Thanks again to Jibmaster for a great new place to ride!
I rode it last Wednesday and will ride it again and again. The trail itself is buff single track fresh from the trail machine (1 year old) and will only improve with age. It has no large climbs or descents and no techy stuff at all. I would highly recommend this trail for spouses or friends new to mountain biking but I would also recommend this trail to all bikers for a fast flowy ride.
I compare this trail to the Salmon Falls trail (Darrington trail) minus the first mile and the other rocky tech sections. However, Lake Berryessa is an incredible scenic lake from the trail and the views beat salmon falls hands down. It is in a narrow valley with high ridges on all sides.
Jibmaster got the bridges right. They are all fantastic works of masonry art. I think that this trail will ultimately become known for its bridges as much as the trail. The trail is short at about 5 miles one way but there are short cuts that cut off some of the rides around peninsulas on the shore. I added a few miles by riding the cutoffs on the way back and looping them on the shore - I was not ready to be done with this trail yet!
On Friday, my wife and I walked most of the trail with the border/lab crosses. It's also a great hike with golden eagles, balds, and lots of other wildlife including a coyote that the blasted dogs disappeared after. They finished the hike on leash after disappearing across the highway for 15 minutes.
Some warnings however: Much of the trail is in a geologic formation called "glue mud" and you do not want to ride here when the trail is wet. It is perfect right now. Also, the inner coast range is an incredibly hot place in the late spring, summer, and you don't want to be riding there when it is hot.
I would recommend this trail to all riders to try. It is a gem and will only disappoint red bull wannabes - they may even like it as a mellow alternative to chunk.
There's a trail map here:
http://tuleyome.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/north-end-trail-map.pdf
And, thanks again to our explorer Jibmaster who has turned me on to Moore Creek Park, the Valentine Vista trail, the Knoxville wildlife area trails, and to others with his great write ups and videos.
And, his posts on the Telemark Tips forum led me to drive within a mile of the Northgate trailhead on the north side of Mt. Shasta and to ski up the treed ramp, through the narrow chute, and onto the wide snowfields above tree line and below the edifice of this great volcano. It was one of the best ski days of the last decade on super spring corn snow. I hope snow comes soon.