Category: Trail Info

Trails are logically distinct components. A trail can be ten meters long or 100,000 meters. Trail Info category indicates a post that has detailed specific information describing a particular trail. For posts describing a suggested route that uses one or more trails, use the Ride Route category INSTEAD.

Foothills, GPS, MTBing, Photos, Trail Info

Riding the San Felipe del Agua Trail Network

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Sad to say, as of late summer in 2021 the terrific trail network described below was closed to hikers and mountain bikers. People buying property in the hills and constructing homes there prevailed in posting notices that the area was off-limits to recreational users; fences and gates were put up and the major access routes closed by chains or other barriers. What a shame that such a wonderful asset – one that had drawn people into the outdoors for generations – was lost to the public.

With the great trail network in the hills above San Felipe del Agua so close to Oaxaca city, it is not surprising that lots of people go mountain biking there, especially on Sundays. The gang at Summit Cyclery chose to ride there on 11 October 2015. There were 17 participants in this day’s outing — mainly young riders, but with one old guy (the author) plugging along, taking photos and GPS measurements.

The ride circuit covered 14.7 miles (23.6 km) start to finish, with an elevation gain and loss of 2146 feet (654 meters). At its highest point, the trail topped out at 6306 feet (1922 meters). The group rode several of the well-established trails on the mountainside, including some that have suffered significant erosion damage in the past year or so.  (Note to self:  we need to get a trail maintenance crew out there!)

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Countryside, Foothills, GPS, Mountains, MTBing, Photos, Racing, Trail Info

“La Carroñera”

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“La Carroñera” (“The Scavenger”) is an epic race held in the mountains just outside San Agustin Etla, a community a short distance to the north of Oaxaca city. On this particular day the contest drew a whopping 190 registered participants, all eager to test their mettle on this rigorous course, which ran 23.54 miles (37.88 km), using a combination of city streets, dirt roads, single track trails across the flanks of the mountain — and one section of tenuous trail running along the aqueduct that supplies water to San Agustin. There were three significant climbs along the way, the first being by far the longest and toughest, requiring contestants to use pedal power to gain 3711 feet (1131 meters) in altitude along the 7.2 mile (11.6 km) route from town to the highest point on the circuit — which topped out at an altitude of 9220 feet (2810 meters). The total elevation gain and loss riding around the course came to a whopping 6676 feet (2035 meters) — certainly a good day’s workout!

Those who preferred a somewhat less challenging course had the option of skipping the upper loop shown on the map. This reduced the overall length of the ride by 5.6 miles (9.0 km) and lopped off 2386 feet (722 meters) from the total elevation gain & loss for the day. Even so, the shorter ride totaled 17.9 miles (28.8 km) and demanded 4290 feet (1307 meters) of climbing and descending. Congratulations to all who completed the ride and earned a special medallion for their effort!

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Countryside, Hiking, Mountains, MTBing, Trail Info

San Agustin Etla – Aqueduct & Hydroelectric Plant

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San Agustin Etla is a charming small village set in the foothills northwest of Oaxaca. Among its attractions are an aqueduct which brings water down the mountain from a small diversion dam to the municipal water treatment and bottling plant. It is also home to the Centro de las Artes – a splendid building which once housed a steam-powered textile mill, and has been converted to a gallery which displays traveling exhibits of art from Mexico and Central America. Be forewarned that there is some serious climbing to be done on this route, both on city streets, dirt roads and single track trails. This ride basically follows the first part of the 26 mile (42 km) course used for the famed “La Carroñera” bike race held at San Agustin from time to time.

The route shown on the map below covers 8.9 miles (14.3 km). The ride starts from the parking lot at the municipal building in San Agustin, which sits at an elevation of 5757 feet (1755 meters). The high point on the trail reaches an altitude of 7097 feet (2163 meters). The elevation gain and loss riding the trail amounts to 2034 feet (620 meters).

Trail Info, Trail Work

Trail LP Pruned

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Trail LP is one of the shortest runs in the SFdA trails, but since I like to use it for a loop connector, it too needed pruning this season.  Done.

Trail Info, Trail Work

Sweat Rewards / Recompensas Sudoríparas

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Sunday was a trailwork day and after a full day of cleaning, pruning and raking, now three more trails in the SFdA Smoking Section are ready to ride:

Trail E (Encendedor (Lighter))

Trail Ca (Calientaplatos (Hotplate)) (Trail page not yet posted. Damnit!)

Trail T (Tostadora (Toaster)) …except the upper section above Trail ML…which will hopefully get cleaned this weekend.

 

But, during that work, a new trail was stumbled upon between Trail E and Trail T.  Or, more accurately, an old (lost) trail was discovered.

Here is a a screenshot from Google Earth pointing out the potential new trail, as well as the surrounding trails.  Active map (and download link for the KML file) is below.

GMap Image of Trail _Hoguera and partner trails

 

The tread is fairly well established and the vegetation is only slightly grown in.  So, with a little trail work, another kilometer of singletrack could be added to The Smoking Section.  The exciting part is that it runs across the hill as compared to the other nearby trails and has a gentler grade of <12% as compared to 20% and 18% for Trail E and Trail T, respectively.  Also, the area it crosses has some broader sections that would allow for trail re-routing to give an even gentler grade and longer distance.  Right now it isn’t rideable, but we’re hoping to get some volunteers out to flag and clean it ASAP.  If you’re willing to help, drop us a line via a comment below, the OaxacaMTB.org Facebook page or the Contact Us form on this site’s About Us page.

 

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