For years, our favorite trails within a 2 hr drive from home were Kettle Moraine. Of course, driving time depended on traffic. Fast forward to 2011 and living in Orange County. Sure, we have traffic, but 2 hrs takes us from 50 feet above sea level to 7,000 feet. Yes, that takes some getting used to, but it’s true. The advantage to Kettle Moraine is that it has trails that I’ve grown up with and that I know by the back of my hand (my parents taught me to XC ski there when I was 3 years old).

OK, let’s talk Big Bear. Not quite the singletrack haven as Kettle, but you can’t get the views and elevation gain that you do at Big Bear. Rose and I had colds during the past week, but wanted to get to Big Bear before we got snow. We had planned a full weekend, but decided to drive up for the day. The coolest thing is that you can take a chair lift (cheap) to the top of Snow Summit and ride down.

Most of the trails (like the Grandview Loop) are OK for kids and folks with front suspension only bikes. There are a few steep sections where we saw a couple crashes. If you have been MTBing before, it’s not that bad. Rose only did one loop, but I wanted to try some of the newer singletrack. I ended up getting lost with a few other riders, but had a great time. It turns out that the newer singletrack at Pine Knot is more suited for “experts”, but most of it is similar to Kettle Moraine.

Rose and I can’t wait to go back for a longer weekend. We just need to make it before it snows!