Up and Around Umunhum from Kennedy

Dogs Unknown

E-Bikes Not Allowed

Features Views

A strenuous but not technically difficult loop route to Mt Umunhum and by Mt Sombroso. This is a good route if you like loop routes and mountain tops and finishing going down.

Be forewarned, this route will probably take longer than you think. Get an early start for winter riding.

Starting at the parking area at the base of the Kennedy Trail, get a warm-up in on the Kennedy and Hicks roads as you pass Guadalupe Reservoir. Enter the park officially at Sierra Azul Parking Lot At Jacques Ridge (note you can start/finish here too but it will mean a climbing finish).

This is where the trail riding begins on the Woods Trail (fire road through the woods). Then turn UP at the Barlow Road trail which is also wide but portions are VERY steep. (An alternative is to have stayed on Umunhum Road from the park gate which would be a bit shorter and less severe steepness but is on the road).

At the junction of Barlow Road Trail, Umunhum Road and Umunhum Trail you have a choice. Umunhum Trail is a wide singletrack climb on dirt. A longer, but somewhat easier climb is to take Mt Umunhum Road as this route suggests. The road option also has stunning views toward the ocean near the top. Either way, you reach the summit with fantastic views of the entire bay region on a clear day.

Now begin your reward and descend Mt Umunhum Trail (entrance below the summit across from the parking lot). It is a long, flowy wide singletrack with woods, hairpins, bridges and more. Be cautious as there are likely to be numerous hikers on this relatively narrow trail and in spots the sight lines are short.

3.5 miles later, you'll come to the three-way junction again and you'll go back down Barlow Road Trail. When you reach Woods Trail again, turn left to proceed toward Mt Sombroso. A shorter but not insignificant climb to the top where you'll connect to the Kennedy Trail. From the time you crest the ridge and see the valley again, consider it 'all downhill from here'. But that's a bit of a lie. The top of Kennedy has a lot of rollercoaster with some climbs more than you can carry from the downhill. But eventually, it will become a long, fast (behave) fire road descent straight back to the parking lot.

Mt Umunhum was once an Air Force base with an advanced radar system. The 'cube' on the summit is a remnant of that use. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount…