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Mule Mountain Loop
Mountain Biking Trail
Hard
11.09 mi
1,440 ft
The highest-regarded mountain bike ride in Redding, California.
The Swasey trails form what is hands-down the most popular mountain bike trail system in Redding, California. While this complex network of trails offers many possible route variants, this loop around Mule Mountain and down the Snail Trail is one of the highest-regarded routes in the region.
The ride begins by climbing the Wintu Loop Trail to gain the ridgeline. After a steep initial grunt, the trail grade mellows out a bit, but it continues to climb as it heads toward Mule Mountain. The trail tread throughout the climb, and indeed the entire ride, is quite mellow and non-technical. A few random washouts hide awkward turns and jagged rocks, but the vast majority of the trail tread is smooth and flowy.
After climbing the Escalator trail, you'll reach a major trail junction with a few different route options. While you could short cut over to the Snail Trail by using the Mule Ridge trail, the additional miles around the backside of the mountain (as mapped here) provide some of the best views on the entire ride! The singletrack ducks into the dark, shady north side of the mountain, leaving the dry high desert vegetation behind in exchange for a lusher stand of trees. After swinging around the ridge, some a delightful stretch of benchcut singletrack offers stunning views of the entire region!
After circling Mule Mountain, it's time for the main course: the descent down the Snail Trail! The Snail Trail is a well-built flow trail with sculpted berms, rollers, and delightful swoopiness on the narrower sections of singletrack. While this professionally-built flow trail is exceedingly well designed, there aren't really any air opportunities to be found. The approachable grades, berms, and lack of air challenges make this a very intermediate-friendly flow trail descent that would serve well as a skills and confidence-building experience.
The flowiness is over all too quickly, and all that remains is some mellow singletrack pedaling back to the trailhead. Written by Greg Heil
The Swasey trails form what is hands-down the most popular mountain bike trail system in Redding, California. While this complex network of trails offers many possible route variants, this loop around Mule Mountain and down the Snail Trail is one of the highest-regarded routes in the region.
The ride begins by climbing the Wintu Loop Trail to gain the ridgeline. After a steep initial grunt, the trail grade mellows out a bit, but it continues to climb as it heads toward Mule Mountain. The trail tread throughout the climb, and indeed the entire ride, is quite mellow and non-technical. A few random washouts hide awkward turns and jagged rocks, but the vast majority of the trail tread is smooth and flowy.
After climbing the Escalator trail, you'll reach a major trail junction with a few different route options. While you could short cut over to the Snail Trail by using the Mule Ridge trail, the additional miles around the backside of the mountain (as mapped here) provide some of the best views on the entire ride! The singletrack ducks into the dark, shady north side of the mountain, leaving the dry high desert vegetation behind in exchange for a lusher stand of trees. After swinging around the ridge, some a delightful stretch of benchcut singletrack offers stunning views of the entire region!
After circling Mule Mountain, it's time for the main course: the descent down the Snail Trail! The Snail Trail is a well-built flow trail with sculpted berms, rollers, and delightful swoopiness on the narrower sections of singletrack. While this professionally-built flow trail is exceedingly well designed, there aren't really any air opportunities to be found. The approachable grades, berms, and lack of air challenges make this a very intermediate-friendly flow trail descent that would serve well as a skills and confidence-building experience.
The flowiness is over all too quickly, and all that remains is some mellow singletrack pedaling back to the trailhead. Written by Greg Heil
Created By
Strava Routes
Route and Elevation
Segments
| Name | Distance | Elev. Diff. | Avg. Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swasey Outer Loop | 12.14 mi | 915 ft | 0.0% |
| Swasey Dr Climb | 0.72 mi | 312 ft | 8.1% |
| Swasey TH to TH | 0.48 mi | 135 ft | 5.3% |
| Wintu Switchbacks | 0.36 mi | 213 ft | 11.1% |
| Shorty | 0.05 mi | 43 ft | 13.7% |
| Wintu Miner Segment | 2.06 mi | 299 ft | 1.5% |
| Wintu first quarter | 0.64 mi | 243 ft | 7.1% |
| Wintu Climb | 1.35 mi | 217 ft | 2.9% |
| Wintu-Miner-Escalator | 4.42 mi | 666 ft | 2.5% |
| Speed Trap | 0.34 mi | -151 ft | -8.4% |
| Escalator Picnic Table to Picnic Table | 1.85 mi | 459 ft | 3.6% |
| The REAL Escalator | 2.47 mi | 551 ft | 3.7% |
| Escalator first table | 1.58 mi | 407 ft | 4.8% |
| Escalator up | 2.08 mi | 535 ft | 4.9% |
| Super-D to the saddle | 0.31 mi | -62 ft | -3.8% |
| Mule Mtn jam | 2.15 mi | 207 ft | 1.6% |
| Up Rob Otis | 0.53 mi | 118 ft | 3.8% |
| Riding on the wind | 1.65 mi | 98 ft | 0.8% |
| Roadhouse to Creek | 1.56 mi | -738 ft | -8.9% |
| Upper Snail Berms | 0.19 mi | -128 ft | -12.5% |
| Rail The Snail | 1.71 mi | -715 ft | -7.9% |
| Snail Trail | 1.37 mi | -646 ft | -8.9% |
| For the Love of Snail | 1.52 mi | -663 ft | -8.0% |
| Road House (Snail Trail descent) | 1.37 mi | -594 ft | -8.2% |
| Escargot | 0.94 mi | -174 ft | -3.5% |
| Creek 1 to creek 3 | 0.83 mi | -121 ft | -2.7% |
| Creek to Dirt Road | 2.25 mi | -167 ft | -1.4% |
| The Ripper | 0.23 mi | -75 ft | -5.6% |
| Terminator to parking lot | 2.14 mi | -102 ft | -0.9% |
| Sprint | 0.19 mi | 16 ft | 0.1% |