Morning Glory
(Photo taken from bottom of Morning Glory Trail. Notice the trail “Shooters” in the background as it climbs to the top of West Cuesta Grade)
GPS Link (Shooters to Morning Glory)
Morning Glory is one of my favorite rides, and is part of one of my favorite loops. It is a lot tougher than it looks and sports lots of rocky downhills.
A special thanks to rider Bruce Johnson for assistance with the route description.
Finding Morning Glory is easiest from the West Cuesta Grade going up TV Tower Road. You can also start at Stagecoach Road and ride up from the top of the grade. From the turn out at the top of the grade head up TV Tower Road. At the one miler marker you will see a gate on the left, this is Shooters. Stay on TV Tower Road. Soon after passing the Shooters gate, you’ll reach the TV Towers…keep going. After a downhill and another short climb you will see a road that cuts up to the right, don’t take it. You’ll see a jeep road below you on the left traversing the steep hillside. That is part of the Morning Glory trail. Just over a quarter mile past the road you will find a makeshift “campground”, a car turnout, and a sign that reads “Cuesta Ridge Botanical Area” (assuming it hasn’t been completely riddled with bullet holes by now). The trailhead is just before the turnout, on the left.
Tighten your helmet, ride around the gate, and scream down the loose, rocky terrain. The real singletrack portion of Morning Glory starts about .8 mile down from the pavement, at the end of a technical downhill. Make a sharp left. Keep on moving through the awesome switchbacks, watch for a hard left (about .35 mile into the singletrack), and cross the gully. After a short climb you will descend a ridge on one big switchback, cross a bit of mostly flat, rolling terrain before another series of switchbacks. Then a couple of somewhat tricky creekbed crossings, and arrive at a double track that heads up…and up…and up (600 vertical feet in just over a mile). This is Shooters. Climb up Shooters, climbing on mostly singletrack, back to TV Tower Road and to wherever you parked your car. Poly Canyon can be seen down and to the right (use train tracks as guide) as you climb Shooters.
Another option for starting this ride is to climb through Poly Canyon, taking Shooters to the top of TV Towers Road. I prefer this route becuase there are fewer cars. I also like climbing Shooters on the front end of the loop instead of the tail end.
