Marty Minshall Trail and Lake Cuyamaca

CRSP Ride Report, June 2023

Every now and then, I’ll make a point to ride what I call the Cuyamaca Big Loop. Basically, I start down south on East Side Trail and head north, there being various ways to go. At some point, though, I need to head on over in the direction of state route 79 to then go up Milk Ranch so that I can eventually reach the top before reveling in the wondrous 7 miles of mostly descent back down in the direction of where I started. Adding in Middle Peak and then descending it via Black Oak is not something I’ve done in a few years, and did not do on this trip, either.

Stonewall Creek to Marty Minshall is the way I get on over to Trout Pond, where there is no pond and thus, no trout. This time around, Marty Minshall reminded me of how scenic that little pocket of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park is, blues and golds and filtered sunlight under the pines and oaks providing several definitions of natural beauty.

lake cuyamaca from stonewall creek fire road

I hopped on Marty Minshall Trail, the trail so-named for a dedicated park volunteer, where Stonewall Creek ends. Singletrack meanders its way towards the lake. Easy pedaling allows for looking around and soaking up the surroundings.

Maybe it was the time of day and the light. Perhaps it was the fact that I had not seen anyone on the trail (and wouldn’t for the rest of the ride). I guess it could have been the simple fact that I was pedaling a bike and had no real timeframe to consider. Whatever it was, as I looped around along the shoreline, I thought: this moment cannot possibly be improved upon.

Content.

Then as I approached the Trout Pond side of things, the trail ended in a flooded low-lying area. Gone Trail! A quick look around and it was obvious as to how to get around and connect back to the trail on the other side of the water.

Still, I was quite content in dismounting and hike-a-biking before getting back on the bike and pedaling up Milk Ranch to Azalea to Fern.

Up top, the viewscape always causes me to make pauses:

Fire is part of the landscape-in-process in these parts.

Way across there are the meadows you can pedal through on the way to the Lagunas.

It’s a massive topography, all accessible by bike.

That 7 mile descent? It always puts a smile on my face … and it always provides a scare here and there, due to high speed and letting gooooooooooooooooo.