The track below shows two routes linking Oaxaca and the charming hill town of San Agustin Etla. The outbound route, which uses the unfinished highway of the Libramiento Norte and a patchwork of back roads, is certainly the more scenic and charming – as well as the more difficult option. The return to Oaxaca, by contrast, follows main roads which are much more crowded and less attractive, but have the virtue of being much more level. The rider is certainly entitled to ride the loop in either direction, or to choose either leg as an out-and-back ride. Any way you slice it, this is a significant urban ride, amounting to 31+ miles (45+ km).
Category: Foothills
Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Uncategorized
Outing – 2013-02-04 Ride (aka Great White Force from the Great White North)
by Deron • • 0 Comments
I went over to Etla to ride with a MountainBikeOaxaca.com tour today. Geoff and Glen(n) were in town visiting and deciding to go out with Carlos for a sampling of Oaxaca singletrack.
D, G, G on the trail
Foothills, GPS, Hiking, Mountains, MTBing, Ride Routes
San Pablo Etla Mountain Park – Loop 3
by Larry • • 0 Comments
There is an abundance of trails in the hills above San Pablo that are suitable for mountain biking. Here is another loop ride that is a variation on the theme established earlier with Loop 1 and Loop 2. The starting point and access routes are the same, but the lollipop loop that is the heart of this ride is different.
The biker attempting this ride will clock 9.1 miles (14.6 km) and find him or herself climbing and then descending a total of 2164 feet (650 meters) on mostly singletrack trail that winds through forested hillsides, often on rocky tread. The hardest climb, though, is on a dirt road that leads to the parking lot and community building at the new Mountain Park above San Pablo. After that, the grade of the singletrack trail is more moderate.
Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Outing, Trail Work
Scouting for an Etla to SFdA Connector
by Deron • • 3 Comments
After a short Thursday Morning No-Drop Group Ride with Larry and Judah, Carlos and I headed up Trail HFR to check on the post-rainy-season condition of Trail BK and to scout for possible singletrack trails to connect over to the trails Carlos and his amigos have built in the Etla hills. Our ride/scout GPS data is in grey, other trails and scouting efforts in the Viguera valley area are also included. In short, we didn’t find a way that gets us far enough north, but we were please to find Trail BK in such good condition and to be reminded how interesting and fun that trail is. We’re going to pursue pushing it on to the north and thus provide a bi-directional rideable route of singletrack. Care to help us?
To better examine these map items, instead of displaying a small map here, please load the map data in GoogleMaps (opens in a new window)
Here is the GPX file.
Here is the KML/KMZ version.
Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Outing, Photos
San Felipe – East Side Loop
by Larry • • 0 Comments
This is the second and more difficult loop ride utilizing various elements of the trail network in the hills above San Felipe del Agua. Our purpose here is to illustrate how a great ride can be had by stringing together some of the smaller trail segments described in the “Trails” page of this web site.
The paved (but never completed) road called the “Libramiento Norte” (LNR) is the main access to the entire trail complex. The jeep road labeled “Toro, Toro, Toro” (TTT for short) is the principal dirt trail leading up and into the trail network. The singletrack trail we call “High Flyer Ridge” (HFR) leads to the many steep, downhill-specific trails that plunge down into the forest from the ridge. Finally, it should be noted that none of these trails are in “Benito Juarez National Park,” which is located higher up the mountainside and may be closed due to an ongoing land dispute.
This loop, which stays in the forest on the east side of the Libramiento, offers a terrific ride – with lots of elevation gain, challenging runs through thick forest, technical, rock-strewn descents and several scenic overlooks. The loop covers 9.8 miles (15.8 km) and accumulates a total of 2482 feet (765.5 meters) of elevation gain & loss. The highest point on the trail tops out at 6906 feet (2105 meters). This outing is rated “Difficult” because of the terrain. Expect to complete the ride in from 2.5 to 4.0 hours, depending on the level of your strength, skill and stamina.
If you want to reference this loop with the trail segments listed on the “Trails” page of this web site, you will want to connect the following sections: (start) LBR to LNR to TTT to R to LNR to HFR to Ma to (unnamed) to M to LNR to LBR (finish).
