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Almost no shade on entire trail with miles of absolutely no shade, almost all direct sun at temps of 90-105 all summer long, no water fountains or bathrooms on entire 5 mile trail except for one park on Black Olive Rd at Pearson Rd, and the rest is miles of hot sun and nowhere to pee or get a drink if you run out of water. Not good for moms with kids. Someone will have to pee and you'll be miles from the nearest bathroom, and nowhere to covertly pee in the bushes either, as if anyone would even want to. Landscape is dry, dusty with scrubby dusty bushes, unappealing to look at. People don't clean up their dog's crap, most probably because the few garbage cans there is are miles apart too. Everywhere you look is trash, broken glass, and dried dog crap. Especially lots of trash on trail where it goes past the local high school. Smell of marijuana being smoked is also strong there. Not where I want to push my kids in their stroller so I can get some exercise. I have to either walk at the local cemetery where their are hobos lurking from the perimeter trees, but there is a bathroom and water, or drive miles away to Paradise lake trail, (with clean port-o-potty's but no drinking water), or drive miles away to Bidwell Park in Chico. It's a real pain in the *** to have to drive out of town to get some decent walking with kids or risk it with the cemetery hobos because the Paradise Train Trail is so terrible.
I parked on Harry Rd and walked toward Santa Teresa Park. The trail was flat, easy, and pleasant, but became untenable in the exposed section that diverged from the creek itself. Granted, it was the late afternoon in June, but it was so scorching that we had to turn back. Would try again in the early morning fall/spring, or in winter.
Other than the homeless and the just plain obnoxious people the route is great and I have been riding this route for many years. Recently the rest area at the top entering the airport was destroyed, and with the hot weather this could be a problem for some less fit riders!
We live in Ventura and ride this trail at least once a month. It is always fun and a great ride. Even in the heat of the summer if you start early in the morning you can ride up to Ojai have breakfast in one of the many great places to eat then be going back down the trail in the shade with the coastal breeze in your face and dropping almost 20 degrees by the time you get back to Ventura.
I walk from OB east to where the trail meets Int 5, and back at least twice (total appx. 5 miles round trip) starting at 4:00 a.m. Takes me about 2 1/2 hours. The trail is pretty much deserted at this early hour, for me at age 66 its a great start to the day. I love this wonderful trail!
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.
My wife and I are in our mid fifties. We started from the Mason Station outside of Westwood. The first 5-7 miles were difficult on our hybrids. I definitely would recommend having a mountain bike. The path surface was deep gravel-type rock that our bikes kept sinking into. Picture jogging on a loose sand beach--it felt like that.
Then we hit the more worn path with the 4% downgrade. The final 20 miles was like a beautiful sled run. We hardly had to peddle. The surface changed many times as did the scenery and the terrain. There were many road obstacles to steer around like trees down and huge ruts, but the majority of the path was smooth sailing.
I would definitely do this again, but probably start farther up the trail and avoid the first few miles. Another noteworthy observation is that the city bus that takes you back to Westwood only runs three times a day and can carry only three bikes at a time. We took the 12:10 bus and there were five bikes wanting to get on. Some people had to leave one person behind with the bikes and go get the vehicles in Westwood.
Overall it was a very beautiful and positive experience and we would definitely do this again.
On this trail, there are many elevation gains and decreases. Going down is fun, but going up can be tiring. There is also a lack of shade on this trail. For those reasons, this isn't a very family friendly trail. However, you never have to stop, making it a great trail if you want to break a sweat and get some good exercise in.
Nice flat ride with lots of wildlife despite it being through town.
I did the 11 mile round trip from the Southern Sawyer Camp trailhead to the San Andreas Lake dam and back with my nine year old daughter on a Saturday morning in June 2017. It was her third bike ride of this length and was a big hit. Parking can be tight and the first two or three (freshly paved)miles are crowded with pedestrians, but otherwise perfect for an extended and interesting trip with a child. Unlike a lot of flat paths around the Bay Area, this one has lots of interesting curves and varied scenery. The last stretch to the dam is uphill and a but of a challenge for small ones, but also brings a sense of accomplishment. Highly recommended.
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