The first would be to continue into the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge. You have a couple of options for extending this ride substantially. I'm not sure how temporary or permanent that situation is, though. However, at the time I did this ride, there was a sign on what looked like the payment machine that said "out of order - no charge". There is a posted entrance fee for the park of $5 per car. So, if you take my advice about bringing a beginner rider here, you really might want to consider leaving the hill-top segments of this route out of your ride. These can be steep enough to get a true beginner into trouble. And there are matching descents of equivalent slopes as you return to sea level. These are always extremely short, but a few of these exceed the level of ridability by mere mortals, with grades approaching 30% and at least one spot that quite certainly exceeds it. ![]() While climbing is not central to the character of this ride, what little climbing there is includes a surprising amount of very steep stretches, all of which are on Red Hill Trail. Some of the secondary attractions (or, perhaps, "primary", considering that the trails don't provide much in the way of riding satisfaction) are bay-side views in all directions, wildlife and especially bird viewing along the wetlands, a close-up look at a gaping quarry, and a glimpse of a Native American settlement/shellmound. Unexpectedly, there is also a taste of singletrack riding in the mix, for a bit over a quarter mile in distance (Muskrat Trail). The ride traverses mostly a mix of paved paths and smooth dirt roads. This route is my (possibly pointless) attempt at stringing together as much of the bike-legal trails in this park into a single ride route with as little overlap as possible. And, especially if you leave out the hilly bits, the trails at Coyote Hills would constitute an ideal and scenic place to bring beginner riders. ![]() As you can see in the route represented on this page, if you string together enough trail mileage here, you end up with enough total climb for a moderate workout. This is, however, a more-than-decent option for a ride when you're looking for a weekday ride before (or after) work or for an easy ride. You may not think of Coyote Hills Regional Park when you're thinking of serious mountain biking, and you'd be right.
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