Lacks Creek Recreation Area is nestled in the coastal range of Northern California about 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean. We didn’t have much info about it but we took a chance. This area offers a wide array of outdoor opportunities including mountain biking. It was hot where we were and this area brought a nice reprieve from the scorching temps.
There are two ways to get here and we evidently took the harder way there and then left by the easier way. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT approach it from Hoopa…go from the Blue Lake side. From Hoopa we took a ridiculous road up. By ridiculous I mean super twisty and tight rutted gravel switchbacks up. This would make a nice (but tough) ride if you wanted to do a monster gravel ride.
We started our ride from the lowest trailhead and climbed a bit of gravel before hitting the singletrack. I was surprised how fun and foresty the trails are. You probably won’t see anyone else out here but that’s ok…Stormy Saddle is a spectacular trail and Pine Ridge continued the fun. Berms, switchbacks, twisty fast and fun. There are A LOT of trees out here so the views are obscured most of the time. It’s green green green back in there! Plus, who wouldn’t love a trail named Tomfoolery?
This is worth a stop if you’re in the area. And if you like big adventures, plan a bikepacking weekend out here.
