How to: Paradise Royale Loop
King Range/Lost Coast--15 miles and 2200 ft of elevation
From Fort Bragg, I headed north on the 1 to the 101. The Redwood Highway in mid-June was stunning. Trees, trees, and more trees stood tall beyond the windshield. At Garberville/Redway, I turned toward the coast. Twenty miles down a slow country road had me feeling at ease. A mother and child made an appearance:
All cars stopped and not a single horn honked for nearly five minutes while we waited and watched for the fawn to decide where it wanted to go. Mama didn’t care at all which way to go. For about a minute, baby milked on mother, before walking into the shrubbery.
Down the road, on and on, through redwoods and soaking up the late morning sunshine, I drove. Signs guided the way to Paradise Royale in the King Range National Conservation Area on BLM land. Considered a “Backyard to Backcountry” by IMBA and the BLM, the project resulted in a 15 mile loop with 2200 feet of elevation gain, all of it purpose built for mountain biking.
From the hard road, I turned on the dirt/forest road that goes to the trailhead. A bumpy couple of miles away, I came to a trailhead before the main trailhead and saw a fellow rider getting ready to set out.
“Is this parking for Paradise Royale?”
“Yeah, if you park here, it saves you from the rest of the climb at the end of your ride.”
There was room in the small parking area off the side of the road.
It’s recommended to ride it clockwise, though I think it doesn’t really matter. There are 2 fun/flowy descents if you do but doing it counterclockwise you would still get the descents. There’s a big climb in the middle. Hunker down, granny gear, pedal. It’s bench-cut, nice switchbacks and really not all that laborious, assuming you actually enjoy mountain biking for what it is.
There’s a campground right by the trail and there’s a terrain park. It is all easy to figure out/find, if you were to want to camp after riding and session things a bit.
From the car, it went like this: climb a little, descend to the bridge, cruise, climb a lot, descend to another bridge, climb a very little bit back to the car.
With stops for photos and talking to a few other riders (saw a total of 5), along with having no clock to consider, and a janky derailleur situation, it ended up taking a little under 3 hours to ride the loop. If you’re in that neck of the woods, for sure make the drive off the 101 towards the coast. And when you’re done, go down to Shelter Cove, a 15-minute drive from the trail. At the T in the intersection, go left. You’ll see Gyppo.
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Excellent review and pics. Thank you James.🍺🚴