Berryessa Rim Trail (BRT)

[jimtr]

113 KM (70mile) trail circumnavigates Lake Berryessa in Napa/Solano/Yolo counties of California.
Starts at the Junction of Mix Canyon Road and Pleasants Valley Road Just north of the Town of Vacaville, CA.
5 miles uphill to Mount Vaca ( radio & cell towers-cannot miss)
5 miles downhill thru flat valley to Markley Cove. Boat launch marina and grill. water,toilet,store food.
15 miles follow along dirt trail next to Knoxville Road-rightside views of the lake to Spanish Flats, & Snell Peak for 360 views
5 miles to Snell Peak.
20 miles long straight stretch going north away from Lake as trail follows terrain until you reach crest and turn 180 going south.
 You are in the "Blue Ridge Mountains" with amazing views as the sunsets on my run.
10 miles Anderson Mountain Peak looks southward to the Berryessa Dam. Power lines seen across the valley
Scribner Mountain peak comes into view and climb it for views.
Jackson Peak follows 5 miles to Highway 128 crossing around a trailer campground park on northside of Putah Creek (flows from Dam)
Crossing Highway 128 to southern side to begin last trail section along ridge to Mix canyon junction. Left onto Mix Canyon road with return
to trail head where I started 21 hours:5 minutes  or 3.5 mph. I am a new runner like GingerRunner.com and enjoy new trail loop courses.
This is THE FKT for the BRT.
Please post and let me know how you enjoyed the open trail. July 2015 fires have opened up the terrain for even cross country travel.
You dont have to follow this BRT but you may get lost if you dont or meet rattlesnakes in the middle of the road (sunning).                                                                                                   

[Mark Helmus]

I live in Vacaville,know the Mt.Vaca area,and this is impressive! How did you run trail from Hwy 128 to the top of Mix Canyon? Didn't you encounter locked gates and hermit mountain folk with guns and pit bulls? I would like to do some of your route if you say it is feasible. Also, was it easy to descend from Mt. Vaca to Markley Cove? I'd love feedback.

[fredleach]

jimtr, do you have any GPS tracks of this run?

[royharju]

I was excited to hear about this supposed Berryessa Rim Trail that jimtr speaks of. Lake Berryessa is about an hour from my house, and a love a route that circumnavigates some sort of geographic feature, so was curious about the route. Jimtr did not provide a GPS track to study, but based on his point to point description I thought I’d map out his route. I am a mapper by profession, but for this exercise I used the Strava route builder tool so that the route would be available for runners/bikers to view. I have not as yet traveled the route, only propose a possible route.

As I mapped the route that was listed, it raised quite a few red flags that made we question if his route was real.
Starting with the start/end point of the intersection of Mix Canyon Road and Pleasant Valley Road. This start point makes no sense if the goal is just to circle the lake. The first 10 miles and the last 10 miles are essentially an out and back over Mount Vaca. That route comes out to about 80 miles. It would make much more sense to start the route either at Markley Cove or at the dam which calculates to about 60 miles.

The next section that jimtr describes is “15 miles follow along dirt trail next to Knoxville Road”. I fail to see this trail. There are some trails that criss-cross Knoxville Road, but I don’t see how a viable route can be put together using them.

The section: “20 miles long straight stretch going north away from Lake as trail follows terrain until you reach crest and turn 180 going south” can only be Knoxville Road. There are no parallel trails. There is no dirt shoulder either, it is a narrow windy road with no shoulder and frequented by vehicles towing boats which would make for a dangerous running route. There are also 3 bridge crossings. The 180 turn he mentions is clearly East Side Road, a dirt road that follows the east side of the lake. When East Side Road ends is where the route gets very complex and hilly. There are quite a few fireroads that criss-cross the area. Navigating this in the dark, as jimtr would have done after enjoying the sunset, would be challenging for an experienced run, let alone a new runner.

Jimtr also failed to mention where he would have refilled his water after leaving Markley Cove. Spanish Flat has a few amenities including a general store. But the rest of the route, especially the portion on the east side of the lake is very remote and lacking in any amenities.

In my opinion, a feasible route would be 60 miles with 35 on road and 25 on trails. Because the road miles would be quite dangerous on foot, I see this more as a mixed terrain bike ride: either on a mountain bike or a gravel bike. I look forward to exploring it. And I thank jimtr for the inspiration, if not the actual route. I would love to be proven wrong by Jimtr, and would sincerely apologize if that were the case. And we as a community would benefit from further clarity.

www.strava.com/routes/7709742