Level: Advanced
Length: 20 mi (32.2 km)
Surface: Singletrack
Configuration: Loop
Elevation: +996/944 ft
Total: 130 riders
Mountain Biking Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
#7 of 1,000 mountain bike trails in California
#150 in the world
Mr. Toads Wild Ride is one of Lake Tahoe's Premier technical rides. This ride is one of my favorites! It is one of the finest downhills in the Lake Tahoe region as well. It is a somewhat difficult one with over 3200' vertical feet of climbing involved, but once you get to the top it is all downhill! The descent from Tucker flat is a technical test piece followed by some fantastic single track riding down the Saxon Creek drainage. The trail combines expansive views, meadows, and forests into one special ride. The downhill is mostly all single track too and very technical in sections. Total riding distance on this ride is a little over 20 miles. You will want to take a full camel bag or two bike bottles.
First added by dppaladino on Apr 28, 2005. Last updated May 9, 2020. → add an update
Before you go
- Drinking water: unknown
- Lift service: unknown
- Night riding: unknown
- Pump track: unknown
- Restrooms: unknown
- Fat bike grooming: unknown
- E-bikes allowed: unknown
- Fee required: unknown
This trail information is user-generated. Help improve this information by suggesting a correction.
Toads wild ride starts in South Lake Tahoe, California. The best place to start is at the bottom where it ends.
From highway 50 going south into Myers take a left on Pioneer(Refer to the Map), which is the only stop light in town.
Follow Pioneer for about 3/4 of a mile and take a right on Oneidis. Go through the residential area and look for a turn off on the dirt after you go past the forest service gate.
Now you are at the bottom of Toads Ride. Park here and this is where the ride begins.
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Mr. Toads is a ripping 5 mile technical downhill. This can be done as part of a loop (~20m total) or a semi-loop if shuttled. To get to Mr. Toads you'll have to do some pretty serious climbing with over 3k feet of elevation gain in the first 10 miles. If you opt for Armstrong Pass (as opposed to the road) expect an even more challenging technical climb especially with the reduced traction in very loose/sandy terrain. The challenge continues with a trek up the Tahoe Rim Trail (Freel Meadows). About midway through the TRT section - when your spirit is just about broken - the trail gods answer your prayers with some downhill fun for a couple of miles as you make the turn to get onto Mr Toads. Ready for 5 miles of downhill bliss? Then you better feather those brakes a sec. First, you're worn out from the grueling climb. Plus, you're at 9300ft elevation so you'll likely be feeling less than at the top of your game. But you see, Mr. Toad's doesn't care and he can dish it out as much as he can take it. Mr. T beats you up. First he lulls you into a false sense of security for the first half mile or so. But then he hits you with some huge rock gardens (more like boulders) on some steeps. Good luck trying to pick a line in some of those spots especially if you've never ridden it before. There are quite a number of these sections - some tougher than others - and the ones you clean will have you howling with delight. Once past the upper section of Mr. T it's pure bliss... but by no means a cake walk. There's a cool rocky step down and plenty of opportunity for air. Just be mindful that these trails can get very sandy so if you're railing a turn at speed you may find your bike veering in unintended ways. Overall, an exhilarating experience that should not be missed.
| Thankrecent rain has been great to tighten up the sandy corners.
| ThankRoad up Mr. Toad from Onedias Rd. Steep in sections and technical. Definitely for experienced climbers only. Bikes from top of Mr. Toad to Armstrong and then down through Coral. Great ride to say the least. Much easier if you bike in the opposite direction than what I described.
| ThankGreat - technical to flowy. Right now snow but if your willing to hike a bit rideable. Not for beginners
| ThankOne of my top favorite trails. Having spent the past months since May riding in the US and CA that says something. Its fast and technical, I just thoroughly enjoyed it.
| ThankProbably more enjoyable if you are a advanced rider. Its got a fairly decent climb on semi technical single track. The descent starts out rocky and smooths out eventually. FUN!
Please do not ride up Armstrong Connector. It is a downhill trail so people will not see you and you could get injured. Also the Armstrong Pass Trail is now re-done this year so it is a little longer but easier to ride up. It's actually really fun. It's about 5 miles now. The Lake Tahoe Basin map does not have the right milage yet for the trail since the update was just done this year. Have fun!
| ThankAwesome trail. Intense climb. Totally worth it.
| ThankThe sickest trail in South Lake. Do it up Armstrong Pass or the easier route by shuttling to the top of Luther Pass. Either way your climbing hard, but the decent is EPIC.
| ThankClimbed up Armstrong pass to the TRT and down Saxon Creek. Long climb, pavement was probably the worst of the climb. Awesome downhill, super tech, some awesome drops. Nothing on this trail is completely manadatory as people have said in the past. Great trail, top of my list!!
| ThankAwesome uphill, hard downhill
| Thanklots of tight downhill turns on singletrack, great practice. if you want to do a full ride, ride up from the lake south of Incline Village and do the Flume Trail. Total climb around 3200 ft and some incredibly scenic views of Lake Tahoe from the Flume. Don't tip over, it may be your last. This is the route the US Xterra finals went over the past 5 or 6 years.
| ThankI think this ride is technically in California. the 12 miles of road to get to the rim trial s***ed, but went by quickly. going up the rim trail was tough, from the tracks it looked like most people went down there. lots of rock gardens that were very tough or impossible to climb.
going down saxon's was a blast, lots of rocks to jump, and tough rock gardens to challenge yourself on. there's a staircase at the end of saxon's that's pretty fun too.
the OHV park portion of toads was fast and flowing. banked turnes cut out by the motorcycles and some good jumps too.
| Thank