The China Mines trail was originally built sometime in 1998 and
has been steadily improved and maintained, thanks to the efforts of
a few dedicated mountain bikers who seek an alternative to the land
use policies of the M.M.W.D. and M.C.O.S.D. It's a beautiful
traverse across the west side of San Pedro Ridge and offers some
semi-technical mountain biking, linking to other less technical,
but equally fun trails.
This trail, as well as others nearby, were built by mountain
bikers, for mountain bikers. This is not to say that hikers are not
welcome — mountain bikers happily share these trails with the
hikers and runners that know about them. This cache was originally
created to serve as a cache for mountain bikers and it contained a
collection of bike-related swag.
The easiest approach for hikers is to drive to the top of
Oakdale Dr then walk up the paved road. A very short way up that
road (at N 37° 59.479 W 122° 30.753) you'll see an unmarked
trail leaving from the right. Look carefully. It's very easy to
miss and if you get to the water tank you've gone too far. It's
about a 15 minute 3/4 mile hike to the cache. The trail is quite
level with almost no elevation change. After a lot of rain the
trail traverses several gurgling seasonal creeks. During the summer
it will be bone dry.
A second option to reach the cache, adding about half a mile, is by
starting at the beginning of the trail, at N 37° 59.254' W
122° 30.993', found at the top of Aquinas Dr.
A third way is to Hike up the fire road that starts at the end of
Locust Avenue.