4,059 ft
Distance
35 ft
Climb
-418 ft
Descent
00:06:46
Avg time

Mesa Trail Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
  • Riding Area
    Cowles Mountain
    San Diego, California
  • Difficulty Rating
    Blue rate
  • Voted Difficulty
    Blue (1 vote)
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Bike Type
    DH, AM
  • Trail Usage
    Biking Primary
  • Direction
    Both Directions
  • Climb Difficulty
    Blue
  • Physical Rating
    Moderate
  • Season
    It's San Diego, you'll be fine.
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • TTFs on Trail
    Berm
  • Ride in Rain
    Yes
  • Global Ranking
    #13762 in Mountain Biking
  • Local Popularity
    55 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 70 in Trail Running
    • 85 in Hiking

I parked on Mesa Road (right near Grossmont College) down at the end of the street where you will find the main gate. The trails have clearly marked signs telling you where to go for what trail. This is useful because some of the trail heads look like small clearings off the path. Lots of hikers on these trails so bring a bell if you can. There are a decent amount of bikers here so people are very kind and let you pass.
The climb up Mesa Trail can be challenging especially on a hot summer day. There is some shady parts but it is pretty dusty the whole way up. From the top of Mesa trail you can connect up to Cowles Mountain from the Fire Road, ride a technical chunky downhill (very fun but rough) to Big Rock Park, or you can go right back down Mesa Trail to enjoy all the features you saw on the way up and thought "man if i was only going the other way".
Mesa Trail down (or mesa trail DH as its known on strava) is a flowy. more mellow version of the ride down to Big Rock Park (sorry the name of the trail escapes me). There will be people on the way down like i mentioned earlier but this track isn't particularly fast so it is easy to spot people and vice versa.
About a 20 min walk up (not ride) and about a 5 min downhill for just Mesa Trail Up and Down. Connect with Cowles Mountain for a goodwork out, you can also link up to Mission Trails.

Access Info

Mesa Road Near Grossmont College. Park near the end of the street just past the apartments.

Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Mesa Trail mountain bike trail trail
  • Altitude change
    -383 ft
  • Altitude min
    497 ft
  • Altitude max
    882 ft
  • Altitude start
    881 ft
  • Altitude end
    497 ft
  • Grade
    -9.442%
  • Grade max
    -25.467%
  • Grade min
    15.804%
  • Distance climb
    497 ft
  • Distance down
    3,379 ft
  • Distance flat
    182 ft
  • Avg time
    00:06:46
  • Avg reverse time
    00:19:48
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Jul 16, 2020
Dry
Avg: 4.5 (4 votes)

view (408)
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  • Layers  w
  • Basemap 
  • Trail Style 
    • ?
  • Activity Type  
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Ridden Direction
Trailforks scans users ridelogs to determine the most popular direction each trail is ridden. A good flowing trail network will have most trails flowing in a single direction according to their intension.
The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
  • > 96%
  • > 90%
  • > 80%
  • > 70%
  • > 50%
  • < 50%
Trail Last Ridden
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine the last time a trail was ridden.
  • < 2 days
  • < 1 week
  • < 2 weeks
  • < 1 month
  • < 6 months
  • > 6 months
Trail Ridden Direction
The intended direction a trail should be ridden.
  • Downhill Only
  • Downhill Primary
  • Both Directions
  • Uphill Primary
  • Uphill Only
  • One Direction
Contribute Details
Colors indicate trail is missing specified detail.
  • Description
  • Photos
  • Description & Photos
  • Videos
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.
  • most popular
  • popular
  • less popular
  • not popular
ATV/ORV/OHV Filter
Max Vehicle Width
inches

Radar Time
LEGEND
Trail Difficulties
  • Access Road/Trail
  • White
  • Green
  • Blue
  • Black
  • Double Black Diamond

Trail Report Status
  • Clear / Green
  • Minor Issue / Yellow
  • Significant Issue / Amber
  • Closed

  • Land Owner Overlay
  • Wilderness (typically no bikes in USA)
  • BLM (public)
  • USFS (Wildlife sanctuaries darker than usfs)
  • State land
  • Indigenous
  • Military
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
  • Map Markers
  • trail Trail Head
  • photo Photo
  • place Directory Listing
  • region Riding Area
  • TTF TTF
  • Parking Parking
  • Viewpoint Viewpoint
  • Information Information
  • Warning Warning
  • Directions Directions
  • Sight Sight
  • Restrooms Restrooms
  • eBike Charging Point eBike Charging Point
  • Water Fountain/Source Water Fountain/Source
  • Gate Gate
  • Trail Sign Trail Sign
  • Table or Bench Table or Bench
  • Ladder Ladder
  • Stairs Stairs
  • Bridge Bridge
  • Boardwalk Boardwalk
  • Camping Camping
  • Cabin Cabin
  • Lodge Lodge
  • Bear Cache Bear Cache
  • Dock Dock
  • Ranger Station Ranger Station
  • Summit Summit
  • Other Other
      Directions to mesa-trail trailhead (32.820240, -117.021560)
      update trails status or condition

      Mesa Trail Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Jul 16, 2020 @ 6:33pm
      Jul 16, 2020
      Jul 13, 2019 @ 6:55pm
      Jul 13, 2019
      Apr 23, 2019 @ 5:47pm
      Apr 23, 2019
      		 Very nice decent. Dry and very eroded after a wet season in early 2019. Still super fun to ride.
      Nov 17, 2016 @ 6:50pm
      Nov 17, 2016
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 3 rides
      • 4 miles avg distance
      6 Months
      • 52 rides
      • 6 miles avg distance
      All
      • 335 rides
      •  

      Photos

      more »
      94 |
      Oct 22, 2017 @ 9:04am
      Oct 22, 2017
      75 |
      Oct 22, 2017 @ 9:00am
      Oct 22, 2017

      1 Review & Comments

      • + 0
      CamPow Trailforks Pro Subscriber (Nov 23, 2018 at 21:18)
       Usually take this up. It’s a tough climb lots of railroad ties and rocks.
      [Reply]

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