Mountain Bike

24.0 miles

Distance

991 ft

Climb

-992 ft

Descent

439 ft

High Point

A loop from PQ Canyon, along the beach, and back.

To ride on the sand, only low tide works. If tide isn't low, you can modify by riding on the roads, or trail along the train tracks (which is not legal).

Two potential beer stops noted: Viewpoint Brewery and New English Brewing. Or, if you're wearing Lycra, join the roadies at a coffee shop.

Detailed Description

A PQ Beach Loop is a 24 mile popular easy route located near San Diego California. This mountain bike primary route can be used both directions and has a moderate overall physical rating. This route includes 37 trails. This route climbs 991 ft with a max elevation of 439 ft then descends -992 ft.

Local Trail Association

San Diego Mountain Biking Association (sdmba.com)

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Trails in Route

	PQ Creek Park Access				1,089 ft
	North Side Trail - East				4,278 ft
	Powerline				4,692 ft
	Tunnels Road				1,667 ft
	Switchbacks Rim Fire Road				994 ft
	West Rim				2,251 ft
	Eucalyptus Bypass				738 ft
	Switchbacks				623 ft
	Hurry Home				2,756 ft
	Del Mar Flow Trail				4,144 ft
	Underworld				203 ft
	torrey Pines trail				1 mile
	Lagoon Trail				4,108 ft
	Coast to Crest - Del Mar Fairgrounds - Horse Park				2 miles
	Del Mar Riverpath				2,365 ft
	Beach - Del Mar to Carmel Valley Rd				3 miles
	Old Sorrento Valley Rd				5,174 ft
	North Side Trail - Far West				2,690 ft
	Penasquitos West Side Hill Climb				295 ft
	North Side Trail - Far West				2,513 ft
	North Side Trail - West				968 ft
	Two Bridges				1,391 ft
	North Side Trail - East				1,214 ft
	PQ Creek Park Access				1,089 ft

Route POI

	Viewpoint Brewery	Other
	New English Brewing	Other

Details

Riding area

Los Peñasquitos Canyon
Primary Activity

Mountain Bike
Other Activities
- E-Bike
Difficulty rating

Green
Route Type

Loop
eBike Allowed

Yes
Bike type

AM, XC, CX, Gravel
Direction

Both Directions
Physical rating

Moderate

More Stats for A PQ Beach Loop mountain bike route

Avg time

4 hr 2 min
Altitude min

1 ft
Altitude start

236 ft
Altitude end

233 ft
Grade max

-42.4%
Grade min

34.1%
Distance climb

8 miles
Distance down

8 miles
Distance flat

8 miles

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Trail Conditions

1 Day
1 Week
1 Month
All Time

Unknown
Snow Groomed
Snow Packed
Snow Covered
Snow Cover Partial
Freeze/thaw Cycle
Icy
Prevalent Mud
Wet
Variable
Ideal
Dry
Very Dry

Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)

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> 90%
> 80%
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< 50%
bi-directional trail
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< 1 week
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Trail Ridden Direction

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Trail Popularity ?

Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.

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ATV/ORV/OHV Filter

ATV - 50 inches
OHV, SxS - 60 inches
Jeep - 72 inches

Max Vehicle Width

inches

Ridelog Year

Radar Time

x Activity Recordings

Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.

mountain biking recent
mountain biking (>6 month)
hiking (1 year)
moto (1 year)

Activity Recordings

Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.

Downhill Ski
Backcountry Ski
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Winter Trails

Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.

x Missing Trails

trail	date	description
Tunnels Road	Apr 7, 2025 @ 8:54am Apr 7, 2025
Powerline	Apr 5, 2025 @ 5:39pm Apr 5, 2025	All good
Hurry Home	Mar 29, 2025 @ 10:23am Mar 29, 2025	After every rain the bottom of the trail at the Santa Monica Ridge dirt road the road gets flooded. Very sandy and hard to work your way through with out a little bit of walking.
Two Bridges	Mar 29, 2025 @ 10:23am Mar 29, 2025
Switchbacks	Mar 29, 2025 @ 10:23am Mar 29, 2025	Special thanks to the San Diego Mountain Biking Association and REI for trail maintenance on March 29th on Switchbacks. They trimmed back some of the brush and updated some of the water erosion features.