Description for Daley Ranch
Daley Ranch in the City of Escondido, covers more than 3000 acres. Daley Ranch has some great mountain biking close to town. The trails are a combination of double track and single track, though mostly double track/fire road. There are some good hill climbs here and not really anything is flat. The riding is tough but I think even a beginner could have fun if they go the right way. Right out of the parking lot you start the climb but don’t let that discourage you, just a good warm up. I recommend heading right out of the parking lot and doing a counterclockwise loop of the park.
Directions to Daley Ranch Trailhead
To get to the Daley Ranch trailhead exit Del Norte Parkway off I-15 in Escondido. Go East about 4 miles until you reach La Honda Rd. Take a left on La Honda. Follow the signs to Lake Dixon from the freeway, Daley Ranch trailhead is at the lake entrance.
Comments/Reviews for Daley Ranch
1. Daley Ranch
by mollystocks, Tuesday, April 28, 2009 8:20 AM
| Overall Review: | 3 of 5 |
| Technical Difficulty: | 2 of 5 |
| Aerobic Difficulty: | 3 of 5 |
Daley Ranch is a great place to stretch your legs and find some fun single track mixed in with the jeep roads. There is lots of climbing which means there is a lot of descending. The route shown is pretty good. A beginner in good shape can ride most of Daley Ranch but there are sections of the trail that will challenge you. Intermediate riders will blast this place and have lots of fun. Watch out for rattle snakes in the summer.
2. Nice run
by ChromeX319, Saturday, July 18, 2009 6:49 PM
| Overall Review: | 3 of 5 |
| Technical Difficulty: | 3 of 5 |
| Aerobic Difficulty: | 4 of 5 |
I'm a total novice and this place made sure I knew that. I didn't get to experience the full loop because I took a "wrong" turn down to the bottom but who cares, the way down was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay fun.... of course I had to climb back up, which took most of my energy, time and strength. It hurt. A lot. I'll be riding this one next week to get the full loop experience. All in all, awesome ride considering there were very few (if any) riders, hikers, or horses to worry about. Although it was quite hot today. That may have been a turn off for many, but not I. Ride it. Love it.
3. North entry via Cougar Pass Rd
by Anonymous, Saturday, May 28, 2011 7:15 AM
| Overall Review: | 4 of 5 |
| Technical Difficulty: | 4 of 5 |
| Aerobic Difficulty: | 3 of 5 |
Go east along Mountain Meadow Road right on Mountain Glen Way to Cougar Pass Road and stay on it as it turns to the unimproved Cougar Pass Road, 0.5 miles south of Alps Way. While the southern main entrance is the main trail head with real bathrooms, the northern trail head entrance, which has bushes and trees, is the MUCH more enjoyable ride. I suggest you download the topo map at the following link. It has all the trail names and which are color coded.
http://www.mountainbikebill.com/images/Trails/DaleyRanch/DaleyRanch-Fair.JPG
The major benefits to the northern start is you can easily exclude the 3 ridiculously steep, rutted, baby head strewn climbs locally referred to as the 3 "B*TCHS". this missed trail is the blue section connecting Bobcat Trail and Cougar Ridge. Truly no positives to this section of 3 hills, unless you are a goat or like hike a bike. As is, you will still get at least one uphill trail labeled "Hidden Springs" - yellow that will give you the opportunity to walk and breath deeply, but why add another 3 such opportunities? Beside the northern route lets you enjoy one of the most scenic trails in the county going first riding up it, but lastly finishing with "Bobcat trail"- red a fantastic single track as a downhill.
So, from the northern trail head (just beyond and not shown) off the north west portion of the above topo download, you will be on the blue trail Cougar Ridge, take the second left which is Bobcat -orange as an uphill, right on Engelmann Oak- green, right on Burnt Mtn -orange, reconnect with Englemann Oak, right Cougar Ridge- blue downhill with some challenging switchbacks and then right on Crest Trail -orange with some even more challenging switchbacks, this will dump you out on a once paved road, go left to the Ranch House, here I like the right (east) side of the Jack Creek Meadow Loop -black there is left cut off not highlighted but shown as a dashed line before JCML loops back south, the dashed trail links t
4. North entry via Cougar Pass Rd
by dajhnsn, Saturday, May 28, 2011 7:18 AM
| Overall Review: | 4 of 5 |
| Technical Difficulty: | 4 of 5 |
| Aerobic Difficulty: | 3 of 5 |
Go east along Mountain Meadow Road right on Mountain Glen Way to Cougar Pass Road and stay on it as it turns into the unimproved Cougar Pass Road. While the southern main entrance is the main trail head with real bathrooms, the northern trail head entrance, which has bushes and trees, is the MUCH more enjoyable ride. I suggest you download the topo map at the following link. It has all the trail names and they are color coded.
http://www.mountainbikebill.com/images/Trails/DaleyRanch/DaleyRanch-Fair.JPG
The major benefits to the northern start is you can easily exclude the 3 ridiculously steep, rutted, baby head strewn climbs locally referred to as the 3 "B*TCHS". this missed trail on the topo is the blue section connecting Bobcat Trail and Cougar Ridge. Truly no positives to this section of 3 hills, unless you are part goat or like hike a biking. As is, you will still get at least one uphill trail labeled "Hidden Springs" - yellow that will give you the opportunity to walk and breath very deeply, but why add another 3 such opportunities? Beside the northern route lets you enjoy one of the most scenic trails in the county first riding up it, and then finishing with "Bobcat trail"- red a fantastic single track as a downhill.
So, from the dirt parking lot and its northern trail head (just beyond and not shown) off the north west portion of the above topo download, you will be on the blue trail Cougar Ridge, take the second left which is Bobcat -orange as an uphill, right on Engelmann Oak- green, right on Burnt Mtn -orange, reconnect with Englemann Oak, right to Cougar Ridge- blue downhill with some challenging switchbacks and then right on Crest Trail -orange with some even more challenging switchbacks, this will dump you out on a once paved road, go left to the Ranch House, here I like the right (east) side of the Jack Creek Meadow Loop -black there is left cut off not highlighted but shown as a dashed line before JCML loops back south, the dashed trail links to Hidden Springs- yellow, which will feature the only hike a bike (at least for me) portion, right on Engelmann Oak- green this time enjoy as a downhill, left on Bobcat- orange again one of the most scenic downhills single tracks completely canopied with oaks, take your right on Cougar Ridge- blue and return to your car.