Review: To get there, I would recommend turning into Oneidas and parking just outside of the gate to the National Forest. That way when you dump out of Toad's, your car is right there to the left.

Somebody mentioned earlier that they wished they could give this trail two ratings but didn't really elaborate on it so I wasn't sure what to expect.

Here's what to expect.

Trail 1: My husband and I decided to call this "Solitary Inclinement," since, no matter how many friends you have, you can get trapped in some crazy mind-games of self-pitying pain. From South Lake Tahoe, take Pioneer Trail, left on Oneidas, and park outside the gate. This becomes "Fountain Place Rd." as soon as you pass through the gate, (although it's never labeled as far as I could tell). You can either take this asphalt road all the way up to Armstrong Pass Trail (this is what we did as we knew the climb was going to be long) or, about two or three miles up you can take the Armstrong connector to avoid the road but possibly increase your overall suffering (idk, maybe it's easier?). Armstrong Pass Trail is a whole lot of uphill singletrack with some technical sections that I thought were really quite fun. Although it's only about 3 miles long, it feels longer, because by now, you've been climbing about seven, pretty much non-stop, nearly two miles above sea level. You'll come to a four-way intersection with Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) and you take a right. This is where Solitary Inclinement becomes Corporal Punishment. We talked about this point of the ride over and over again as "the breaking point." Just when you think you've had enough uphill, and it's about time to have even a few hundred feet of something flat, or maybe even some downhill, you get what you thought you wanted: in the "Boulders From Hell Rock Gardens Section". If I could give it a triple black diamond, I would. Just, just walk, and don't feel bad. Maybe an awesome rider could clear it on a good day, but after that much climbing, and with such severe dropoffs, you'll find yourself harried enough. It's a bit of a rude awakening from the "fun" techical sections of before. Once you're through this section, there's more uphill to come. All together, there's about ten and a half miles of uphill. I will admit that we did this at the beginning of the season, and we were not yet in "season," so we were totally pooped by the end, and VERY happy to finally find outselves at:

Ride 2: At some undefinable stretch of TRT, the trail finally starts to head downhill, and stays that way for the most part for the next ten or so miles. The first three or so miles of this is super super fun and super techincal in parts, but nothing that can't be cleared. Beautiful views, some rolling meadows, and lovely wildflowers. Ironically, this is the one place we wiped out. My husband tried to go over a three-foot tall snowbank (mid-June) and slid onto his ass. Pretty comic, we both laughed. Then you come to a branch in the trail and take a right onto some double black diamond called "Tucker Flat" as in flat on your face if you don't walk some of it. BIG boulders and dropoffs with sudden and sharp turns and nasty wheel-grabs. Some of them would have been doable if we had only shuttled up and come down fresh, provided you walk it down first to pick out your path. The ones you clear will have you feeling like a total boss, just keep your butt behind the seat on those two-foot-plus dropoffs and believe you can fly. Tucker Flat bleeds to the right into Saxon Creek Trail. I think this is the true beginning of "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" as it is HELLA fun, swoopy, bermy, and just clean, good riding. There are some stairways that are fun as well. Official Mr. Toads is virtually boulder and rock-free and you can take it at very high speeds as the turns are well-bermed and welcome after so much tricky technical stuff. After this, hang a right and ride a mile or so of doubletrack up to Fountain Place and left to your original stop.

We rode this on a Yeti ASR-5 Carbon and Ibis Mojo SL. My husband envied me on the uphills with my more vertical head tube angle (Ibis) and I was big-time hating on my husband with his slacker head tube angle on the descents. I don't know how or why you would possibly do this trail without full suspension. It is a dream on a good machine, and I woudn't recommend it if you're ill-equipped or out of shape AT ALL.

This ride's reputation is well-earned. The descent is so amazing you practically forget the pain of the ascent, or at least you're thankful for it since you're eating good food non-stop for the next three days.

Similar Trail: Porcupine Rim (Moab)

Review: I feel like this ride deserves two reviews, but alas it doesn't work that way. The beginning of the climb is all asphalt "camping" or "fire roads". This may be deceiving as it is just the beginning. I am not one to recommend a shuttle however I'd be willing to make an exception on this ride. Having ridden from the bottom I was spent before I reached the top, and I consider myself in decent shape. The downhill is certainly something special with a variety of terrain offering something for everyone and it seems to go on forever (maybe I was just exhausted).

Review: Awsome ride!!! Cant wait to go down again!! Dont miss this ride its awsome!!

Review: The sickest trail in South Lake. Do it up Armstrong Pass or the easier route by shuttling to the top of Luther Pass. Either way your climbing hard, but the decent is EPIC.

Review: Climbed up Armstrong pass to the TRT and down Saxon Creek. Long climb, pavement was probably the worst of the climb. Awesome downhill, super tech, some awesome drops. Nothing on this trail is completely manadatory as people have said in the past. Great trail, top of my list!!

Similar Trail: tyrolian downhill, hole in the ground

Review: Awesome uphill, hard downhill

Similar Trail: TRT

Review: Trail Description: Starting from Luther Pass, the trail climbs steadily up the mountain side through pine and fir forest with some short, technical moves up and over boulders. Most of the trail is rideable for an advanced rider, but we've never seen anyone ride the whole trail, so don't feel bad when you have to walk.

After about 3/4 mile, the trail from Big Meadow parking lot joins the Rim Trail from the left. Stay right and continue to climb for another 1.5 miles. You will reach a prominance with a large boulder perfectly situated to take a break on top of and which offers nice views of Waterhouse Peak and Hope Valley. After this, the trail climbs a bit more through a more open, bouldery area, and begins to top out on the ridge. A short downhill brings you Tucker Flat where a wooden post points to the Saxon Creek drainage to the left (northwest) or towards Armstrong Pass (east).The trail to Armstrong Pass offers some terriffic riding, but to continue on Mr. Toads, turn left and begin 1.5 miles of very technical downhill. Lots of boulders, soft dirt, roots, and big, steep drop-offs make this a challenging ride even for experts. Most of us human riders walk at least a few sections of this trail. When the trail crosses the first stream, you know the worst (best?)of the technical downhill is over. The trail smooths considerably, although it is still possible to eat serious dirt anywhere along this trail! You will cross two more streams then climb a bit back out of the drainage. After just another 1/4 mile of windy, steep, soft dirt, the trail mellows and the smooth, banked single-track that Toads is famous for begins.

Two miles of perfect single-track with just enough windiness to keep you from killing yourself by going too fast. Still, speeds of 20 to 30 MPH are possible! The trail will eventually widen into a dirt road that climbs one last short hill before dumping you out on Fountain Place Rd. Turning left on this paved Forest Service road will take you to Oneidas and, if you made a shuttle, your car. In all, Mr. Toads climbs less than 1200' over 2 miles, yet descends nearly 2500' over 6 miles. For riders in good shape and shuttling a car, the ride takes about 2 hours (plus shuttle time).

Haven't had enough? When you reach the paved road (Fountain Place Rd.), turn right instead of left and head up to the Coral Loop or over to the Powerline Ride!

For riders in very good shape, make Mr. Toads a loop by parking your car at Oneidas, then heading out Pioneer Trail to Highway 50 turning left onto the bike trail. Ride this to South Upper Truckee which is past highway 89 (Luther Pass). This quiet residential road will intersect Highway 89, but head straight across 89 onto another small road. This road ends in the Big Meadow Parking Lot. Pick up the single-track for Toads at the east end of the parking area.

Review: lots of tight downhill turns on singletrack, great practice. if you want to do a full ride, ride up from the lake south of Incline Village and do the Flume Trail. Total climb around 3200 ft and some incredibly scenic views of Lake Tahoe from the Flume. Don't tip over, it may be your last. This is the route the US Xterra finals went over the past 5 or 6 years.

Review: I think this ride is technically in California. the 12 miles of road to get to the rim trial s***ed, but went by quickly. going up the rim trail was tough, from the tracks it looked like most people went down there. lots of rock gardens that were very tough or impossible to climb. going down saxon's was a blast, lots of rocks to jump, and tough rock gardens to challenge yourself on. there's a staircase at the end of saxon's that's pretty fun too. the OHV park portion of toads was fast and flowing. banked turnes cut out by the motorcycles and some good jumps too.

Similar Trail: Mammoth Mountain Resort