West Coast Fall Color Experience, part II

Monday, December 16, 2019

Last month, Cycle California! and Found by Bike explored various areas around California and Southern Oregon where bicyclists can find that pop of autumnal color. This month we peep at leaves at lower altitudes where the colors are just starting to make their appearance.

Red and gold leaves drift into pools of water at Lithia Park. Photo courtesy of Neuman Hotel Group.

Lithia Park, Ashland, Oregon

At 1,949 feet, Ashland is one of the places you will find fall colors later in the season—and you don’t have to ride your bike far to find them. The trees in Lithia Park, in downtown Ashland, become vibrant with reds and yellows as autumn leaves its mark on the season.

Lithia Park is a 93-acre urban park that straddles Ashland Creek; you can easily access the park by bike. Once you arrive, you’ll have to find a bike rack and lock your bike. You will find the autumnal colors of the Japanese and Big Leaf Maple trees along the 1-mile long Woodland Trail.

The 93 acres of forested canyonland in downtown Ashland's Lithia Park is a fall color wonderland, intermixing local deciduous trees with ones unfamiliar to Oregon forests, like European beech, Japanese snowbell and eastern flowering dogwood.

Riding Ashland

Every September, the Plaza at Lithia Park is the starting point for the Mt. Ashland Hill Climb. The event has mountain bike and road bike categories along different courses. It is a steep, as you take your mountain bike up, up, up the trails to the top of the mountain along trails.

Aprés Ride Refreshment

Breakfast/Lunch: The Breadboard Restaurant, 744 N. Main St. (541) 488-0295

Dinner: Taj of Ashland, 31 Water St., (541) 488-5900

Larks Home Kitchen, 212 E. Main St., (541) 488-5558

Fall Color along the Sacramento River Trail 2

Redding, California's, Sacramento River Trail offers easy riding and stunning views of the area's fall colors. Photo courtesy of Visit Redding

Redding, California

Stretching more than 400 miles in the heart of California, the Sacramento river offers so many possibilities for bicyclists to observe the transition from summer to fall and fall to winter. In Redding, the river rolls right through it and so does the Sacramento River Trail, which is a paved, five-and-a-half miles with lovely views of the changing colors.

Riding Redding

Off-road riders will enjoy the Hornbeck and Lower Sacramento Ditch Trails. The upper Hornbeck Trail, which is four miles one way, has a great lookout point, named Freitas Overlook, that faces Keswick lake. The Lower Sacramento Ditch Trail is a little shorter at 2.8 miles one way, but offers lots of switch backs and turns for the more advanced rider. Make sure to bring lots of water on those hot days, because there are no drinking fountains along the way.