![]() Portions of this trail system border private property.Please avoid parking outside the fence along the roadway.Closed to all hunting and target shooting.Old Flume Trail is a Day-Use area only.Give yourself a couple hours and take plenty of water. Please note: It may only take you a half hour to get down the trail, but be prepared for a steep and much longer walk back up. But the trail does drops rather steeply down an old existing road - about 800 feet in less than a mile and leads to a quiet location just below Racehouse Bend rapid on the South Fork. The trail is wide and the terrain is not technically difficult as it heads down into the canyon from the parking lot. Overviewīetween the towns of Placerville and Coloma along Highway 49, the Old Flume Trail offers access to the South Fork of the American River. Remember your OUTDOOR ETHICS when enjoying your public lands. Please take a look at the area details below for more information about visiting this location. Old Flume Trail Trailhead does not offer reservations through. This is a great trail for a SS or a 29'er, don't need a FS.South Fork American River, Near Placerville, California The intermediate rider will take about that time depending on how much you stop for photos or take rest stops. They told us at the bike shop at Spooner Lake that average time is 2 to 2.5 hrs. ![]() If you are good in sand or loose dirt, it will take you longer to get down. The downhill at the end is REALLY thick with loose stuff but the experienced rider will love it. It is a bit sandy and if your sand skills are not there from consistently doing loose stuff, it will sap you on the uphill. Only the experienced, consistent rider will be able to top the mountain without a stop or 2 or hefting the horsey. From what I saw, 4 out of 5 were doing hike-a-bike though. Aerobically if you climb all the way up the climb to Marlette Lake, it is a 5. When it was new in the 80's I guess it was rated higher for the view, it is panoramic in places. Overall, this trail is a 3 for an experienced rider and maybe a 4 for casual riders. Doesn't enter into the rating but makes for an interesting story. I know the 2 brothers who discovered this trail. I could see this being a big day for a casual cyclist, I saw a lot of euros on rental bikes walking the initial climb, for those types I would recommend the shuttle services. ![]() A bit of dirt road to Marlette lake, both up and down, then you climb up the dirt road you come in on, then down to Spooner trailhead. Went around the lake on the dirt road hopped on the Flume Trail (the first 100 feet are the most technical with a rocky switchback), stopped a few times to check out the killer views of Tahoe, got to where you either go up or down and went up to the Rim Trail (steep dirt road) did the rim back to marlette lake (it would probably be more fun to reverse the loop, but then you'll be climbing a lot more dirt road). I did the standard loop (21 miles) starting at the ridiculously expensive ($10) trail head (F-U NV!!!), rode up the sandy dirt road for 4 miles to Marlette Lake, stopped and enjoyed watching fish jump while I ate a bar. I would recommend this trail for anyone with a FIT girlfriend/wife that is scared of technical riding. 20 years ago this would have been THE TRAIL, but nowadays it is just a trail with an amazing view and a good way to get some miles in.
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