The singletrack through Tamarancho is narrow, smooth, and mostly quite flowy. It begins with a respectable climb up from the road, switchbacking and climbing high into the hills on beautiful singletrack beneath a canopy of towering redwoods.

Higher up, the singletrack breaks out into some beautiful mountainside meadows, and the drier terrain offers up some moderately-challenging rock gardens that intermediate riders should love. The most difficult rock gardens tend to have ride arounds for those not interested in challenging their bike handling skills.

The crowd-favorite trail segment at Tamarancho is the newly-built Endor flow trail. Featuring rollers, berms, and tabletop jumps, Endor is a top-tier flow trail that’s received high acclaim from riders all around the Bay Area. Unfortunately, the fun is over quickly after just half a mile, but due to where the flow trail was built in the network, it’s easy to pedal back up to the top and do a few laps on Endor before moving on and completing the ride.

The Camp Tamarancho trail defies the general animosity to mountain bikes in the Bay Area because the trail was built on private land. According to BayAreaRides.com, "Camp Tamarancho" is the private property of the "Marin Council" of the Boy Scouts of America. Riding here requires the purchase of a permit. A one-day pass costs $6 as of this writing. Alternatively, you can buy an annual pass, which is priced at $50 for 2023. You can purchase both types of permits (among others) online. Mountain bikers are required to have one of these passes present on their person any time they are riding on the trails here. If you happen to forget to purchase one online, passes may also be purchased in person in Fairfax Village at SplitRock Tap & Wheel or Sunshine Bicycles on the day of your ride. Sunshine Bicycles is in downtown Fairfax, a couple of blocks southeast from the starting point of this ride.

Be sure to respect the Boy Scout Camp and buy a pass; This small purchase will pay off handsomely with a top-notch mountain bike experience!

passes are available online at: https://boyscouts-marin.org/tamarancho-mtn-biking/4023

Check out the Tamarancho Report online for the latest trail conditions: https://tamarancho.report/

Sources: https://bayarearides.com/rides/tamarancho/