Mountain Bike

← Activity Beta

2 miles

Distance

361 ft

Climb

-1,628 ft

Descent

00:23:28

Avg time

Trail Supporters, Builders & Maintainers of Middle Sam Merrill Trail

USFS
Land Manager

Middle Sam Merrill Details

Activities
- Mountain Bike
- Hike
- Trail Running
Riding Area

Angeles National Forest
Altadena, California
Difficulty Rating

Black Diamond rate
Trail Type

Singletrack
Bike Type

AM
Trail Usage

Multi-use
Direction

Downhill Primary
Popular direction shown
Physical Rating

Hard
Season

All Year
Dogs Allowed

Yes
eBike Allowed

No
Ride in Rain

Yes
Global Ranking

#1016 in Mountain Biking
Local Popularity
90 in Mountain Biking [+]
- 5 in Trail Running
- 70 in Hiking

Middle Sam Merrill starts from the Mt Lowe Fire Road at the intersection to Inspiration Point. The single track trail is narrow, exposed and loose. It begins on the shady side of the mountain and wraps around to the sunny side where it gets increasingly loose and dry. This is an advanced trail with exposure, rock drops, etc.

Be aware this is a multi use trail and hikers are commonly found coming up from the Echo Mtn ruins below. Bell use is highly recommended and appreciated by other trail users. This trail commonly causes flats so be prepared with extra tubes, pump, etc. Also a good idea to check your brakes before riding this trail as you will be using them and using them heavily.

More Stats for Middle Sam Merrill bike trail

Altitude change

-1,266 ft
Altitude min

3,215 ft
Altitude max

4,502 ft
Altitude start

4,481 ft
Altitude end

3,215 ft
Grade

-9.984%
Grade max

-49.356%
Grade min

43.825%
Distance climb

2,789 ft
Distance down

2 miles
Distance flat

164 ft
Avg time

00:23:28
Avg reverse time

00:04:09
view trail stats

Status:

on Apr 19, 2019

Dry

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.

Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine the last time a trail was ridden.

The intended direction a trail should be ridden.

Colors indicate trail is missing specified detail.

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.

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
Dry
Very Dry

Past Week

8 rides
16 miles avg distance

6 Months

110 rides
17 miles avg distance

Photos

58 |

May 24, 2018 @ 7:37pm

May 24, 2018

90 |

Aug 4, 2017 @ 4:25pm

Aug 4, 2017

131 |

Jun 6, 2017 @ 12:52am

Jun 6, 2017

252 |

Dec 31, 2015 @ 10:15pm

Dec 31, 2015

Routes with this trail

title	rating	distance
Mt Lowe, Sam Merril, sunset, EP		13 miles
MIDDLE SAM MERRILL TO SUNSET RIDGE		15 miles
Eaton Saddle Shuttle		8 miles
Eaton Saddle Shuttle w/ El Prieto		13 miles

1 Review & Comments

Score Time

Bmoore200 (Oct 11, 2018 at 15:23)

This section is awesome. Nice amount of technical but can be ridden fast and flowy once you get the feel for it. Some tight rocky steep sections, small drops. Gets even better with some rain.

[Reply]

Videos

old mt lowe railroad (to sadle) 72 ft
chutes 2,733 ft
pentew 1 miles
lower merrill 2 miles
sunset ridge 2 miles

Angeles National Forest

Share

Tweet

Pin
embed Middle Sam Merrill trail on your website

By betamax-bandit & contributors
#20978 - 2,454 views

subscribe
flag
login to download gpx or kml files.

status	date	description
	Apr 19, 2019 @ 8:54am Apr 19, 2019	MWBA was on trail clearing the 2 downed trees. Couple rocky spots but Should be good. check your speed and ride don't slide!!
	Apr 7, 2019 @ 8:42am Apr 7, 2019	trail has been raked
	Nov 4, 2018 @ 9:28pm Nov 4, 2018	Trees down on top section
	Jan 20, 2018 @ 6:39am Jan 20, 2018
	Dec 22, 2017 @ 8:46am Dec 22, 2017

Middle Sam Merrill