Goodwater Loop of Lake Georgetown

Overview

The Goodwater Loop AKA "The Dragon" is a technical trail with lots of technical sections of "Cheese Grater" limestone rocks.

The sections of doubletrack make up for their easiness with AWESOME views of the San Gabriel River prairies. These are mixed with sections of intermittent singletrack that weave through the cedars and prickly pear cactus along the banks of the San Gabriel River.

Terrain

Despite the ease of doubletrack sections along this trail, the Goodwater Loop is a fairly technical trail with lots of sections of "Cheese Grater" granite rocks. While it's mostly flat, there are several sections of short, but very steep ascents/descents.

The Goodwater Loop passes through many old rock walls, foundations, several indian burned rock middens, a prehistoric campsite and 2 historic crossings. Historical markers are located along all these points of interest.

Access

The Goodwater Loop has several trailheads/parks and other access points along its 26 miles. You can even start right from Downtown Georgetown on the North San Gabriel River Trail.

If you are a biker (or hiker), there's no fee to enter at the gated and attended park entrances, and you can achieve free entry through plentiful parking available outside of the gated parks. However, you may wish to drive closer and pay the entrance fee, with money going back to park conservation and maintenance.

The mile markers start at Cedar Breaks Park, and runs in a clockwise direction.

Features: eMTB allowed

Dogs: Leashed

More details

Starting at Cedar Breaks Park (mile marker 0), head west along some very tough and technical sections of the "Cheese Grater" granite rocks. From there, the trail passes through an old homestead, then crosses the creek at historic Crockett Garden. The trail continues through remains of old rock walls, crossing over several deep creek beds via small foot bridges, then continues on through Sawyer Park.

After Sawyer Park, the trail climbs and descends along the south banks and prairies of the North Fork San Gabriel River. After crossing over and through the scenic overlook at Jim Hogg Hollow, the trail drops off into the prairies and runs along the south banks of the river, with awesome views of the higher north banks of the river.

Eventually, the Goodwater Loop passes through the edge of the Tejas Campground and crosses over the North Fork San Gabriel River on the narrow CR 258 bridge/Hunt Crossing. Just after crossing over the bridge, look for the trailmarker on your right. From here, the trail follows along the north banks of the river. After a short climb, the trail passes through a prehistoric campsite and through a dry creekbed crossing.

From here, the trail turns right onto a short section of doubletrack, then you'll need to be on the look-out for the singletrack veering off to the right. This nice and short section of singletrack weaves through cedars and prickly pear cactus on the north banks of the river that can be seen from trail along the southern bank. The Goodwater Loop then follows along Booty's Road, just before Box Crossing. Although this section is flat, it has awesome views of the river's prairies, Jim Hogg Hollow and the back waters of Lake Georgetown.

At the end of Booty's Road, the trail turns left and back into singletrack, climbing up to Russell Park. After Russell Park, the singletrack continues through a variety of terrain, passing through more old rock walls, a burned midden site, and an awesome stone wall switchback before reaching Jim Hogg Park. After J. Hogg Park, the trail is all singletrack to the Overlook Trailhead.

From the Overlook Trailhead, the Goodwater Loop is a closed, paved road that runs along the top of the Lake Georgetown Dam and ends at Cedar Breaks Park. If you do want an additional workout, take the paved trail that leads down to the section of the San Gabriel/Georgetown Greenway, turn around and make the climb back up to the road atop the dam.

Many riders start at downtown Georgetown and take the greenway to the Goodwater Loop.

Some of the information on this page has been sourced from:

https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/6045531/goodwater-loop-of-lake-georgetown-imba-epic