Liebre Mountain

Trip Length: 22 miles
Location: Travel north on I-5 and exit at Quail Lake (right before going up the grade to Gorman). Continue about 4.5 miles and take your first right at Old Ridge Route Road. Go uphill and do not take the left turn for Pine Canyon road for 2.5 miles until the road becomes dirt. Park here.
Time: 4 hours
Elevation Gain: 1500'
Road Type: fireroad
Difficulty: moderately streneous and non technical
No water
Advisary: this is a wind prone area. Check wind conditions for Gorman area. Make sure you have adequate protection for your eyes.

This is a beautiful area to ride in. The only thing that mars the ride is several sandy areas on the road that makes the uphill climbing a little harder. You will not find too many mountain bikers up here only an accasional 4 wheel drive vehicle. It is a pretty remote area. The first 2.5 miles is a leasurely ride on the old ridge route. This used to be the main road before I-5 was built.It runs for about 30 miles. Ride #17 explores a nice part of it. Take your first left where there is a sign posted saying Bear campground 9 miles and get in your climbing geer. The first mile is the steepest. Do not take the road to your right at the junction about a mile into the ride. Take the road that goes uphill. Its about 4 miles to the first summit. At the turnoff the elevation is about 3950' and the first summit is about 5300'. The peak elevation of the ride is at 5760 feet. Enjoy the views of the countryside which include Pryamid lake and Old Ridge Route. To the south is White Mountain, Black Mountain and Cobblestone Mt. Looking to the west is Hungry Valley and Frazier Mountain.

This road continues for another 25 miles and ends at the beginning of ride #15. Do not take any of the side roads. Upon reaching the first summit you are now in a pretty oak forest riding along the broad shoulder of Liebre Mountain. The climbing finally ends at about 8 miles. The remainder of the ride is a lot easier. At about 11 miles Bear Camp is reached. Its in a nice oak forest and there are picnic tables to eat your lunch. There is no need to go farther because its just uphill. Did you know the that you are practically on the San Andreas Fault here? It runs about 1500' below to the north. What you are riding on is a little uplift from the fault. Just reverse yourself for the return and enjoy the great downhill. At about mile 16 look to your left for a short trail that leads to the top of the mountain. Its at the point where you have a nice view to your right of the high desert. Follow this trail and feast your eyes on a magnificent 270 degree view of the countryside. Back on the main road its all down hill until the old ridge route. Take several stops and enjoy the vistas. Take a little rest by the big lone oak on the way down and savor the view. Next time up explore the side roads and come back again and again.

© 1997 mbiker10@sbcglobal.net

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