Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in California, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
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As of 7/9/25, the Humboldt bay trail has been extended to connect to the Eureka waterfront trail. We started at the Larson Park parking lot and headed south. It took about 10 minutes to get through the city part of Arcata with many street crossings. After that, it was clear sailing all the way to Eureka. We turned back at 10 miles but I believe the trail connects to the waterfront trail. Great ride.
My wife and I rode this path from Meeks Bay to Tahoe City and back. It's a decent trail, often just off the busy road that encircles Lake Tahoe. While it most definitely has some sections that are quite beautiful, a good part of the trail is more utilitarian: good for getting from point A to Point B, but not particularly scenic. The paved bike path does deviate onto some streets (watch the signage, which is adequate, carefully), but these streets are low traffic and relatively brief in length. The route is moderately hilly in parts, enough to test one's cardio capacity at times, and also enough to make it unsuitable in parts for young children. We're in our 70's, and though the ride got our heart rates up from time to time, we enjoyed the ride. Be aware that the weather can change suddenly. We rode the path one week after a somewhat freakish storm came up over the lake, creating 8 foot waves and resulting in some boating fatalities, as well as converting a summer (June) afternoon into a snowstorm (yes, really).
I used this app while running 10K today. This is great.
Hybrid review here, one part starting at the Sundial Bridge, another from the Kessewick Lake Boat Ramp trailhead.
Part One: For the fit and confident rider, e-bike or otherwise, starting at the Sundial Bridge is a good fit. For the first few miles, some steep ups and downs, and some moderately challenging switchbacks, are a bit of a grunt if you're not in good shape, or not adept at quickly shifting to a lower gear, If you ARE fit, and comfortable with terrain challenges, definitely go for it, it's a beautiful ride! Not for families with younger kids. I've done this route, and that first few miles, sometimes termed Heart Attack Hill, was a bit challenging, but not brutal.
Part Two: For folks that want more scenery than exertion, go to the Kessewick Boat Ramp trailhead, which puts you on this same trail (Google maps will get you there). Nice trailhead with a good parking lot and a bathroom. From there, at least at the time of year that I went (June 21) it was biking heaven. Smooth pavement, winding along the side of a lake and a river, flowering plants of many types, hills towering above us...my wife said that it was the most beautiful ride she has ever been on. There is a short tunnel that you'll go through, dark enough to get me to flip up my sunglasses so that I could see, but not requiring a headlight (though it would be nice to have one, as well as a tail light). After 7.5 miles the dedicated bike path ends in a campground. If you've had enough exercise, turn around for a very pleasant ride back. If you're feeling frisky, continue onward for two miles on a lightly traveled road that starts out on a mild incline but then steepens into about a mile and a half of 5-6% grade. This will get you to the Shasta Dam which you can ride across. Ignore the sign that tells bicyclists to use the sidewalk instead of the road, it's unnecessary to do so, and a bit scary if you do. Getting across the dam, there is a picnic area, some great views, indoor bathrooms, water, and an interesting visitor's center. Well worth it if you have the energy! Roundtrip from the Kessewick boat ramp to the dam is a hair under 20 miles. My wife and I are in our 70's, she on a pedal assist ebike, me on a recumbent, we found the above ride to be in Goldilocks territory: not top short, not too long, just right! And quite beautiful for its entirety.
Pluses: the trail is well maintained, with smooth pavement. Flat, decent for family bike rides,
Negatives: The trail is not entirely on a dedicated path, with a section that is out on the streets. Signage is there, but a bit too easy to miss, regarding getting you through the section on the streets,
The western half of the trail is out in the country, and though it parallels a fairly busy highway, fairly pleasant. The eastern half, though the trail itself is in good shape, is remarkable only for being a good commuter trail. It passes through a semi-industrialized region of the city, and has little esthetic value.
Bottom line: A good commuter trail, good for a quick out and back if you're passing through and want to get some exercise on a decent trailm but not worth making a special trip to get to.
We ride this regularly starting at the south end, Torrance Bch.
Cons:We usually don't go past Venice and almost always don't go past Dockweiler. Once you get into Venice it's always crowded with inexperienced cyclists and pedestrians walking where they shouldn't. Throughout the trail many fast moving e-bikes with generally younger and inexperienced riders. They are not allowed in most places but is not enforced by the local Police. Roller bladers also can be a hazard.
Pros: Beautiful ocean views, plenty of places to stop, eat, bathroom break, etc. Riviera Village in Redondo Bch is a short detour off the trail as well as the main road going through Hermosa.
All in all a nice ride for a relaxing time.
My son and I rode this trail’s entire length. It has nice river views and a decent little park for parking and trail access near its middle. Overall, it was sort of boring and bumpy with embedded rocks. Lots of walkers, which it is better suited for. We saw no other cyclists during our bumpy ride. Glad we did it, but wouldn’t bother to do it again.
The City of Eureka has a gem in this trail. I rode the entire route both directions with my family May 29th 2025. We parked at the Park & Ride on the south end off Highway 101. It is a beautiful waterfront route that has been absolutely taken over and ruined along most of its length by addicts and vagrants doing drugs, urinating, defecating, living and littering in plain sight along the trail. The worst part was in town, but even the more rural section south of town was like a sporadic tent city of trash and homeless camping in the vegetation. The parks are filthy and overtaken by people you would not want your wife and children even seeing (because of what they are doing) let along playing near. The criminal vagrancy is at tragic proportions. Where are the police, the social services? It's scary like a zombie film with these poor people wandering aimlessly yelling and gesturing at nothing. My wife and children were riding with me and just when I thought it might start to get better, so just hang in there, we would see something shocking around the next bend in the trail. Why the residents of Eureka are not impeaching the entire city and police leadership for allowing this travesty of humanity to unfold is beyond me. I would stay away from this trail. It was a terrible experience that I naively had the best of intentions about when we started. How wrong I was.
For me, who is afraid of heights, this was a bit difficult. It is slightly elevated and no railings. The surface is smooth, nice, easy to ride bike on. Going north-south, turn right at the neighborhood. Rode this Sunday lunchtime. Fair amount of runners, cyclists, and pedestrians. Everyone was considerate to each other.
We stayed at Ventura Beach RV-pricey but the location is perfect. The trail is outside the front of the RV park-easy to follow signs and find. At the north end of this trail it joins the Ojai Trail. The flowering bushes were breathtaking.
Excellent place to start this route is at Michael Faklis Park, which is a well kept and attractive public park with bathroom facilities and plenty of parking. From the park, I headed west on a wide and very well maintained paved bike path, arriving within a few miles at Paradise Marina. If you're up for an extra couple of miles, when the path ends at the marina, continue on the road that runs past the marina: auto traffic is very light, it's along water, with smooth pavement. It eventually dead ends after a couple of miles. Heading back east, you'll retrace your ride to Faklis Park, but continue onward along the path with houses on one side, waterfront on the other. The path does cross a couple of busy streets, with a stoplight at one, and one of those flashing light crosswalks (cars don't HAVE to stop, but usually do when the lights are flashing.
On the day that I rode, there were no homeless encampments, but it was clear that a recent cleanup had been done, with rows of cleaned up shopping carts neatly stacked, and minimal trash along the trail.
This path is flat, family safe (caution at the street crossings, of course). While it is along a body of water and does have some natural beauty, you won't be awed by nature. It's simply a safe, good ride along a very well maintained path, away from auto traffic, and IMHO, definitely worth a visit if you're staying in or passing through Stockton. My sole reason for rating it four stars instead of five is that I'm stingy with five star ratings, which I reserve for paths with all of the above qualities but also boast exceptional natural beauty.
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