A tiny town in Northern California is excited to get its first mountain bike trail. Portola, CA, is home to only 2,000 residents, but soon, the locals will have a 14-mile lollipop loop to pedal from their back doors. The new Beckwourth Peak Trail begins directly from downtown in the Portola City Park.
This latest NorCal trail development is yet another project from the prolific Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship (SBTS). The project was first proposed back in 2009, and it took many years of navigating a complex approval process to get shovels into the dirt. But now, after four years of trail construction, this project is nearing completion, with the final mile slated for construction in 2026.
The majority of the trail is currently rideable as an out-and-back, but once riders can circumnavigate the peak in its entirety, this freshly cut gem will truly come into its own.
What will mountain bikers find on the Beckwourth Peak Trail?
The trail climbs straight out of downtown on a consistent grade. The original design called for a target trail grade of not more than 10%, with a maximum of 15% for short pitches. This bike-friendly ascent takes riders from a low point of 4,885 feet to a high point of 6,425 feet, for a net elevation gain of 1,540 feet.
Beckwourth Peak earns a solid blue (intermediate) difficulty rating. The builders worked to keep the trail within that difficulty band for the entire ride. While mountain bikers will find sections of smooth singletrack, there’s also “some rock, some techy stuff, but not crazy,” according to Nicole Formosa, Marketing and Communications Manager for SBTS. While there’s a fair bit of chunk, there aren’t any major drops on the route.
In the middle of the trail, “there’s this really cool tunnel — sort of like a natural arch […] that’s a very cool visual element,” according to Formosa. The current trail passes through the arch, but the SBTS still needs to build a ride-around for equestrians.
Beckwourth Peak is a volcanic formation, and so it stands on its own, towering above the town of Portola. From the upper reaches of the mountain, riders will enjoy spectacular views of the valley below and the rugged Sierras in the distance.
Building an intermediate trail through the terrain “has proven to be very challenging,” said SBTS Trail Boss Henry O’Donnell. As for the remaining mile that’s left to be built, “it appears that the remaining section […] has minimal bedrock to bench through, however, it could be hiding just inches under the dirt, and we won’t know until we continue digging. There are several scree fields to build through that have contained large rock that will have to be split and stacked to construct the tread. There are also two ravine crossings to build through, where we are sure to hit bedrock and will also require dry-stack retaining walls with natural stone on site; these walls will be up to four feet tall and 20 feet long.”
Unlike much of SBTS’s recent work on Mount Hough, Beckwourth Peak is a non-motorized multi-use trail, meaning that e-bikes are not allowed.
“It’s going to bring people to Portola to ride this trail. It’s really going to be a destination.”
Nicole Formosa
Importance to the town of Portola
“Portola has tons of gravel […] but really no singletrack,” said Formosa. “It’s going to bring people to Portola to ride this trail. It’s really going to be a destination.”
To be a true destination, the connection to downtown is critical. Portola already has a pump track in the park where the Beckwourth Peak trail begins, which will now create a “hub of recreation in Portola.”
“Every time I post an update on Beckwourth on our social account, people are just so excited about it,” Formosa continued. “It’s always really good engagement and response, and ‘When’s it opening?’ It’s just an exciting build for that town in particular.”
The SBTS still has a funding gap to close to complete the last mile. To date, the trail has been funded through a variety of sources, including grants and fundraisers. Some money from the Shimano Trail Born Fund was also allocated to Beckwourth Peak.
If you want to help the SBTS get this trail finished, consider donating here.
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