Summary:
The foothills of the Pinenut Range have one of the largest collections of singletrack in the area. The Pinenut Classic contains a little bit of everything: twisty rolling singletrack, lung busting climbs, and long screaming descents. Due to the large amount of trails in the area route finding can be a bit difficult so give yourself plenty of time.
Ride Type: Loop
Technical Info:
| Distance: |
14.32 mi. |
Technical Difficulty: |
Easy to Difficult |
Highest Point: |
6,332 ft. |
Aerobic Difficulty: |
Easy to Difficult |
Climbing Elevation: |
2,014 ft. |
Route Finding Difficulty: |
Moderate to Difficult |
Descending Distance: |
7.2 mi. |
Riding Time: |
2 - 3 hours |
How to get there:
• From the Reno/Carson area take I-395 to Gardnerville. From the Tahoe area take hwy 207 (Kingsbury Grade) or hwy 88/89 to the hwy 88/395 junction and turn right onto I - 395. Drive south through town and turn left onto Pinenut road at the stoplight a couple miles past town. There will be a 7-11 at the light. Follow Pinenut for a couple miles and turn left onto Pinenut #2 just before the dump and the fairgrounds. Follow the roughly paved road for about a mile and turn into the first right. There will be a single tree in the parking area. This is the trail head.
Trail Map:
Trail Info:
0 mi. |
From the parking area ride across the paved road to a sandy gully. Go up the gully for about 50 yards and turn left onto the singletrack leading out of the gully |
0.75 mi. |
Turn right onto the road for about 10 yards and turn left onto the singletrack. |
1.72 mi. |
Turn right onto the road and follow it for about .1 miles. |
1.80 mi. |
Turn left onto the second singletrack just past the ditch. Follow the trail across the main Pinenut road. Continue straight up over 2 short steep climbs. |
2.60 mi. |
Continue straight across the road/trail. |
3.13 mi. |
Here you will come to a junction of trails, stay on the rightmost track. |
3.32 mi. |
Make a sharp left onto singletrack heading to the left and back the way you came. Follow the trail through a ravine and stay right after a short climb. Follow the trail back down into the ravine to a short, steep climb. Be careful of other trail users in this area. |
4.94 mi. |
Continue straight across the road. |
6.49 mi. |
After climbing the rocky hill (be sure to enjoy the view) make a left onto a short piece of singletrack. |
6.59 mi. |
Turn left onto the fire road. |
6.68 mi. |
Turn right onto the Mine Hill road. Be ready, this is a grinder! |
7.05 mi. |
Stay left. Watch out for mineshafts in this area. |
7.48 mi. |
Stay right and continue up to the top of the saddle. At the top take the singletrack heading down towards the valley. This is the most technical part of the ride. |
8.05 mi. |
Follow the singletrack down and to the left. |
8.15 mi. |
Turn left onto the fire road. |
8.32 mi. |
Turn left up a fire road (easy to miss) for about 30 feet . Look for the singletrack branching off the road to the right. Take this trail. |
9.58 mi. |
The trail will turn into fire road and branch right towards an open area near the road and left back towards the hills. Take the left hand road (not the singletrack) and follow it up over a small hill. Quads and 4x4's have made the trail hard to follow at the top of the hill, the trail will wind to the right and then back to the left and then cross a fire road. |
9.72 mi. |
Do not follow the singletrack that continues across the fire road. Turn right downn the fire road. |
9.87 mi. |
Turn left onto singletrack. This trail will intersect some roads, just continue on the singletrack heading towards the Sierras. |
11.88 mi. |
Continue straight across the trail. This is the trail that you climbed up about 9 miles ago! |
12.32 mi. |
Turn right onto the new trail. Follow the trail for about 50 feet and turn left onto a trail heading into the ravine. Climb out of the ravine (no one has actually been able to do this!) and turn right then follow the trail back down into another ravine. |
12.56 mi. |
Make the big banked left down into the ravine. Ride though a few feet of sand and turn right onto the singletrack. Several side trails branch off the main trail, just follow the most heavily ridden trail to a fire road. |
13.25 mi. |
Turn right onto the fire road and climb out of the ravine. Turn left onto another fire road above the ravine and follow it back to the car. |
13.72 mi. |
Take either the singletrack branching off to the left or continue on the road. Both will take you back to the parking area. |