2.2 miles

Distance

27 ft

Climb

-768 ft

Descent

00:18:49

Avg time

Details

Activities
- Mountain Bike
- E-Bike
- Horse
- Hike
- Trail Running
Riding Area

Sawtooth
Truckee, California
Ref Number

#16E85
Difficulty Rating

Black Diamond rate
Voted Difficulty

Black Diamond (3 votes)
Hiking SAC Scale

T2 Mountain Hiking
Trail Type

Singletrack
Bike Type

DH, AM
Direction

Both Directions
Popular direction shown
Climb Difficulty

Double Black Diamond
Physical Rating

Hard
Trail Visibility

Always easy to follow
Dogs Allowed

Yes
eBike Allowed

Yes up to Class 1
TTFs on Trail

Berm, Drop, Jump, Gap Jump, Rock Face, Rock Garden
Global Ranking
#3681 in Mountain Biking [+]
- #1575 in E-Biking
- #34064 in Trail Running
- #28299 in Hiking
- #687 in Horseback
Local Popularity
95 in Mountain Biking [+]
- 95 in E-Biking
- 40 in Trail Running
- 55 in Hiking
- 100 in Horseback

Upper section of Big Chief Trail - if you enjoyed the features of the lower section but were hoping for a bit more momentum, you will love this section. The upper section is more difficult than the lower, with a handful of mandatory technical sections approaching double-black difficulty.

The Truckee Trails Foundation worked with the USFS and Northstar California on a 7-mile non-motorized trail connecting the southern tip of the Sawtooth Trail up to Watson Lake and the Tahoe Rim Trail. Construction was completed in fall of 2018. A huge thanks to the National Forest Foundation and REI for making this possible

Local Trail Association

Truckee Trails Foundation
Please consider joining or donating to the local trail association to support
trail development & maintenance.
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Traditionally Indigenous Territory

Wašišiw Ɂítdeh (Washoe)

More Stats for Big Chief Trail (Upper Section) mountain bike trail trail

Altitude change

-742 ft
Altitude min

7,109 ft
Altitude max

7,860 ft
Altitude start

7,853 ft
Altitude end

7,110 ft
Grade

-6.4%
Grade max

-27.6%
Grade min

8.1%
Distance climb

1,037 ft
Distance down

2 miles
Distance flat

302 ft
Avg time

00:18:49
Avg reverse time

00:45:21
view trail stats

Status:

on Oct 1, 2022

Ideal

Avg: 4.65 (24 votes)

Your vote: 0

view (1,698)

Directions to big-chief-trail-upper-section trailhead (39.229500, -120.145840)

update trails status or condition

Big Chief Trail... Trail Reports

status	date	description
	Oct 1, 2022 @ 10:02pm Oct 1, 2022
	Sep 30, 2022 @ 10:07am Sep 30, 2022
	Aug 13, 2022 @ 10:07am Aug 13, 2022	Best I've ever felt the dirt on Big Chief!
	Jun 6, 2022 @ 1:54pm Jun 6, 2022	No snow, all clear, perfect conditions. Thanks to everyone who takes care of this trail.
	May 24, 2022 @ 8:01pm May 24, 2022	TTF crew - all downed trees on upper section have been cleared. 2nd gate on 06 still closed. Fiberboard gate at Brockway summit open.

view all reports »

Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

Past Week

0 rides

6 Months

61 rides
19 miles avg distance

All

1,494 rides
Last: Oct 2, 2022

Technical Trail Features (TTF)

Rock Gap
Rock Garden
Snake Pit
Rock Garden

Photos

60 |

Aug 21, 2022 @ 4:44pm

Aug 21, 2022

125 |

Jun 23, 2021 @ 9:39pm

Jun 23, 2021

128 |

May 30, 2021 @ 8:00pm

May 30, 2021

144 |

Jan 1, 2021 @ 6:49pm

Jan 1, 2021

Routes with this trail

title	distance
Dieter And Dave's	15 miles
Tahoe rim trail	33 miles
Split the Wood to become Big Chief to put on the Happy Face	26 miles
Big Chief Black and Blue	15 miles

Trail Products

Adventure Maps: Lake Tahoe Basin
Map

14 Reviews & Comments

Score Time Post Comment

Starfruitrocket (Oct 1, 2022 at 22:01)

1st half is super fun. 2nd half I walked 5 times due to nutty features. Fell twice in narrow spots after nutty features. Cut up right leg. Pulled left quad. Good to try once but not recommended or fun if you rarely ride epic Tahoe trails.

[Reply]

SantaRosa13

(Jun 29, 2022 at 23:09)

This section is totally different than the rest of the lower parts. Lots of technical lines that will get a lot of people off their bikes. Tricky drops, big rock rolls and no go arounds.

[Reply]

Dcbshred (Jun 16, 2022 at 0:15)

Fun trail. Has some tech, jumps, and berms

[Reply]

Ttruts (Aug 2, 2021 at 16:14)

Awesome downhill ripper, loose and fast. Has the flow and the grade that the lower section doesn't

[Reply]

CoachTWM

(Oct 10, 2020 at 10:42)

This is one of the outlier trails for this region...while most trend toward XC Upper Big Chief is pure rip-roaring fun! It’s worth pedaling your long travel bike to the trailhead just so you can get the most out of the trail.

[Reply]

ashort

(Oct 7, 2020 at 19:49)

Such a fun trail. Lots of tech/chunky sections and small drops.

[Reply]

tahoe-mic

(Jul 3, 2020 at 10:08)

Fun trail, good flow, some really cool sections and a view to die for. Great condition.

[Reply]

whoisadam (Aug 14, 2019 at 15:31)

Upper chief was amazing, good grade so not too pedally, fun rock obstacles, drops, very entertaining. The lower half for my taste was alright, there were some brilliant sections on the (lower section) but as a whole a bit too pedally for my taste and just lots of loose rocks and shell that you pedal through. Definitely worth a go, they put a lot of work into this trail.

[Reply]

Mockg

(Jun 26, 2019 at 0:12)

This trail wouldn't be fun to ride up, and impossible to in some sections - best to take the road around. You'll be happy going downhill though, unless you're still a bit green as this trail is fast and loose.

[Reply]

douglasdevore (Jun 21, 2019 at 21:19)

Rode it today. Almost completely snow free except for one small section. A couple a large downed trees as well. Otherwise the ride was excellent!

[Reply]

Matiasek

(Jun 21, 2019 at 13:32)

Anyone know if this is snow free yet? Thanks!

[Reply]

sammybikes916

MLTS (Jun 21, 2019 at 18:05)

all intel I've heard is that it's good to go. heading up on Sunday if you want to join.

[Reply]

WillieB

(Nov 14, 2018 at 10:55)

I would argue that this trail should be broken into two sections, as the difficulty and feel of each is not the same. The upper portion above the road is rolling and relatively mellow -it feels more like a connector, while the lower bit (middle big chief) is quite technical and loaded with gnarly rocks.

[Reply]

gasman1

(Nov 2, 2018 at 18:09)

this section will be really nice next spring. loose and dusty now. Really well built. nice rock work, a few little jumps, couple of scetchy rock drops mid trail though, beware!