Skeggs Point (El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve) is one of the top candidates for the "best mountain biking location" award in the Bay Area, and might just be my personal number one. The park covers a decent-sized area and features lots of trails, many of them first-class singletracks. These trails also range over a decent spectrum of skill levels.

The terrain of the entire park is rugged, hilly, and under forest cover (with the exception of a couple of small patches of chaparral). I remember learning that the park used to be (perhaps unofficially?) a motocross park before becoming what it is today, though I can't find any sources on this anymore. Even before that, it was a logging area. You'll notice this in the names of numerous trails here. Many fire road trails in the park are old logging roads. For the same reason, all of the redwood trees you see in the park are second-growth trees (with at least one notable old-growth exception, marked on the park map).

One issue with Skeggs Point is that it's accessible to the public only via Skyline Boulevard. The park boundary along Skyline is the highest part of the park and the rest of it extends mostly downhill toward the ocean. For this reason, almost all rides at Skeggs are of the "have your fun first while descending, then pay the price while climbing" kind. Not my favorite... But the quality of the trails in the park more than makes up for it, believe me.

The sheer amount of trails here and the lack of long-distance visibility due to the terrain and tree cover mean that it's easy to get lost in this park. Thankfully, virtually all trail intersections are marked, though I'm sure there may be exceptions, and I know of at least one trail junction sign that seems confusing if not downright incorrect. So, if you have a GPS receiver, you might want to use it, at least in cases when your ride here includes trails on which you'll be riding for the first time. Be warned.

This ride starts by descending on El Corte de Madera Creek Trail immediately after entering the park. This starts out as a steep fire road descent. The trail then narrows, and once it crosses to the other side of the creekbed, it becomes a gentle hillside singletrack climb.

At the junction with Resolution Trail, you turn to continue downhill on El Corte de Madera Creek Trail. The part of this trail immediately following the junction is a steeper descent than most, under a low canopy of overgrown brush and small trees, but that's a very short section.

After a point where El Corte de Madera Creek Trail crosses its namesake creek for the second time, a small amount of climbing is followed by North Leaf Trail. This is another great technical singletrack and you continue to be spared from paying the price for your fun descent for now, as you continue mostly flat or slightly downhill. The payback starts when you turn onto Methuselah Trail and start climbing. This is a fire road, though, thankfully, the slope is merciful. But it's still no minor climb.

The route then turns onto Giant Salamander Trail. This is one of the crown-jewel singletrack trails of the park and, perhaps for that reason, has been closed for changes and repairs multiple times over the last few years. As of this writing, the "newly built singletrack" appearance of the trail and a couple of brand-new-looking bridges are hard to miss.

This trail starts out climbing gently, then steps up to a serious climb with humps along the way. Toward its end, it settles into a playful section of tight twists around the trees in an almost-flat wooded section. Most people would actually say that its preferable to ride Giant Salamander in the other (downhill) direction. I would agree. But, for the purposes of this particular route, this is the only way of chaining this pretty trail into this loop. You can try it in the downhill direction on another ride.

At the end of Giant Salamander, you'll find yourself emerging onto the fire road that is Timberview Trail. You'll be climbing this all the way to the beginning of Manzanita Trail. It's a steeper climb than Methuselah, but it's still not bad enough to discourage you. During the climb on Timberview Trail, you'll have a chance to step away from the main route for a very short distance in order to see an old growth redwood that has survived the park's logging decades. You'll notice where it is by the tiny spur of Timberview Trail on the route plot.

Manzanita Trail is another one of the prime singletrack trails of this park. Traversing it in this direction, you'll be doing it uphill. I'm sure most people would say that the "correct" way of riding Manzanita is downhill. I'm of two minds about this. While I agree that riding it downhill is buckets of fun, I also enjoy immensely to climb it. It's one of those climbs that I like because (while being very technical) it's steep enough to be challenging for me without being too steep to handle.

Manzanita Trail will throw at you some switchbacks, some sunshine, deeply rutted trail sections, flowy singletrack, rocky sandstone, nearly impossible rocky trail obstacles that might qualify as triple black diamond, and portions of trail that look more like a creekbed; though not necessarily in that order. This trail is one of the reasons I keep returning to this park! (Manzanita was somewhat sanitized in 2011. The creek-bed-like sections are still there, as well as some of the exposed sandstone features. But the second most technical spot of this trail has now been reduced to an almost unnoticeable trail feature.)

When you reach the multi-way junction at the end of Manzanita Trail, you'll know that your ride is essentially over. After that point, it's less than a mile of fire road riding with very little climbing left before you return to the parking lot.

Be aware that North Leaf Trail, the lower portion of Methuselah (traversed on this ride), and Giant Salamander Trail are subject to seasonal closures. Make sure you check the park's website (whose link is available on your left) for the trail conditions before you plan your ride.

One unfailing tradition I have for rides at Skeggs is a post-ride lunch at Alice's Restaurant. If you're from the nearby area, you're probably already more than familiar with this place. If you're not, you shouldn't miss it. It's at the intersection of Skyline Boulevard and Route 84, about four miles further southeast on Skyline Boulevard from the Skeggs Point parking lot. The food is good, and the setting is even better. The place is almost always overflowing with motorcycle riders who stop here on their pleasure rides along Skyline Boulevard. Some cool and fast cars can also be frequently found there for the same reason.