
Rode every mile on TrailLink's map of this trail. Great scenery and excellent trail surface. I recommend the Middle Creek spur as well. The east side of the river is not really a rail type trail. It's a roller coaster ride but lots of fun to do coming downstream.
Rode the entire route yesterday. The only downside was the first two miles from Keswick Dam. It's not a typical gradual rail grade. Great scenery, great surface, and no traffic noise. At one point I just stopped to enjoy the silence.
I recommend pushing up the switchback road between the north end of the trail to Shasta Dam. They offer great views and tours of the dam. You can actually ride across the top of the dam, unlike the dams in Washington State.
Departed from Keswick Dam parking area this morning. The first 1/2 mile is seriously steep, immediately, but after a mile or two of some good ups and downs, it is pretty close to flat along the water all the way to the campground below Shasta Dam.
The trail is paved and in excellent condition, just fine for my road bike; could have used the hill climbing gears on my mountain bike in a couple of spots near the beginning. Beautiful ride. Take water. Vault toilets at both ends, in remarkably clean condition for that type of facility. I will go back, maybe kyak, too, next time.
We started this ride from the Sundial Bridge in Redding which added another 8 miles each way. At the Shasta campgrounds destination, we decided to ride up to Shasta Dam. A moderately steep 2 to 3 miles uphill, but the view from the dam and the ride back was worth it.
Road surface was excellent all the way through, and crowd traffic was reasonable. Very nice views of the river and lake. Bring lots of water and imagine that it can be hot in the summer.
If you're inclined to start from the Sundial Bridge, the bike trail on the south side of the river has less foot traffic which makes riding more pleasurable. Total of about 44 miles.
I saw the Clover Creek Preserve on The Rail To Trails web site. Coming up from Red Bluff about 28 Miles to see it and I was not disappointed. The preserve itself is a 123 acre site that has a 400 acre feet check site for a 100 years flood to protect the homes down stream. There are several different paths, with the main one around the rim being paved. The parking area is where a road was going go through, and now a very large parking area. It seem to be very popular with neighborhood as there was quit a few bicyclist, runner, walker, and people out for the day. The only drawback is that there is no shade, as its an open area. I found it was fun to take my adult trike and ride to my heart content. In the Redding area, its one of the little hidden gems.
If you are coming up Interstate five, take the exit onto South Bonnyview/ Chun Creek Road and take a right, go straight , pass the Standard Station until you see a road going up a hill, and flow that road as it goes up (Rancho Road) until you see a sign on the right saying “Shasta View Road” or you see a stone wall on the left. Turn before the stone wall and follow the road until you see a parking lot at a stop sign on you right.
As of early 2011, the Sacramento River Rail Trail is completely paved. So now you can ride on pavement from Redding at the Sun Dial Bridge to Shasta dam.
TRAILBEAR HEADS TO THE DAM - The Sacramento River Rail Trail
10.5.10
@@@ OVERVIEW
Redding has enough good trails - paved, dirt, mountain bike - to be something of a destination. TrailBear spent two days there riding the paved river trails.
You can ride from Turtle Bay, down in Redding, up to Shasta Dam. Better yet, most of the ride is on good blacktop. You do this by taking the Sacramento River Trail up to the Keswick Dam. There you will find a trailhead for the Sacramento River Rail Trail. The SRRT will take you up river to the Shasta/Chappie ORV area below the dam. This is a scenic reservoir ride.
The SRRT comes in two parts. The lower portion (2.8 miles) is called the Lower Rail Trail. It is a twisty, turney, up and down connector trail and certainly not a real rail trail. No train could make those curves. Hard enough on a bike with any sort of speed. Probably a real challenge in a wheelchair or on in-line skates.
The true rail trail (a mild uphill grade) begins at the Rock Creek Road Trailhead and heads up to the Shatsa/Chappie ORV Area below Shasta Dam. It is 8.3 miles long and paved up to the former Matheson Ore Transfer Station. The lower trail joins it about .25 miles out of Rock Creek trailhead.
It uses the old Southern Pacific right of way. From Matheson to the end, you are on gravel. Once past Matheson the gravel is hard packed. The upper trail end is at the locked trail gate at the Shasta Dam. A sign notes that they intend to pave the section from Matheson to Shasta Dam in October 2010. Stay tuned. When done, the Sacramento River Trail and the River Rail Trail will make an outstanding ride. Want some dirt - check out the other trails on the east side of the reservoir. Lots of riding in these hills.
@@@ HANDY WEB SITES
< http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/pdfs/redding_pdfs.Par.3765.File.dat/SRRTbrochure2.pdf>
< http://www.americantrails.org/nationalrecreationtrails/blm/sacramento-ca.html>
< http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/info/newsbytes/2008/353-extra_keswick.html>
<<http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/pdfs/redding_pdfs.Par.21380.File.dat/SRRTmap.pdf>
@@@ START AT KESWICK DAM TRAILHEAD and THE LOWER “RAIL TRAIL”, GE: N40.61008 W122.44775
This is the start of the Sacramento River Rail Trail. This section is called the Lower Rail Trail (2.8 mi). It will intersect the real rail trail up at Spring Creek. What an innocent name! A more accurate name might be Heart Rate Trail. It is probably the most interesting section to ride – but you work for it.
Start at the new trailhead at the base of what they call Heart Rate Hill. Apt name, that. If you time your ascent and measure your pulse at the upper sign, you can determine fitness. By that point, you probably knew: Could be better. If you cycle the Lower Rail Trail every other day for a month or two, you will be much fitter. It twists. It turns. It climbs. It descends. It repeats all the previous as it climbs up each ridge, descends the other side, crosses the creek and climbs again.
The last water in 11+ miles is across the street at the trailhead. Drink up. Fill up. The Lower Rail Trail just might use the water ration for a ten mile leg. When you are sloshing about, head up Heart Rate Hill. There is a nice overlook above on a spur trail.
In the first 0.68 miles from the parking lot you gain 240’. At that point, if you look left, there is a marker on the other side: SLOW: Steep Descent. Really? Really!
TB would have loved a nice screaming descent, but had to ride the brakes to keep things under 15 mph: Hairpin turns. They are not banked for 30 mph or even close to it. Try that and you will be off the trail and in the brush. He clocked 25.5 on one drop where he could see the uphill leg and the curve was not a hairpin. TrailBear loves his full set of hydraulic brakes. They actually stop him - in time, not in the brush.
What is needed is a crew of mountain bike riders to bank the turns or build so you can ride the wall on the downhill curves. Slingshot around some of those hairpins and you will be half way up the next ascent before you notice. In the first 2.5 miles, TB measured 242’ descent and 379’ of ascent. Not a bench to be seen once you leave the overlook at the trailhead.
@@@ RAIL TRAIL JUNCTION, GE: 40.628131 -122.466335
That last long climb along Spring Creek put you on the junction with the real Sacramento River Rail Trail. The rest of the trail will be gradual rail trail inclines. Take a look at the Iron Mountain Mine remediation works – the Spring Creek Debris Dam and the plant. The mine is a superfund site.
Rain water on iron pyrites = sulfuric acid. That dam up there is part of the effort to control the acid wastes. The plant just below the trail removes heavy metals from the waste water. Notice that Spring Creek does not look very healthy.
< http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Mountain_Mine>
Now you can head up the Shasta River (Keswick Reservoir now) on the right of way built in 1883 by the Central Pacific Railroad. By 1888 you could take an express from Oakland and be in Portland in 36 hours.
@@@ KESWICK BOAT RAMP, GE: 40.632349 -122.452793
Another trailhead option is at the Keswick Boat Ramp on the other side of Spring Creek. You will find an info kiosk, parking and vault toilet. From here the next stop is the end of the pavement at Matheson, about four miles up the reservoir.
@@@ MATHESON, GE: 40.664135 -122.460971
At Matheson the ore from the Iron Mountain Mine was transferred to rail cars. Now it is a staging area for the ORV area and accessible off the Iron Mountain Rd. The trail surface here is somewhat loose and the rock large. At the trail gate beyond Matheson the surface turns to a hard backed 3/8- gravel – good riding. This lasts up to Motion Creek, then turns to larger gravel, but still not a bad ride. (Note: TrailBear is on a FS mountain bike. No roadies were seen beyond the end of the blacktop at Matheson.)
@@@ MOTION CREEK, GE: 40.685720 -122.450870
Are they using enough culvert at the embankment across Motion Creek? Check the photo. Word from a local bikie was that they had a used bridge lined up from a south county road project – but when they picked it up, it fell apart. Whoops. Motion Creek, unlike all the other stream crossings, had water in it. Come the winter rains, there is probably serious water in it.
@@@ THE TUNNEL, GE: 40.693863 -122.450043
The only tunnel on the trail is about 0.7 miles above Motion Creek Crossing. It was built in the 1880s and lined with concrete in 1923. It curves, but it is short enough that there is enough light to see by. No headlights are needed. There is a bypass trail along the toe of the ridge, but who would want that? Tunnels are fun.
@@@ TRAIL END AT SHASTA DAM TRAILHEAD, GE: 40.709190 -122.442390
The end of the rail trail is at the locked trail gate at the bottom of the Shasta/Chappie ORV area below Shasta Dam. Here you will find ample parking, a vault toilet and information kiosk. The kiosks on the trail are a nice pattern with bench seating below that overhead cover.
If you head up the road into Shasta Campground, you will find water, trash and additional vault toilets. This is the only water on the upper trail. You can refill for the trip back down.
The ORV staging area also features a large covered shelter with concrete benches (and one picnic table). This could be handy when one of the frequent local thunderstorms catches you out. Commonly, ORV areas have good facilities.
If you want to stage out of this end, you need to cross Shasta Dam. The hours (10/2010) are 6 AM to 10 PM. Have your driver’s license handy for the guards. They will probably take a look to see if you are stuffed with C4 or ANFO to make Jihad on the dam. If you are worthy, the crash barriers will be lowered for you. We camped here one night – the only folks there aside from the host. Come summer or a weekend, bring ear plugs.
Ride on!
TrailBear
Riding his brakes around the bends
TRAILBEAR IN THE RAIN - The Sacramento River Trail in Redding.
6.2.2010
Redding, Ca.
Destination: The Sacramento River Trail in Redding, Ca. It looks like an interesting ride, but under reported. There is a map but only a few photos on TrailLink.
What a difference a day makes. This talk of “deep low in the Gulf of Alaska” and “late spring storm” was not comforting to TrailBear. Rain was ahead. The Sacramento weather was talking of 1-3” of rain in the Shasta region and noted that the dam operators were already dumping water. TB left Lake Del Valle in Livermore and headed north in sunshine, but ahead you could see the altostratus of the front sliding ashore.
Early afternoon, Redding: The stratus is much lower, with clouds below coming over the mountains and you can see rain in the hills. We park at Turtle Bay by the Sundial Bridge. Out comes the bike and TrailBear heads up the trail.
He got a few miles out before the rain arrived and it was time to kick it about and flee, but everything he saw was good. It’s a triple five star trail From the Sundial Bridge to the double bridges the trail surface was 5*, the facilities were 5* and the scenery was 5*. Consider this a destination trail.
TB had planned two days in Redding to do the Sac River Trail and the Sac River Rail Trail. Not in the rain. You can ride from Turtle Bay all the way to Shasta Dam. We will see if the weather cooperates on the fall migration down to Socal. Here is a quick look at a bit of the lower trail. Some of the things you can enjoy:
Trailhead: Turtle Bay –
The parking is free at this complex. The museum and café are fee areas.
<http://www.turtlebay.org/>
The Sundial Bridge –
Redding went to Spain to get the architect to design a trophy bridge. They got one. This bridge is unique and tells time. It’s accurate on the Summer Solstice, but who cares. Check out the photos on the web. After putting the bike away, it was coffee at the café at Turtle Bay (under cover), watching a ? junior high ? graduation gather. Blue robes and parents and umbrellas streamed across the bridge and gathered beneath the sundial.
http://www.google.com/images?q=the+sundial+bridge&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rlz=1R1GGIC_en___US369&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=DS0JTLfPHMaqlAeSw-CLDg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CDwQsAQwBA
The McConnell Arboretum – on the far side of the bridge.
The trail runs through a delightful avenue of oaks shading the trail here. Nice on a sunny day. Today TB did not linger.
The Cauldwell Park Wayside –
tthe first mayor of Redding is sitting on a bench there (in bronze). Have your photo taken with him. Picnic tables and an overlook for viewing the diversion dam. There is also a fish viewing facility there - underwater windows and such.
The double bridges –
TB got this far before the drizzle turned to rain. The old bridge has been repurposed to ped/bike use and a new car bridge built alongside for Benton Drive. Here the loop portion starts. Head up the north side of the river to the Ribbon Bridge or cross over here and take the south side trail to the Ribbon Bridge. From there you can take the connector to the Keswick Dam and get on the Sacramento River Rail Trail.
Wonders up the freeway –
Lake Shasta had water in it! Decades of going up and down I-5 and TB had never, ever seen the lake full. Today it was. No shoreline; the water is up to the trees. What a change from years of bathtub rings and views of high and dry marinas. Give the heavy rains encountered on the way to Weed, TB can see why. No wonder they are dumping water and the river is full. Lake full, more coming, no place to put it. Beats years of bathtub rings.
Ride on!
TrailBear
Getting his fur wet.
A beautiful ride along the Sacramento River with great interpretive signs and tons of wildlife viewing along the way. The museum is great too, with a beautiful arboretum. Spring time seems to be the best time of year, but the cool water from the Sacramento River acts like a natural air conditioner in the summer time.
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