I did the trail back in the early 90s. It was a tough climb out of the car park, a partial ride along the trail's contour and then onto Spooner Lake and then another climb before the full on descent. In those days, there were parts of the trail that had various home made repairs where it had fallen away and it was quite tricky to navigate. I remember at one point someone had put an old iron bedframe to cross a gap. It was also the days before disc brakes and so the deep sandy descent from Spooner Lake always required constant braking. When you got to the bottom, you had to prise your fingers off the brakes handles!
Nice video! I have to admit when Americans and particularly Californians build a scenic highway i.e. RT. 1 and here around Lake Tahoe we do it right and well- beauty, scenic views and the thrill of Danger altogether!!
Amazeballs! I remember seeing the Army Guard sling loading away the old 1860's log flume that went to Virginia City off the trail in the late 1990's. At the time, I was bummed to see our history being airlifted away, but the Flume Trail they gave us is world class! I gotta do your route on my new ebike.
It was long before the late 90's. More like the late 80's or earlier. I used to ride their all the time in the early 90's and the flume was gone at that point.
This was a great video of the trail. I rode it years (like 30) ago but rode it the opposite way. Started by a campground, rode past Spooner Lake and to the Flume. As I recall at that time the trail went thru the lake on the edge. The return up the road was energy zapping. One of the most beautiful rides I've been on. Thanks for sharing your experience, it brought back some good old memories.
Hey you're going to have a great time out there as the trials and scenery are amazing. Not sure what the shuttle can do for you but perhaps they can save you the first lung busting climb up to flume. We ended our ride by going down chimney beach trail so not sure if the shuttle would be able to pick you up there. Sorry not much help as I was only in tahoe once. Have fun there and thanks for stopping by. G
Dumb phone anyways it felt like I was staring at the front tire . Other than that was a great video and loved the side route before you hit the flume trail 😁👍
Hey Sam sam, I don't have any experience on a gravel bike but I would say you could do 90-95% of this ride on the gravel bike. Maybe the descent down chimney beach might be a bit challenging but there are other exits. We only visited Tahoe once and its awesome & awesome for riding too, you will really enjoy the ride I'm positive.
Hey there, yep we parked at Sand Harbour it was $10 from memory but we were tourists. There is a small free carpark at the bottom of Chimney Beach track if you can see that on trail forks. Hope you find somewhere suitable its a fantastic spot to explore.
You can also park at Tunnel Creek and take a shuttle to Spooner summit. Ride up to the Flume from there and then back to Tunnel Creek, which is a nice place to have a beer afterwards.
Yep that's about it, we did add in another loop across to a campsite along the tops somewhere but flume , Marlette and chimney beach were far more spectacular and fun.
Hey Luis, we paid $10 for an all day park at sand harbour and rode along the lakeside towards the start of the flume trail. From what I could see there looked to be a free car park at the bottom of the chimney beach trail which would work if you were finishing coming down that trail. I was only there once so no expert...I'm sure the locals wouldn't pay to park. Hope you get there and enjoy, sure was a stunning place to explore.
Oh hey there, I'm very sorry but I don't use strava. Do you have access to trailforks ? If you look up the flume trail then you can see peoples rides there and download. I hope that's an option for you. We were only there once so there may even be better routes than we did. Apologies again, wish I could help more. G
No, we were just on normal bikes but e-bikes would be fun. The altitude makes it tough work in Tahoe for anyone not used to it. Great riding though. Thanks for watching.
I did the trail back in the early 90s. It was a tough climb out of the car park, a partial ride along the trail's contour and then onto Spooner Lake and then another climb before the full on descent. In those days, there were parts of the trail that had various home made repairs where it had fallen away and it was quite tricky to navigate. I remember at one point someone had put an old iron bedframe to cross a gap. It was also the days before disc brakes and so the deep sandy descent from Spooner Lake always required constant braking. When you got to the bottom, you had to prise your fingers off the brakes handles!
Awesome vídeo.
Nice video! I have to admit when Americans and particularly Californians build a scenic highway i.e. RT. 1 and here around Lake Tahoe we do it right and well- beauty, scenic views and the thrill of Danger altogether!!
Amazeballs!
I remember seeing the Army Guard sling loading away the old 1860's log flume that went to Virginia City off the trail in the late 1990's. At the time, I was bummed to see our history being airlifted away, but the Flume Trail they gave us is world class! I gotta do your route on my new ebike.
It was long before the late 90's. More like the late 80's or earlier. I used to ride their all the time in the early 90's and the flume was gone at that point.
That's a big ride for not being acclimatized to the elevation. Good job on the filming and commentary.
Gorgeous scenery.
Nice video! Used to live near the start of the Flume, and it was my intro to mt. biking. Great memories.
Wow Lucky you to have lived near there, spectacular place alright. We really enjoyed our 5 days there in between seasons so a bit quieter.
I‘ve done this and the rime trail - unbelievable beauty!
Well done, from someone who rides the flume trail .
Definetely one of the better videos I've seen of the Flume. For some reason, I prefer to go up on the Spooner side and end at Tunnel Creek Cafe.
This was a great video of the trail. I rode it years (like 30) ago but rode it the opposite way. Started by a campground, rode past Spooner Lake and to the Flume. As I recall at that time the trail went thru the lake on the edge. The return up the road was energy zapping. One of the most beautiful rides I've been on. Thanks for sharing your experience, it brought back some good old memories.
Great ride. Thank you.
For as much down you rode I think I must have rode it backwards . Started out from Spooner.
Love the accent saying "Sandy Beach", But it is actually called "Sand Harbor"
Cheers Jon, I only got it wrong about 4 times. Apologies. Was a beautiful spot.
@@getoutside519 It still is a beautiful spot! I'm blessed to live about 45 minutes from it.
Epic looking ride buddy. I wanted to go next week for my first trail ride. What's the difference if I were to use the shuttle instead?
Hey you're going to have a great time out there as the trials and scenery are amazing. Not sure what the shuttle can do for you but perhaps they can save you the first lung busting climb up to flume.
We ended our ride by going down chimney beach trail so not sure if the shuttle would be able to pick you up there.
Sorry not much help as I was only in tahoe once.
Have fun there and thanks for stopping by.
G
Nice video, just wish you had the camera angled a little higher . Felt like I was was
Dumb phone anyways it felt like I was staring at the front tire . Other than that was a great video and loved the side route before you hit the flume trail 😁👍
Great vdeo! Is this route doable on a gravel bike with say 650B x 37 tires?
Hey Sam sam, I don't have any experience on a gravel bike but I would say you could do 90-95% of this ride on the gravel bike. Maybe the descent down chimney beach might be a bit challenging but there are other exits.
We only visited Tahoe once and its awesome & awesome for riding too, you will really enjoy the ride I'm positive.
Yes! A bit sandy in places, but make sure you're geared for the climbing. It's steep!
Just curious where you parked to get to where you started? :) Thanks
Hey there, yep we parked at Sand Harbour it was $10 from memory but we were tourists. There is a small free carpark at the bottom of Chimney Beach track if you can see that on trail forks.
Hope you find somewhere suitable its a fantastic spot to explore.
You can also park at Tunnel Creek and take a shuttle to Spooner summit. Ride up to the Flume from there and then back to Tunnel Creek, which is a nice place to have a beer afterwards.
I guess you went up flume trail to Marlette Lake, then down to Chimney Beach?
Yep that's about it, we did add in another loop across to a campsite along the tops somewhere but flume , Marlette and chimney beach were far more spectacular and fun.
So unconventional. That's a great route for the Fall season so you're not running into people coming down the Flume Trail.
No. Up tunnel Creek. The ride up from Spooner is also steep.
Where did you park for the start of the trail?
Hey Luis, we paid $10 for an all day park at sand harbour and rode along the lakeside towards the start of the flume trail. From what I could see there looked to be a free car park at the bottom of the chimney beach trail which would work if you were finishing coming down that trail. I was only there once so no expert...I'm sure the locals wouldn't pay to park.
Hope you get there and enjoy, sure was a stunning place to explore.
GetOutside thanks , I’m goin next month. From what I saw on your video , is a must do ride in Tahoe 🙌🏻🤘🏻
Please share your strava route , so we can do the same
Oh hey there, I'm very sorry but I don't use strava. Do you have access to trailforks ? If you look up the flume trail then you can see peoples rides there and download. I hope that's an option for you.
We were only there once so there may even be better routes than we did.
Apologies again, wish I could help more.
G
great video, were you on e-bikes?
No, we were just on normal bikes but e-bikes would be fun. The altitude makes it tough work in Tahoe for anyone not used to it. Great riding though. Thanks for watching.
Yea, you looked so strong as if you were :) And I believe, you did the Flume from the harder end.