27.5 miles
Distance
3,231 ft
Climb
-8,831 ft
Descent
2 miles
High Point

June-September Eastern Sierra Transit offers a shuttle for $5 from Bishop to South Lake: https://www.estransit.com/routes-schedule/community-routes/bishop-creek-shuttle/

And they take bikes There are several routes you could take back to Bishop, but this one makes for a good full day adventure, with the best singletrack, and still getting plenty of exercise.

Start out riding out of the trailhead, and onto Parchers. The rocks here are intense, and this is probably the hardest part of the ride. So you can skip it by riding down South Lake Road if you need to.

Left when you come out at the pack station, then right on what looks like a driveway for the cabins. Come out at Willow Campground, and push up the faint trail to the right to hit the Powerline Trail. This drops out steeply onto the road, then take your next right, to find some more faint singletrack. This puts you out on a dirt road, which you can take for a while, before getting to South Lake Road, which you take for a bit down to Habegger Lane.

Right on Habegger Lane (property owners here have been cool with bikes and hikers historically) and start the big climb. Gets steeper toward the top, and will likely require some pushing.

Once you start dropping down the other side, a left turn past some wooden road blocks puts you on a steep climb, and then drop you on some funner doubletrack. Turn left when you come out.

Right on 32E303, climb up, and keep an eye out for a left on 32E305. This road makes a left at an unmarked intersection to go through a pass, and then drops down, turning into singletrack through some aspens.

Turn right when you come out on the road, and look for a very faint trail off to the left. Take the Waganobe Trail all the way down. Once you come out of the trailhead, keep an eye out for a bit more fun, undesignated riding down below.

Detailed Description
South Lake Shuttle is a 27 mile popular expert route located near Bishop California. This mountain bike only route can be used one direction and has a hard overall physical rating. This route includes 3 trails. This route climbs 3,231 ft with a max elevation of 11,076 ft then descends -8,831 ft.
Local Trail Association
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Sierra Forever (sierraforever.org)
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13 Reviews & Comments


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Trails in Route

Details

  • Riding area
  • Primary Activity
    Mountain Bike
  • Difficulty rating
    Black Diamond
  • Route Type
    Shuttled
  • Bike type
    AM, XC
  • Direction
    One Direction
  • Physical rating
    Hard
  • Ridelogs
    2
More Stats for South Lake Shuttle mountain bike route
  • Avg time
    7 hr 41 min
  • Altitude change
    -5,602 ft
  • Altitude min
    4,237 ft
  • Altitude start
    9,839 ft
  • Altitude end
    4,239 ft
  • Grade
    -3.9%
  • Grade max
    -67.7%
  • Grade min
    56.8%
  • Distance climb
    7 miles
  • Distance down
    19 miles
  • Distance flat
    2 miles
Avg: 5 (1 votes)
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South Lake to Tungstens | 6,000 ft of descending
South Lake to Tungstens | 6,000 ft of descending
3:12 | 715 | comments: 0 | favs:
Nov 10, 2018
Mtn Bike | Druids Trail | Bishop, CA
Mtn Bike | Druids Trail | Bishop, CA
5:16 | 1254 | comments: 0 | favs:
Oct 24, 2018

Recent Trail Reports Along Route

statustraildateconditiondescription
Waganobe Trail (druids)
Jul 3, 2023 @ 7:38pm
Jul 3, 2023
The upper section, around 8200 feet, is completely overgrown and the trail is unrecognizable. It looks like a creek has taken over part of the trail as well. I don't recommend riding this in the present state. The lower sections would be fun, if there was another way to access them.
Rainbow Pack Station
Aug 23, 2020 @ 9:13am
Aug 23, 2020
Habegger
Aug 23, 2020 @ 9:13am
Aug 23, 2020
more reports »
  • By rickinloTF Pro & contributors
  • #8297 - 2,346 views