Mitchell Canyon

Closest Major City: San Francisco

Distance: 12.60 miles (20.27 KM)

Description:
The trail conditions make this an excellent winter ride. The trail holds up extremely well even in the worst of conditions. This ride consists of a lot of difficult climbing and very little rest. It's a challenging, but fun ride. This ride starts out with a relatively easy 2.5 mile ride that enters the park and heads towards Juniper Campground along the Mitchell Canyon trail. Around the 2.5 mile mark, however, things change. This is the start of a long and nasty climb. At the Deer Flat intersection, keep right and keep climbing. At Juniper Campground turn left onto the paved road and start climbing again! At a sharp left hairpin turn, you will see a spur trail at the bend. Take it and follow it to its end. Turn left onto Prospectors Gap. And then turn right after 1.3 miles onto Meridian ridge Trail. Then left on Donner Canyon and left again onto Bruce Lee back to your car.

Directions to the trail:
Take HWY 24 to Walnut Creek and take the Ygnacio Valley Road exit and go East on Ygnacio Valley Rd. Follow the signs to Concord Pavilion. At Pine Hollow, turn right and then right again onto Mitchell Canyon just past the school and follow Mitchell Canyon to the end of the road.