The table
Three Forks Bakery & Brewing
211 Commercial St
Wood-fired pizza and beer out of their own seven-barrel brewhouse. Named for the three forks of the Yuba, one of which you spent the morning above.
Wed–Mon · closed Tuesdays
The invitation
One ride, one town, one long table.
Ski towns worked this out a long time ago: the thing you did all day is only half of it. The other half is everybody sitting down afterwards, still in the wrong clothes, telling it back to each other.
So this one is built backwards from the table. A single trail running west above Highway 20, dropping seventeen hundred feet over fourteen miles and finishing five minutes from dinner. Nothing you need to train for, and e-bikes are allowed on it — which is the point. Nobody gets dropped and nobody has to pretend.
Après-ski, minus the ski.
The day
How it runs.
09:30
Harmony Ridge Market
Meet at the market on Highway 20, five miles above Nevada City. Leave the cars here — this is where the ride comes back to. Coffee inside, and it is the trailhead for about half of Nevada County.
10:15
Shuttle up, then ride home
Six miles further up the highway to White Cloud at 5,195 feet. Turn around, point west, and ride back down to the cars on singletrack the whole way.
Pioneer Trail, westbound
E-bikes allowed14.2 mi
Singletrack
1,723 ft
Descending
244 ft
Climbing
Rated blue — intermediate. Flowing s-turns, a few root patches, optional kickers and berms if you want them. It parallels Highway 20 the entire way, so you are never lost and never committed.
Want less? From the same parking lot, the Hoot loop is about four miles and 450 feet — a flow trail beginners genuinely enjoy. Ride that instead and meet everyone back at the market.
14:00
Ten minutes down the hill
Highway 20 west into Nevada City. It is less a drive than a descent, and it means you are at the table with the light still up and the bikes still on the cars.
16:00
Nevada City
Gaslights, a main street that has not changed much since the 1860s, and enough good rooms to put a group in one. Table booked once I know the count.
Why here
It is a real trail system, and it rides late.
People look after it
This network hosts The Hoot — round one of the California DIRT mountain bike series, held every May on these trails.
It is run by Youth Bicyclists of Nevada County, an all-volunteer nonprofit that puts around 220 local kids on bikes through school clubs. That is why the dirt is in the shape it is in.
It stays open
Everything here sits between 3,700 and 5,200 feet. There is no snow gate to wait on and no high pass to close.
Local riders call November through April the good season — firm dirt, cool air, nobody else out. Which is the opposite of how most mountain riding works, and the reason this one can happen almost any time.
Afterwards
Where we land.
Three blocks, all walkable from each other, all about ten minutes from where the ride ends. First choice is the brewery on Commercial Street.
If we are a crowd
National Exchange Hotel
211 Broad St
Restored 1856 hotel on the main street. Seats up to eighty, and has rooms upstairs if you would rather not drive home.
Dining and rooms
Later on
Golden Era Lounge
309 Broad St
Cocktails, small plates, outdoor seating and live music. Two doors from the hotel, which is the point.
Thu–Sat
One ask
If you are drinking, take a room or take a ride home. It is a short hill back up Highway 20 and it is not worth it.
Bikes
What you need.
E-bike or not
Both work, and that is deliberate. E-bikes are permitted on Pioneer Trail, so the group can be genuinely mixed without anyone waiting at the top.
The ride is a net descent, so even on a pedal bike the day is mostly gravity.
Renting
Tour of Nevada City Bicycle Shop, 457 Sacramento Street, is the shop in town.
They do not publish rental rates, so call ahead rather than turn up hoping — and tell them whether you want a pedal bike or an e-MTB.
Getting there
| Sacramento | 1 h 05 |
| Truckee | 1 h 10 |
| Reno | 1 h 40 |
| Bay Area | 2 h 45 |
When
Let's pick a day.
No fixed date, and unusually for mountain riding, almost no closed season. Tell me which days work and I will call the one that catches the most people.
Through October
Warm, dry and dusty. Start early, finish in the shade, eat outside.
November to April
The good season here, and the reason this ride exists. Firm dirt, cool air, and the trail to ourselves while everything higher up is shut.
After rain
The only real closer. It drains fast — give it a day and go.
Would love to have you there if you can make it.