El Corte De Madera - #ElCorteDeMadera

Test - San Mateo County - Woodside/San Mateo NickNames: #ElCorteDeMadera

There are two good ways to get to Skeggs Point:

1. From the junction of I-280 and highway 92 travel west on 92 to Skyline Blvd.(hwy 35) - take a left and follow Skyline south for about 8 miles to the Skegg's Point parking lot on the left (you can't turn left into the parking lot. continue along Skyline and make a U-turn). Mind the 50mph speed limit, because the Sheriffs are very active up here during spring and summer.

2. From the junction of 280 and Sand Hill Rd, take Sand hill west towards the coast, make a right on Portola Rd, jog L at the fork in the road, and make a hard left onto Woodside Rd (hwy. 84). Take this to four corners, make right on Skyline (hwy. 35) and park at Skeggs Point.

Thomas Guide page: 809 B4

8 Review(s)Login

• Trail UpdateMostly Open-Mercifully, Skeggs is mostly open again. The west-side trails are still closed (both leafs, salamander and lower methuseleh), but the majority of the OSP is open. Check out the MROSD website for details (www.openspace.org).

  Did the Fir Trail DH for the first time about a week ago. Taken at speed, this trail is hot sex... air, ruts, and steep terrain - although you pay for it, as the climb back out Methuselah is long, steep and dumb. Fir is apparently under threat of closure, presumaby for erosion control reasons, which is a pretty sad excuse. Fir trail is steeper than your average ECdM trail, but from the map Fir doesn't appear to drain into any streams, making the call to close it based on silt runoff questionable. ROMP is vocally against the efforts by MROSD to close Fir, so if you feel stongly about keeping this trail open, get involved.

  Resolution ST is a fun little climb from ECdM creek trail to Fir trail- check out the remains of the DC6 wreckage at one of the switchbacks... 19 people died here in October of 1953 on an ill-fated flight from Hawaii to SF. The plane was named the 'resolution' giving the trail its namesake. Very creepy.

  Crosscut between Timberview and Gordon Mill FR is closed permanently. You can read about it at the ROMP website- apparently the trail was too steep for sustained use and dumps lots of sediment
  into the nearby stream. A fix is in the works, since this was the only really good mid-park access point between Blue Blossom/Steam Donkey and the west half of the park.

  Get out there, and be the ball.

  El Santo riding a Bullit from Gnor*cal

  Posted:01/24/2005

• Trail UpdateMostly Open-Mercifully, Skeggs is mostly open again. The west-side trails are still closed (both leafs, salamander and lower methuseleh), but the majority of the OSP is open. Check out the MROSD website for details (www.openspace.org).

  Did the Fir Trail DH for the first time about a week ago. Taken at speed, this trail is hot sex... air, ruts, and steep terrain - although you pay for it, as the climb back out Methuselah is long, steep and dumb. Fir is apparently under threat of closure, presumaby for erosion control reasons, which is a pretty sad excuse. Fir trail is steeper than your average ECdM trail, but from the map Fir doesn't appear to drain into any streams, making the call to close it based on silt runoff questionable. ROMP is vocally against the efforts by MROSD to close Fir, so if you feel stongly about keeping this trail open, get involved.

  Resolution ST is a fun little climb from ECdM creek trail to Fir trail- check out the remains of the DC6 wreckage at one of the switchbacks... 19 people died here in October of 1953 on an ill-fated flight from Hawaii to SF. The plane was named the 'resolution' giving the trail its namesake. Very creepy.

  Crosscut between Timberview and Gordon Mill FR is closed permanently. You can read about it at the ROMP website- apparently the trail was too steep for sustained use and dumps lots of sediment
  into the nearby stream. A fix is in the works, since this was the only really good mid-park access point between Blue Blossom/Steam Donkey and the west half of the park.

  Get out there, and be the ball.

  El Santo riding a Bullit from Gnor*cal

  Posted:01/24/2005

• Trail UpdateSeasonal Closure-

  Closed until January.

  Fock.
  El Santo riding a Bullit from Gnor*cal

  Posted:11/30/2004

• Trail UpdateSeasonal Closure-

  Closed until January.

  Fock.
  El Santo riding a Bullit from Gnor*cal

  Posted:11/30/2004

• Trail UpdateSince Money$hizzle and I have our own message board here, I'll just keep posting my rides. Maybe eventually the three lurkers on the site who *aren't* from Socal will chime in and help produce a productive board.

  Park at CM03 on Skyline, go through the gate, make a left and ride the fireroad to CM04 (this saves riding on paved skyline for longer than is necessary). After the gate, continue right on paved Skyline until you reach the next gate on the right, which is the entrance to Steam Donkey. Drop the seat and rip down SD- there are two short *very* steep climbs that materialize out of nowhere. These are hard. I have yet to clean the second one.

  About 3/4 of the way down, Steam Donkey intersects Gordon Mill FR breifly- you can go straight on Gordon Mill, but you'd miss the last section of SD, which you don't want to miss. Take the left at Steam Donkey (it is signed), and try to hit the cut-out log with lots of speed. It is unusual to have as many possibilities for air on an XC ride.

  Make a right on Gordon Mill, and climb back up to CM03. Right before the gate, take the Sierra Morena singletrack on the left side of the fireroad. Take the "alternate route" for the climb, but take the other b-line route when you return the other direction later. Ride this past the CM02 parking lot, and continue until you hit Fir trail fireroad.

  Make a right on Fir, which will become paved and steep for a short section, and make a quick 170° left before the gate onto Tafoni FR. Descend Tafoni until the first junction- El Corte de Madera Creek ST.

  Fly down ECDM ST to the creek (you will have to negotiate a recently-downed tree, but other than that it is a crazy-fast ST descent), and begin the low-tech, very scenic climb up to the junction of ECDM ST/Tafoni FR. Make a left on Tafoni, and suffer up the climbs- they are steep and painful for about a quarter mile or so, and then get more reasonable. Take Tafoni back to Sierra Morena, make a right, and ride Sierra Morena back to CM03 where you parked.

  This isn't a super-gnarly ride, but is a good aerobic workout dropped into a very beautiful setting with options for side action. Steam Donkey is one of the best decents I have found in ECDM- it is a little rutted in parts, but is a tight ST that weaves through redwood stands, and requres skill to flow at speed. The ECDM Creek ST is phenomenally beautiful.

  Be the ball.

  Ride rating: Advanced
  Ride distance: ~10 or so Elevation change: maybe 2k
  Singletrack=30 (but all descents are ST!)% Dirt Road=68- climbing% Paved Path=2 (skyline)%
  El Santo riding a a squishy trail bike from San Mateo

  Posted:10/15/2004

• Trail UpdateSince Money$hizzle and I have our own message board here, I'll just keep posting my rides. Maybe eventually the three lurkers on the site who *aren't* from Socal will chime in and help produce a productive board.

  Park at CM03 on Skyline, go through the gate, make a left and ride the fireroad to CM04 (this saves riding on paved skyline for longer than is necessary). After the gate, continue right on paved Skyline until you reach the next gate on the right, which is the entrance to Steam Donkey. Drop the seat and rip down SD- there are two short *very* steep climbs that materialize out of nowhere. These are hard. I have yet to clean the second one.

  About 3/4 of the way down, Steam Donkey intersects Gordon Mill FR breifly- you can go straight on Gordon Mill, but you'd miss the last section of SD, which you don't want to miss. Take the left at Steam Donkey (it is signed), and try to hit the cut-out log with lots of speed. It is unusual to have as many possibilities for air on an XC ride.

  Make a right on Gordon Mill, and climb back up to CM03. Right before the gate, take the Sierra Morena singletrack on the left side of the fireroad. Take the "alternate route" for the climb, but take the other b-line route when you return the other direction later. Ride this past the CM02 parking lot, and continue until you hit Fir trail fireroad.

  Make a right on Fir, which will become paved and steep for a short section, and make a quick 170° left before the gate onto Tafoni FR. Descend Tafoni until the first junction- El Corte de Madera Creek ST.

  Fly down ECDM ST to the creek (you will have to negotiate a recently-downed tree, but other than that it is a crazy-fast ST descent), and begin the low-tech, very scenic climb up to the junction of ECDM ST/Tafoni FR. Make a left on Tafoni, and suffer up the climbs- they are steep and painful for about a quarter mile or so, and then get more reasonable. Take Tafoni back to Sierra Morena, make a right, and ride Sierra Morena back to CM03 where you parked.

  This isn't a super-gnarly ride, but is a good aerobic workout dropped into a very beautiful setting with options for side action. Steam Donkey is one of the best decents I have found in ECDM- it is a little rutted in parts, but is a tight ST that weaves through redwood stands, and requres skill to flow at speed. The ECDM Creek ST is phenomenally beautiful.

  Be the ball.

  Ride rating: Advanced
  Ride distance: ~10 or so Elevation change: maybe 2k
  Singletrack=30 (but all descents are ST!)% Dirt Road=68- climbing% Paved Path=2 (skyline)%
  El Santo riding a a squishy trail bike from San Mateo

  Posted:10/15/2004

• Trail UpdateEl Corte De Madera Open Space-El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve has many steep and technically challenging trails. This is not a good place for inexperienced riders. It is a large, rugged, heavily-forested preserve.

  Posted:07/17/1999

• Trail UpdateEl Corte De Madera Open Space-El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve has many steep and technically challenging trails. This is not a good place for inexperienced riders. It is a large, rugged, heavily-forested preserve.

  Posted:07/17/1999