New Bike Trails New trails add to your outdoor biking adventure
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icyclists, hikers and horseback riders may be pleased to know two new trails have been built along the Bizz Johnson
Trail. The South Side Trail will provide mountain bike enthusiasts with looped trail experience, where they ride up one way and return another route, set among spectacular scenery in the Susan River Canyon. The trail is a new four-mile trail developed by the Bureau of Land Management in 2012 that extends from the Hobo Camp trailhead on the Bizz Johnson Trail west upstream and south of the Susan River to the east tunnel on the Bizz Johnson Trail. BLM’s Diamond Mountain Hot Shot Fire Crew and Calfire’s Antelope Camp fire crews did an outstanding job in building approximately 1.5 miles of a scenic new single-track trail that combines with 2.5 miles of existing dirt road to make a delightful new four-mile trail within the Susan River Canyon. In 2013 BLM plans to extend the trail three more miles to the Devil’s Corral area as fire crews and volunteers are available. For the first two miles west of the Hobo Camp trailhead on the Bizz Johnson Trail, South Side Trail follows an existing old dirt road that still looks and feels like a road. The road/trail follows a mostly level bench on top of a basalt bluff within the Susan River Canyon affording different perspectives of the Susan River Canyon than are seen from the Bizz Johnson Trail. The old road’s dirt surface is well suited for walking, running, mountain biking and horseback riding (the Susan River Canyon is managed for nonmotorized uses). Beyond two miles the old road grade descends to river level and has become overgrown. At this point, South Side Trail truly becomes a trail as it follows a narrow path cleared along the overgrown road. Approximately three miles west of Hobo Camp, a new single-track trail was built within a very scenic portion of the canyon for almost a mile. The new trail then climbs up onto a level bench within the canyon and again follows old logging roads for another quarter mile to the east tunnel of the Bizz Johnson Trail where a single-track connector trail provides linkage back to the Bizz Johnson Trail. Two connector trails provide options for looped trail experiences between the new
New bike trails along the Bizz Johnson Trail provide spectacular views of the Susan River Canyon. Photo submitted
South Side Trail and the Bizz Johnson Trail within the Susan River Canyon. Now, rather than just traveling up and back on the Bizz Johnson Trail or the South Side Trail you can combine the two trails and enjoy fourand eight-mile trail loops using both trails. The first connector trail is located directly west of and upstream from the third railroad/trail bridge on the Bizz Johnson Trail. Cross the bridge going west upstream, turn left and follow a narrow single track trail that climbs southeast back toward Susanville for a quarter mile where it joins South Side Trail, the old road you can then follow back to the Hobo Camp trailhead on the Bizz Johnson Trail. The second connector trail leaves South Side Trail in the woods above the east railroad tunnel on the Bizz Johnson Trail. It traverses across the east end of the tunnel and descends to the bypass trail around the east tunnel which then leads you back to the Bizz Johnson Trail. The most scenic segment of the South Side Trail is approximately three miles west of Hobo Camp where a new single track trail was constructed to provide an alternative to the old road that climbs steeply up a half-mile grade and over a rocky ridge before descending back to a more gradual alignment near the east railroad tunnel on the Bizz Johnson Trail. The new single-track trail within the canyon is .9 miles long and provides a more gradual trail grade than the old road and follows a very scenic route adjacent to the Susan River. This new trail segment traverses along a steep side slope within the canyon,
Lassen County Visitors Guide 2013-14
below basalt rims, past large old growth Douglas fir trees, across large rocky talus slopes and in places traverses steep slopes with dramatic drops to the Susan River. The new single track trail (18 feet to 36 feet wide) is well suited for walking, running and mountain biking, however there are a few short steep grades on this trail, too. Horseback riders should use caution on this new trail because it is narrow, traverses some steep slopes and there are few places to pass other horseback riders. If riders feel the single track trail is too narrow and side slopes are too steep, an alternate route is to continue on the old road and take your time working up the steep half-mile climb to the scenic overlook within the canyon, then descend back down the road to a level area near the tunnels where you can connect with the Bizz Johnson Trail. Along South Side Trail the Susan River can be reached to provide water for dogs and stock between two and three miles west of Hobo Camp and near the east tunnel. For moving helmet cam views from along the new single track trail segment of South Side Trail within the Susan River Canyon, watch: youtube.com/watch?v=KKRjae6rMr8&feature =plcp. South Side Trail description provided by Stan Bales, outdoor recreation planner, Eagle Lake Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, 2950 Riverside Drive, Susanville, CA 96130. For questions about the trail, contact BLM at (530) 257-0456. ❖
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