Quail Creek Overlook aka: Scout trail system
This trail will test your technical competence and ability to put the bike where you want it to be. Located on the southwestern side and along the top of a sawtoothed anticline southeast of Quail creek reserviour, the Overlook side of the system is an interconnected series of technical loops of increasing difficulity as the trails move towards the northern end of the anticline. A boy scout theme is reflected in the trail names, but the increasing level of responsibility in the cub/boy/varsity/adventure does not completely corespond to the skill set required for the individual trails.
From the Overlook parking the options are either uphill technical to the ridge, or uphill technical along the slope, and either way the riding is physical and chunky. There are few sections with any sense of flow, and it seems more like a fight against the terrain than any sort of cooperative endeavor. It is possible to put together several loops of reasonable riding and the views of the lake and distant pine valley mountains are stunning, but it is also easy to wish that the riding itself offered a bit more variety.
Trail head:
Google map link
The Overlook parking area offers room for about 5 cars, and as this trail system is on few riders tick list that should be enough for many years to come.
Difficulity: Advanced to expert
Kid Friendly: No
Dog Friendly: Yes
Wet Weather ride: Yes
% Singletrack: 100%
Quality (1-5 stars) **
Season: This trail is ridable on any week of the year, with an early start in the summer and late afternoons in the winter you can wear the same clothes.
Wildlife and Soils: With the southern orientation encounters with rattlesnakes would be possible in the early morning during the warmer weather months. The shinarump layer that the overlook trails run over are good surfaces to ride during wet condtions and offer a durable surface unlikely to be damaged when wet.
Riding on the Boy scout trail above Quail Lake dam