Expectations are a lot of times based on past experiences or what you’ve read about a place. You’ve visited countless charming towns on the western slopes of the Sierra, and you may think you know what to expect in Nevada City. It’s a historic mining town with a scenic river nearby. Then you look in MTB Project and Trailforks about mountain biking Nevada City. It provides context and yet it’s not the whole story. It wasn’t until we put shoe to pedal and strolled through Nevada City that we understood what’s here. And it’s not at all what we expected.
Why It Took So Long To Visit
Since we’re based in South Lake Tahoe, mountain biking Nevada City is in the no man’s land for travel. Far enough to make it a dedicated day trip but not so close that we could do it on a whim. On top of it, there are so many distractions or rather attractions in between including Truckee and the north shore of Tahoe. With a yearn to go somewhere different, we finally moved our schedule around and made a point to go.
Artsy, Eclectic, AND Historic
To describe Nevada City as a charming historic mining town doesn’t do it justice. Its downtown area is filled with well-kept late 19th Century buildings, some brick and some wood alongside colorful Victorian homes. Women walking around in free-flowing sun dresses. Men wearing corduroy pants and linen shirts. Harmony bookstore sits in a former Assay Office that still has the actual vault they used to house the gold that was found by miners in the foothills. Another spot, Shiva Moon, is filled with a collection of ethnic arts both vintage and contemporary. It’s what I imagine Haight Street was like in San Francisco decades before.
Bourbon For Breakfast… As Dessert
A highlight on our stroll through Nevada City was the ice cream at Treats. Soft creamy delicious. There are the classics such as Cookie Dough or Vanilla Bean. What brings this ice creamery to another level is their proprietary flavors – saffron rose pistachio, apple pie, and our personal favorite Bourbon Breakfast. I have no idea how they did it, but it had the sweet flavor profile of Bourbon with a creamy vanilla undertone. It reminded me of a flavored cappuccino but instead of the coffee flavor it was Bourbon.
Onto The Mountain Biking!
The heart of Nevada City mountain biking is the trailhead on Harmony Ridge. In fact, more than 25% of all trail users in Nevada County start here. It’s no wonder because it provides easy access to the Parliament trail, Scotts Flat Lake trail, and the newest addition Hoot trail.
How To Get There
To get there from Nevada City, you’ll take Highway 20 towards Truckee where you’ll travel approximately five miles. On the southside of the road is the Wheelhouse Event Center (locals call it Five Mile House) and on the north is Harmony Ridge Market. Be sure to park on the south side of the Highway to ensure the market customers have somewhere to park too.
Be sure to get a picture of the direction signpost in front of the Harmony Ridge Market. It highlights the distances to many of the best mountain biking trails nearby and beyond.
Trails To Ride
Parliament
From the parking lot you’ll pedal up the forestry trail which parallels Highway 20. This section features some double track intertwining with a few sections of singletrack. The entrance to the Parliament trail is marked with a metal sign.
Chutes And Ladders
Like a roller coaster, the ride starts slow. A few pump-track rollers to warm you up as you continue onward, the route ratchets up the fun factor quickly as you delve into a set of perfectly carved banked turns. Swerving and flowing down the hillside as if you’re in a game of chutes and ladders. The flow for the downhill section is as close to perfect as you can have. Built in a way that provides multiple line choices so that different levels of riders can either just enjoy the ride or huck huge airs. The downhill might read only 1.7 miles but it feels MUCH longer.
Rinse And Repeat
Previously known as Talon Show and Unkindness (of Ravens), the trail was re-worked to be one continuous loop. Intended to be ridden in a clockwise direction, only the downhill segment has jumps and lips to be enjoyed. While the uphill portion is a set of tight switchbacks graded to make the climb back up easy so you can have that energy to do another loop or hit another one of the trails. I can only imagine the chaos before with people descending/ascending both trails at the same time. Glad they re-designed it.
Hoot Trail
The entrance to Hoot is on the north side of Highway 20 a short pedal up Pioneer Trail. In the same theme of Parliament’s style, this route is a bit more skatepark flow. Instead of the tight switchbacks on Parliament, you’ll find perfectly groomed berms to rail turns on. Whoops that will make you “hoot” and plenty of optional perfectly sculpted jumps to lift big airs off of. And once you’re done, you’ll have an easy pedal up a gravel road for most of the exit.
Pioneer
Normally used as a connector between the other trails, this route is perfect for a family friendly outing. Running alongside Highway 20, this XC trail covers 14.2 miles and can be made even longer.
When To Go
Most of the trail network we highlighted above sits between 3,000-4,000 feet above sea level. Due to its lower elevation in the Sierra, the most ideal time to ride this is in the late fall to early summer. Normally it’s just below the snow-line (except for this year’s winter). Even so, we rode this as a late evening ride mid-summer, and although it was dusty, the temps were ideal for a quick pedal.
