This ride begins much like the Fresno Dome ride. I like to park in the Parking lot at the Tenaya Lodge at 1122 Hwy 41 in Fish Camp, Ca. which is 14 miles north of Oakhurst at the intersection of Jackson- Big Sandy road. After leaving the parking lot, ride down to Jackson-Big Sandy Rd. and turn left (east) proceed about two miles east until you pass the horse stables. You will be riding slightly uphill until you come to a jeep trail on the right just across from a green pump house and a single track trail on the left. If you want, you can ride out on this single track to a nice little waterfall spot on Big Creek. Take this jeep trail south about one mile until you come to a trail on the left. If you like single track trail riding, turn left here and start up this trail. (If you prefer to stay on this jeep trail, you can get to the grove by following the directions below in reverse.) The first 3/4 of a mile is fairly steep and there will be a short rocky section before you get to the top of the ridge. From here, the trail is flat for about a mile until you come to the Nelder Grove.
When you get to the Hawksworth Tree, you are at the beginning of the grove. There are quite a few very large Sequoia Trees here and many have names. The Hawksworth Tree is named after the grandfather of a friend of mine. You will see a small trail leaving to the left which takes you up to the Old Grandad tree among others. You can take this trail on until it meets up with the main trail and turn left. From here the trail starts going down hill all the way to the Nelder Grove Campground. You can really fly down this trail, but slow it down if you don’t want to miss all the beg trees. When you get to the Grove, the trail starts to flatten out and you will come to a dip in the trail where some people get thrown off their bikes due to excess speed.
Once you are at the Grove, you can take the Chimney Tree Trail on your left and wind your way around to the center of the campground and turn left and follow the sign to the Big Buck Tree. This is the largest standing tree in the Nelder Grove and you can see a photo of it in our photo page with me in front of it. This is where I like to stop for my lunch and enjoy the quietness of this beautiful forest. When you are re-hydrated and energized, ride to the right past the BB Tree and hook up with the single track trail that takes you around the back side of the grove and ends up back in the center of the campground.
From here, you can retrace your steps back to Fish Camp or head out of the grove and turn right on Sky Ranch Rd. About a quarter mile south is the turnoff to Sugar Pine Rd. from here you can ride about a mile until you come to the jeep trail with a green gate across it on the right. This is the jeep trail you took to get to the single track trail initially. Once you get to the Jackson-Big Sandy Rd, turn left and ride the final two miles until you come back to where you started.
I prefer to join this ride to the Lewis Creek Trail ride by riding down Sugar Pine Rd. until you get almost to Hwy 41 where you turn left on the Lewis Creek Trail for a down and back ride or shuttle back with a second vehicle at the south end of this trail. There is a way to get back to Fish Camp on the west side of Hwy 41 through the Miami Motorcycle trails or by riding north on Hwy 41 to the Tenaya Lodge.
Trail info and photos from: http://www.yosemitebicycle.com/
