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A great weekday ride.


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Map Key

9.6

Miles

15.4

KM

75%

Singletrack

1,330' 405 m

High

505' 154 m

Low

1,957' 596 m

Up

1,929' 588 m

Down

8%

Avg Grade (4°)

25%

Max Grade (14°)

Dogs Unknown

E-Bikes Not Allowed

Overview

This ride has a tough climb in the beginning and it's very rocky throughout. It's a bit challenging, but the downhill is a great reward.

Need to Know

Equine incline can be done CW or CCW, but it's a bit more difficult CW.

On the weekend the Way Up trail gets pretty busy and you can't go too fast downhill. This is a much better ride on a weekday just for the fact that you can bomb back down to the car as fast as you dare.

Description

Start up The Way Up trail. It's a tough climb and pretty technical, but has a few good areas to catch your breath. When you pass the covered benches you're almost to the top, but the next section is the toughest.

Once at the top, take the first right on the MexCal trail. This will take you down to get setup for the Equine Incline. On this ride I did Equine Incline clockwise, which is the more difficult direction.

After dispensing with the Equine Incline, take the fire road around to the Overlook Loop. There are a few different ways to attack this loop as well. There's another trail that runs along the reservoir that's a little more fun than this one that I will post in a separate post. There's some real tough short climbs on this loop and some fun short downhills, but they all add up to a good tough loop.

Contacts

Shared By:

Doug Seybert Jr

Trail Ratings

  3.5 from 21 votes

#2117

Overall
  3.5 from 21 votes
5 Star
10%
4 Star
43%
3 Star
33%
2 Star
14%
1 Star
0%
Recommended Route Rankings

#265

in California

#2,117

Overall
67 Views Last Month
14,401 Since May 17, 2013
Difficult Difficult

0%
0%
13%
0%
88%
0%

Photos

Looking out to the reservoir and dam. Trails go off to the left and right.
Sep 11, 2014 near Escondido, CA
Several step ups near the top.
Nov 12, 2021 near Escondido, CA
Sloped and rocky section on the south side of the trail.
Nov 12, 2021 near San Marcos, CA
This chunky terrain is certainly more fun on the way down than on the way up.
May 27, 2017 near San Marcos, CA
Heading up to the benches after finishing the Equine Incline loop in the counter-clockwise direction.
Jun 30, 2013 near San Marcos, CA
This is the beginning of the Equine Incline loop running in the clockwise direction.
Jun 30, 2013 near San Marcos, CA
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Weather


Current Trail Conditions

Unknown
Add Your Check-In

Check-Ins

Feb 13, 2024
Greg Potenziani
Jul 21, 2023
Ed McGillicuddy
Mar 9, 2022
Katie Langolf
Jun 29, 2021
Dan 60D5H411
Jul 28, 2020
Chris Mayfield
Jul 2, 2020
Gonzalo Adz
Jun 17, 2020
Morgan Daniel
10mi — 2h 20m
Oct 24, 2019
Jordan Lindberg
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