Soquel
Demonstration Forest is one of the top places to
mountain bike in the entire Bay Area. Most bikers refer to it
simply as Soquel or Demo. The land manager is the California
Department of Forestry. They have been incredibly support of
mountain bikers, unlike most of land managers in the area.
And when your buddies ask you where you want to ride simply
say "Demo, Baby"!
You might come
across some of the local wildlife. This includes deer, wild
turkeys, giant salamanders, mountain lions (rare), lady bugs (they
blanket the ground in places in the spring) and unfortunately, wild
pigs. Evidence of pig damage is all over.
The cache is
located on Corral Trail, a little more than half-way down the
single track section. GPSr reception may be problematic so I will
provide helpful details. The general cache location is a little
below a long, downed tree that most of the branches have been
removed so mountain bikers can ride the tree and then jump off the
side. We call this stunt “Club Huck.” Note this is NOT the tree at
the end of the single track. The cache container is a small camoed
plastic container containing a logsheet. Bring your own pen. There
a little room to leave/trade items.
The best place to
park is on either Highland Road or in the parking across the metal
bridge. There is a porta-potty inside the metal gate at the west
end of the parking lot. This is one of 4 Demo, Baby! caches I have
placed in this area. If this is your first time here you might
consider doing a little circuit. For mountain bikers I suggest
starting on Highland Road, head towards the coast, turn right onto
Buzzards Lagoon, and go to the top of Demo. On the way you can find
Secret Trailhead #11 - Nisene Marks and
Secret Trailhead #10 - Soquel Demo Forest. Drop down the
Ridge Trail and then Corral to find this cache. If you continue to
down Corral to Hihn’s Mill Road you will pass
Where is Sulfur Springs. And then heading back to the
parking lot you will pass by
Stinky cache. And you will have lots of fun on the
bike.
For hikers the
above route is probably too long. Instead I recommend an out and
back along Hihn’s Mill Road. Turn left onto Sulfur Springs and then
turn left onto Corral. At the end of the fire road the trail
becomes a single track. Continue on the single track until you
reach the cache.