Mr. Toads Wild Ride/ aka Saxon Creek Trail (South Lake Tahoe): An iconic rocky, technical and fun decent, this trail gives advanced riders a satisfyingly long 6 mile downhill. Plunging through towering forests and boulders on the upper sections then giving way to fast, banked turns on the lower sections. Bring your longer-travel bike. This track is the most popular way to ride Toads: loop it going up Fountain Place, Armstrong, Rim Trail and then down Toads for about a 20 mile loop. Or you can shuttle up to Big Meadow TRT parking area or Grass Lake Luther Pass spur and ride up from there for a shorter 3 mile climb to the top.
Directions: Take Pioneer Trail towards Meyers, turn left onto Oneidas Street, after passing a few houses this turns into a paved forest service road called Fountain Place, follow for about 1/4 mile, there is a large dirt parking lot on your right, this is where the bottom of the trail ends. If you park here you can loop it by riding up the paved Forest Service Road to Armstrong trail. The other option is to ride or shuttle up to Highway 89 and meet up with the Big Meadow trail head. Do NOT try to ride up Mr Toads trail.
By starting at Heavenly’s Stagecoach Lodge off Kingsbury Grade and riding the TRT to Star Lake, over Freel Peak and onward to Toads you can make this a longer ride of nearly 30 miles, typically called the “Punisher” mtbproject.com/trail/911251 – or for the super endurance riders start at Mount Rose for the 60+ mile “Uber Punisher”. Check trail conditions at tamba.org/trails
Unfortunately, Armstrong Pass and Saxon Creek Trail (Mr. Toads Wild Ride) are currently closed. The cleanup after the Caldor Fire will probably last until August 2022. You can find updates on the TAMBA homepage: tamba.org/trails/trail-conditions