Sister Elsie Trail

Start off at Haines Canyon Reservoir in Tujunga and ride up Haines Canyon Trail, taking the right fork after the gate. From there, you may opt to start this trail early by entering at the Mount Lukens Bailout looking for a trailhead to the right of the main trail about a mile from the reservoir. Alternatively, you can enter farther up the hill but still not at the top by dropping in near the red and white "road closed" gate.

The actual start of this trail is another two miles or so heading up, northwest of Mt Lukens. That being said, most will use the bottom half to a third of this trail as a downhill section, starting to the right of the first lookout point along the main climb.

From there, ride down the short but steep entry and go to the right at the intersection. Go straight and you'll reach another lookout point after a short climb but you'll have to come back from there. Left may look tempting from the lookout point, but as soon as you pass the parts of the trail visible from the point, it leads you down three ridiculously steep (about 30-35 degrees), slippery, and rocky descents that I would not recommend unless you are extremely confident in your abilities. Should you be insane enough to try it, though, worry not for it merges back with the main trail about 3/4 of a mile down the hill. Just take a left from there and you're back on course.

Should you choose to go right you'll find yourself starting out on a very tricky and steep descent full of obstacles that will test your skills nicely. Early on you'll encounter a left/right fork - pick your poison here; they merge after a few hundred feet. From there things start to mellow out a bit. You'll encounter a right left switchback that has no good line - just keep your weight back and hold on. After this, ride under the fallen tree and on to the easier section of this trail.

After passing the bailout entry you'll find a few fun kicker jumps ranging in size from small to quite large. After the first set of kickers there is a short climb - look out for a valley followed by a sharp right and get your low gears ready for it! After that the jumps get bigger, but still fairly forgiving. From there, climb a short distance again, go right at the fork, and finish off the last quarter mile of this amazing trail.

A word of advice: don't hit the first kicker unless you have a substantial amount of speed - you'll need to clear around twelve feet to avoid landing in rocks. Additionally, be wary of bushes, hidden rocks, and other obstructions as they're everywhere on this trail. Enjoy!