“Escalator” trail is fun for all levels of MTB riders

Escalator trail, is located at the Swasey Recreation Area in Redding CA. It’s exactly what it’s called, a steady, mellow climb to an intersection of 5 trails. In order to get to the “Escalator”, depends on where you start from.

 

At Swasey Recreation Area there are 2 parking lots with different THs. The shortest way to get to the Escalator trail  is to go to the 2nd parking lot and from there go up “Meiner’s loop” and turn left up, which turns into the Escalator trail.

 

The way I prefer would be the “Wintu” trail way. Park at the 1st parking lot and start riding back the way you came by road and then turn left through the yellow gate to auxiliary parking lot and keep following the singletrack right.

 

Wintu trail starts from the east side and you ride up the switchbacks and then it levels out, goes down and up. There is some chunkiness but nothing big.

 

You’ll soon come across the “Enticer” flow trail TH. It’s an  awesome option if

you’re up for some hips, berms, double doubles and a few good gaps. The “Enticer” is a MTB treat. Check out me flying in the air, hitting the big gap on the bottom.

 

Keep riding the “Wintu” trail and you’ll cross a creek and a fork in the road. That is where “Meiner’s loop comes into play but stay right which goes up and eventually changes to Escalator trail. Trails are posted well in the area so you shouldn’t get lost. If you have a smartphone, downloaded the app “Trail Forks”, it’s very useful.

 

The Escalator trail goes for a bit and it’s like one of those trails that you wish would just end already. You know what I’m saying? And then you’ll get to point where it’s kinda exposed and if you look, you will see a trail to your six, coming straight down the face. There, you have maybe a little more pedaling, not too much. When you start to flow, you’ll know……. you’re almost at the top.

 

At the top of the trail, you will have a few options. You see, 5 trails intersect along with a picnic table and depending on how long of a ride you want to do or the direction that you would like to take. You can easily do a 5 hour ride or half that…. it’s up to you. Be sure to check a map or refer to “Trail Forks” before the challenge.

 

The point of even doing the Escalator trail for me, is to get some video but at the same time, with all of my experiences though, I am able to write this post.

 

One MTB tip I can give anybody who desires to ride the Escalator trail Redding, CA, just go up. How tempting it is to go really fast downhill, you’ll see what I mean. My point is that it’s just not safe with the occasional horses so be careful.

 

My name is Crazy Chris, Crazy Chris MTB on Facebook. Associated with MTB Crank Addict on Facebook too along with a website, MTB Crank Addict.

 

I’m on Instagram @mtbcrankaddict, so if you ever want to go riding, DM. That would be awesome.

 

Hope you liked this post. Feel free to leave a comment, love to hear thoughts.