Stanford Rock-TRT Loop

Dogs Off-leash

E-Bikes Allowed

Features Flow · Technical · Views

Stanford Rock is a big, long, sometimes punishing, climb followed by a great technical descent on "old school" singletrack with lots of rocks and steps. The climb is mostly forested with some great views along the second half of the climb. Be sure to stop here and there on the descent on the Tahoe Rim Trail: Tahoe City to PCT/Granite Chief Wilderness/Twin Peaks. There are some amazing views of Twin Peaks and the Pacific Crest, plus epic fields of alpine wildflowers, aspen groves, etc.

Be prepared! Carry tools, pump, tire repair. It's a long hike out to Ward Creek Road. Practice sound risk management, especially your first time down. Have fun!

Note that you can start this ride from the Tahoe Rim trailhead along Ward Creek Blvd, making a shorter version of the loop if you ford the creek and get right on the Stanford Rock Trail. The longer version is mapped here, starting in Ward Creek Park, just off the bike path along Hwy 89 and taking the Ward Creek Trail to Stanford Rock. This makes for a nice easy warm up and dry feet.

Once you hit Stanford Rock Trail, start the climbing! It's much better now than it used to be, thanks to an extensive reroute by TAMBA that bypasses sections of the decommissioned logging road with bike-optimized singletrack.

Just past the first large open meadows, there is a nice view spot overlooking Lake Tahoe, Blackwood Canyon, and into Desolation Wilderness. Check it out and keep climbing! The top of the climb is obvious and has amazing views. You can opt for the summit trail extension, which is a few extra switchbacks topping out on Stanford Rock. From there, prepare for the descent!

A connector trail makes a traverse along the ridgeline to meet the Tahoe Rim Trail. Take a right there and start the long descent toward Ward Creek Road. Everything on the descent is rideable but requires some low-speed rock rolls, picking good lines, and experience with this type of terrain. Look out for lots of steps!

Ride cautiously, check out sections on foot if you aren't sure about the lines. Practice good risk management. The descent is 100% rideable once you see the line. There is no training benefit to an endo on sharp granite! It's a fun but technically challenging descent on an old school trail.

The trail turns into old fire road after the Ward Creek, TRT bridge. Follow the old road downhill until it dumps you off onto Ward Creek Road. It's an easy downhill road burn back to the start, just head toward toward the lake and you'll find your way back.

TAMBA (Tahoe Area Mountain Bike Association) volunteers, in cooperation with the Forest Service, completed a partial reroute of the descent in Fall 2015. "The Corkscrew," an unsustainable fall line downhill trench, was rerouted into sweet flowing singletrack to the TRT intersection (with some rock features and banked turns!). More recently TAMBA completed an extensive reroute of the Stanford Rock Trail, which used to be an oppressively steep and dusty logging road. It's now a bike-optimized trail that flows great in either direction.