2Wheels 0 Posted June 17, 2008 I just got back from a short trip to Bishop to scout out areas to take my son riding. So what did I find out? There's plenty of riding for all skill levels in the the area between Bishop and Mammoth. In two full days of riding, I just barely scratched the surface. In a month, you would stil just have scratched the surface. If you've never been there, you gotta go check it out. If you have been there, you probably want to go again. The scenery is awesome. Every time I rounded a corner, I wanted to take a picture. Pictures don't tell the whole story though. You gotta go see for yourself. Unlike the areas around the population centers where the riding areas are crowded, there's plenty of riding up there and not very many riders. There are hundreds of miles of dirt roads and trails in the Eastern Sierra. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The area around Mammoth is at 7,000 feet and above and it's pine forest. This is a valley a little east of Mammoth A road in the same area east of Mammoth. To get to the road in this picture, go to Google MAPS and do a search for Antelope Springs Rd & Substation Rd, Mammoth Lakes, CA. You have to use the ampersand rather than typing in the word "and" when you do your search. It's the first road east of Hwy 395 as you come from Mammoth Lakes on Hwy 203. Go north on Angelope Springs Road. It's starts out paved but soon turns into a dirt road. It looks confusing on the map, but all you have to do is stay on the main road and you'll pass by the spot where I took the pic. Lots of side roads to explore in that area. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The area around Bishop is at 4,000 feet and above and it's chaparral. Tungsten Hills west of Bishop I kept running into single track trails all over the place, but I only had time to ride a short section of this one. To get to the Tungsten Hills, you can park at the Brown's Millpond Campground ( http://www.brownscampgrounds.com/millpond.html )and exit out the back gate. You can also search Google Maps for Tungsten City Rd & Ed Powers Rd, Bishop, CA 93514. Go west on Tungsten City Rd. After wandering around for a little while, you'll find the trail in the pic or something better. Owens Valley This is a view of Bishop and the Owens Valley from the Sneakers Motorcycle Club Coyote loop. Poleta Riding Area There's actually a road going up this canyon. It was once wide enough for a jeep, but so many rocks and dirt have fallen onto it that it may not be a good idea to take a jeep on it anymore. Too steep a traverse for a jeep. Not so bad on a motorcycle since about half the road is still pretty flat. I didn't mean to go up this far, but I was just wandering around the Poleta area and found myself in a canyon. By the time I realized I didn't want to go any further, I coulnd't turn around anymore! Where I took the picture from is the first place I was able to turn around. To get to the Poleta Riding Area, go east on East Line St in Bishop. It turns into Poleta Rd as soon as you get out of town, but you won't notice the difference unless you look at the street signs. After about 4 miles, Poleta Rd starts curving around to the south. Right where it starts curving to the south, take one of the dirt roads going off to the east and you're in the Poleta Riding area. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Mono Lake There's also a Counts route around Mono Lake. Owens River I guess the fishing must be good since there were fishermen all over the place up there. This is a picture of a fishermen by the Owens River. --------------------------------------------------------------- So how far is Bishop? The drive up took me 8 hours since I hit traffic. Coming back I made it in 6 hours. You can get trail maps and info at Golden State Cycles in Bishop or at the ATV and motorcycle rental place across the street from Golden State Cycles. There's also the Counts routes on the Sneakers Motorcycle Club Website: See: http://www.sneakersmc.com/index.htm for GPS routes and roll charts. The Counts routes are a good starting point for exploring the area. Ride the Counts loops and you'll run into dirt roads and trails all over the place. --------------------------------------------------------------- One final thing: The people at Golden State Cycles, the Bishop ATV rental place, and at Brown's Camp told me that Barbara Boxer wants to designate the entire Eastern Sierra as Wilderness. They gave me a brochure to the organization that runs this website. http://www.access-advocates.org/ They want to designate the Eastern Sierra a "Primitive Area" rather than "Wilderness". I'm thinking about donating money to them. Keeping the Eastern Sierra open to riding seems like a good cause. Does anyone know whether designating an area "primitive" rather than "wilderness" is a good idea? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
frostkerry 0 Posted June 17, 2008 Great Writeup 2Wheels! I'm headed to Bass Lake for week of camp/ride/relaxation next week. This is good information! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2Wheels 0 Posted June 18, 2008 Thanks for the props, Kerry. ------------------------------- It looks like I found the answer to my question about designating an area "primitive" instead of "wilderness". Bryan Bosch, the founder of ThumperTalk, endorses it so it must be a good idea. See this thread: http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=500547 Go here to sign the petition: https://host593.ipowerweb.com/%7Eaccess-a/b...untry_petition/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 561 Posted June 18, 2008 I just voted. or signed or whatever.... It looks like the area you went to is really great looking, with plenty of fun things to do and see, along with the trailriding. We never want to lose those areas. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OUTERLIMITS 0 Posted June 18, 2008 By the time I realized I didn't want to go any further, I coulnd't turn around anymore! Gene, that is just a sign that you are on a good trail! Those are great pictures. So being that your son was riding with you, I take it some of these trails are green sticker legal? I'm not surprised that Barbara Boxer wants to shut it all down. Her and Feinstein have never been good to us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2Wheels 0 Posted June 18, 2008 Gene, that is just a sign that you are on a good trail! Those are great pictures. So being that your son was riding with you, I take it some of these trails are green sticker legal? I'm not surprised that Barbara Boxer wants to shut it all down. Her and Feinstein have never been good to us. It WAS a good trail, but if I would have come across a Volkswagen-sized boulder on the trail, I might still be up there. My son wasn't with me on this ride. I'm going back with him after the 4th of July. This was the scouting ride to look for suitable riding areas. But to answer your question, all the trails are green-sticker legal. I asked at Golden State Cycles in Bishop, at the Harley and ATV rental place in Bishop, and at the Ranger Station in Bishop. They all gave me the same answer: If it's a dirt road and it isn't marked closed, you can ride a green sticker bike on it. I had a hard time believing it and made it clear that I wanted to take an unplated motorcycle on the roads and trails, but I still got the same answer at all three places. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
2Wheels 0 Posted June 18, 2008 I just voted. or signed or whatever.... It looks like the area you went to is really great looking, with plenty of fun things to do and see, along with the trailriding. We never want to lose those areas. ++ Even if you can only go there once a year, or even once in your lifetime. It's nice to know you CAN go there if you want to. AND that you children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the area too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 561 Posted June 19, 2008 Even if you can only go there once a year, or even once in your lifetime. It's nice to know you CAN go there if you want to. AND that you children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the area too. It's that way with the desert, for me. I really never used to care for desert riding all that much and it's still not my favorite, but I appreciate having the desert open for my use and I do go out and ride it more than I used to. I would hate to see it closed off to motor vehicle use. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
husky4me 0 Posted June 19, 2008 Beautiful trails and views! Thanks for the report 2wheels! Too bad I could not get off from work to join you... Eight hour drive seems worth it to me, if you can at least stay up there for a few days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirt dame 561 Posted June 19, 2008 Beautiful trails and views! Thanks for the report 2wheels! Too bad I could not get off from work to join you... Eight hour drive seems worth it to me, if you can at least stay up there for a few days. Wow, eight hours? It looks like Browns Mill Pond campground is about 220 miles from my house, so hopefully it would be less time for me to get up there.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
