Rodeo is a loop trail with a designated direction of travel. You must climb the "Up" trail, and descend the "Down" trail. Sounds simple, and it is, but you'd be surprised how often people get it wrong, and cause close calls because they decided to climb the "Down" trail.

The "Down" is one of the funner trails at Lambert Park. Its not very technically challenging, but it does drop in and out of several steep sided ravines. It also allows the rider to pinball back and forth inside the ravines shooting up one side only to drop back down to the bottom, and shoot up the otherside. REALLY FUN.

The "Up" trail is a moderately steep climb that weaves in and out of the scrub oak. Its a good add to the workout available at Lambert Park, but is mostly a way to get to the top of Rodeo so you can bomb the "Down" trail.

Getting There

Once you are in Lambert Park, the trail can be accessed in one of 4 ways.

1) If you parked at the Alpine Rodeo Arena, you are basically at the top of Rodeo, and it will be your first trail. This is a fun way to start, but I prefer to park at the south end of the park, and do the "Up" Trail first, and then descend Rodeo's "Down" trail to begin my downhill return to the car.

2) You can access Lambert from the top of the Spring Trail (reviewed separately) via a short twisty trail called Middle Spring (also reviewed separately). This approach brings you into Rodeo at the top very near the rodeo grounds parking area.

3) Rodeo is also accessible by completing the Spring Trail and then crossing the road to pick up a very short spur that merges into Rodeo Up just before it crosses Rodeo Down. This allows you to either climb half of Up, and descend all of Down, or just descend the lower half of Down without any climbing.

4)The final way to access the Rodeo trail is from the bottom/western end of the trail by climbing the Middle Trail (reviewed separately). It begins at Middle's northern terminus.

When to Bike

Rodeo is generally rideable most of the year. Since the trail is shaded, it holds snow longer than most of the rest of the trails in Lambert Park. If its an especially snowy winter, the trail may have periods where its unrideable. Also, it is slow to dry when muddy (like a warm day after a snow) so be prepared to bypass it if its been wet.