A good case-in-point is China Camp State Park, a half hour from San Francisco. It's one of the best bike-legal singletrack networks anywhere and extends for about 15 miles, a continuous bliss-out all the way. At Tamarancho Trails, another nearby riding area, there's even a big sign at the entrance that states, "Bicycles MUST stay on the singletrack!" It actually does mean stay off the fire roads.

Nothing's better than the trail

So let's just get down to it and see what's currently available for visiting hammerheads. Here's my little road-trip scenario for bagging the best California rides in a single two-week period, though realistically you would want to spend a month at the attempt.

Mountain bike trails in California