I'm sure most local riders would agree that Skyline Wilderness Park is one of the few parks in the North Bay with first-class technical singletrack trails. The trail network in this park is not exactly huge (some recent texts state its total trail length as 25 miles) but, with a handful of exceptions, all of the trails here (most of which are deliciously technical singletrack) are open to bikes.

This is not a ride that can be recommended to beginners, unless what they're interested in is taking a close look at what highly technical trail riding is like and they're okay with having to walk much of the route for the sake of that. Many of the trails are full of seriously narrow and rocky sections, drops, steps, steep and loose stretches, and combinations of these. Other than short stretches here and there, this ride is bound to be a source of nothing but frustration to inexperienced riders.

For the same reason, the place might qualify as a hard-core mountain biker heaven, though one with a relatively small selection of trails! And we don't have too many places around the Bay Area for which that can be said. Comparisons with places like Skeggs Point, Annadel, and Soquel Demonstration Forest are inevitable; but even in those places, the technical features of the trails are not as incessant and as tightly packed as they are here, in my opinion.

Skyline Wilderness Park opens at 8:00 AM. Unlike many other parks and open spaces in our area, which can be easily and reasonably entered before their official opening time in the morning, there's no good way of entering this park before it opens, unless you're willing to scale fences blatantly. So, if you're inclined to plan a ride here that will start really early in the morning, you might want to take that into account.

Parking in the park is subject to a fee. As of this writing, the fee for cars carrying mountain bikes is $6. More than four people and more than two bikes per car are subject to additional charges. I didn't see any self-pay system, but the point is moot anyway, since park users aren't exactly encouraged to enter before the opening time.

This ride is my attempt at approximating a typical full loop at Skyline Wilderness, in terms of routing as well as direction. The route is fairly short, which is not that surprising given the size of the trail network. What you can do for a more substantial ride is to either repeat the route multiple times (potentially with variations), or add to it as many side loops as you can.

One part of the loop that is most obviously a candidate for alternate routing is the segment that traverses Lower Skyline Trail, near the beginning. I had picked that as the trail on which to do the initial climb with the hope that, being a seemingly tighter singletrack, at least some parts of it would present some special fun even in the uphill direction. I was mostly wrong; Lower Skyline Trail seemed to me to be a trail best used for a descent (and quite an adrenaline-pumping one at that, in some spots). In the uphill direction, you can save yourself some of the pain by following Buckeye Trail all the way from its beginning, which seems to do a more manageable climb.

There are a handful of points of interest along the ride. There's the chimney and foundation of an old house visible right next to the trail near the southeastern extreme of Skyline Trail. An ancient fig tree (said to be still producing edible fruit) can be found near Lower Marie Creek Trail. And, of course, there is the pretty views presented by Lake Marie, as well as some nice views to Napa Valley and the upper reaches of the Bay opening up from here and there. If you extend your ride to Sugarloaf Peak, you're bound to be treated to even more expansive views. But, clearly, the main attractions here are the technical features of the trails, and you usually won't have time to pay attention to anything else.