Eagle Creek

1. Eagle Creek Loop route

by Gzkd, Friday, April 13, 2012 11:21 AM

I don't recommend riding up the trail, but you can make a great loop out of it. Best suited for strong all mountain type riders, don't do this ride if you are expecting a quick easy uphill followed by a long downhill. After the initial 2000' climb and hike-a bike,in six miles- there will be plenty more climbing throughout the ride. But what goes up must come down, and this ride has some great technical downhill. I suggest an early start so you can make the initial climb when it's cool. Good map reading skills will help for following this route: Drive up HWY 108, about a half hour east of Pinecrest, turn left on Clark Fork Rd. and park down by the Stanislaus River. Ride your bike back up to the highway, turn right and immediately look for a corridor through the trees to the right. That takes you to a road (the old highway). Turn left and climb till you get back to highway 108 again. Turn right on the hwy and go a couple hundred yards, then turn left on a dirt road. Climb up, steeply at times, always staying right at any fork. At roads end, just NE of Double Dome Rock, go basically uphill, and you'll find a faint trail marked with cairns. Hike-a bike up for 10-15 minutes and you'll get to a view point and road (Niagara Rim Jeep Trail). Turn left and follow the Niagara trail "against the arrows" on the signs marking it. After less than a mile of easy riding, take a sharp left and a bit further take a right turn and climb over a small ridge. To the right you might see a granite "jeep play area". Pass a little meadow and shortly, stay left at a fork, still following the Niagara trail, and continue up to "Lion's Butt", another jeep play spot off the left side of the ridge. Take the 2nd set of jeep tracks going off the ridge to the left and you should start dropping over some steep granite slabs. At the bottom of this open area and to the right, look for a faint singletrack with cairns. Follow that, and it gradually becomes an old road that takes you over to Eagle Meadow Road(5N01). Turn left and go 100 yards or so and you'll see a sign "Lower Eagle Meadow Trail". That's the same as "Eagle Creek Trail" Take the trail, or if you need a longer ride and more knar, climb up toward Eagle Pass(9000')first, on the opposite side of the road. If you go that way, you will come to a campground which you will ride through, and you'll find the trail continuing south. I recommend going at least up to the upper end of Eagle Meadow. Anyway, back to the "Eagle Creek Trail": a short ways along is a creek crossing that may get you wet. On the way down the trail, there are three optional bike routes that are more fun, and bypass some funky pieces of trail and two creek crossings. They have been marked with small "bicycles" or "MTB" signs. You will eventually get to a dirt road and shortly after, highway 108. Turn right on the highway, cross the river, and take the first dirt road on the left, with a "no outlet" sign. Pass two cabins, and by a propane tank, look for a faint trail contouring across the slope through ferns. Follow the trail to a short hike up section, and then drop into some granite slickrock. The trail will eventually lead to a bit of a sandy road for the final stretch to Clark Fork Road and your car, just down the road 100 yards or so.