Lake Tahoe Mountain Bike Ride - North Lake Tahoe

General Information: It's hard to beat the Burton Creek area for convenience to Tahoe City. The riding consists of both jeep trail and some nice single track. The climbing is moderate while the descents range from very technical to fast jeep roads. The greatest difficulty here is keeping track of where you are. Even with a map, we got lost several times and just wandered around the forest. There are a multitude of options, none of which should take more than a few hours to complete, making this area ideal for a quick ride. Some nice views of Lake Tahoe pop up as you meander around the area. We recommend that you stop in at The Backcountry Bike Shop to talk about a route and pick up a map.

Click here for a map and vertical profile

Where To Start: The Burton Creek State Recreation area is located just behind Tahoe City on Tahoe's North Shore. From the "Y" in Tahoe City, follow Highway 89 towards Truckee for 100 yards, turning on Fairway Dr. Drive past the golf course and turn left on Bunker St. After a few hundred feet, you will see a fire protection road. Park here and start riding up the fire road.

Trail Description: The fire road climbs for a while. Look for the Burton Creek State Recreation Area sign where another fire road merges. Just past this sign the road curves left and divides. At this junction, a single track trail begins and heads mostly north. This trail is easy to miss...watch carefully. Once on this single track, continue to climb. This single track intersects two more and from here, take your pick. There are lots of different single track trails, all of which are unmarked. The Backcountry Bike shop has a map of limited usefulness. Just about all trail will come down either where you started or through the Burton Creek State Park.

Environmental Concerns: None

Advisory: No water is available along this ride, so bring your own.

NOTICE: While the information on this site is thought to be accurate and reliable, it is offered only as a guide and cannot replace sound personal judgement.