Dirt Kids MTB favorite Bay Area mountain bike routes. Routes require a proper mountain bike with gears, hand brakes and dirt spec tires, some suspension is helpful too.
1. Joaquin Miller Park (JMP) Oakland - Approx 3 miles for the shorter route. Big Trees trail to the Sequoia Bayview Trail back to the parking lot. This is a good beginner to intermediate route with no significant clImbing yet still gives a taste of some real mountain biking with a few chunky features and roots to ride over but all of it is easily walkable if need be.
We like to park at the upper Redwood Bowl Staging area and ride down. At the top of Big Trees the kids like to play in the redwood grove making forts out of the many branches laying around. We also like to stop at the pump track for a while which is over where Big Trees meets up with Sequoia Bayview.
For the advanced riders you can take a detour down the Cinderella Trail or the Chaparral trail and climb back out up the Sunset trail.
You can also do an out and back run of the Sequoia Bayview Trail for an easy beginner route that is suitable for the little ones.
2. Lime Ridge in Concord - 3 miles + depending on how many laps you want to do. Intermediate ride with a moderate climb but may want to do the climb multiple times so for the younger riders it helps to tow them up the hill. Climb up the Paradise Valley trail to the top where there is a fun tree for the kids to climb on. The trail to the left is Thorn Alley an intermediate flow trail which is super fun. Trail to the right is Back 9 which is slightly more advanced with some steeper and chunkier sections and some small drops (avoidable) at the bottom. Fun because you can do repeated laps of the trails.
For more fun head out to the Ohlone Trail to the quarry area where there are some small jumps, chutes, and drops. Also can find a cool rock labyrinth to spend some time exploring.
3. China Camp, San Rafael - Approx 9 miles. Intermediate cross country style ride. Long but not too steep 2 or so mile climb up the Bayview Trail, take lots of breaks with snacks on the climb to keep the complaining down. Then take the Shoreline trail back down for a long gentle descent. Some mild rocky sections on the climb.
4. Fernandez Ranch, Martinez - Approx 5.5 miles Intermediate fun and scenic cross country ride, smooth trails with a somewhat steep climb to up to start, may need to tow. Windmill Trail to Woodland Trail to Pinole Valley Trail to Woodcut Trail to Whipsnake Trail to Black Phoebe Trail.
This is a great list - so helpful to have to turn by turn details!
Wow what a great resource!! Thanks for curating this list!