Carmel Valley Pump Track | San Diego

Carmel Valley Pump Track is a great representation of the skate/surf culture in southern California. The flow and banked turns of this pump track make it a great place to come and surf the cement! This pump tracks has multiple routes of various difficulties which caters to riders of different skill levels. And it’s a lot of fun for riding a longboard in a pump track.

First Impression: Carmel Valley Pump Track

Upon arrival at Carmel Valley Pump Track you notice the lengthy track as well as the areas of endless smooth transitions for continuous pumping. After observing both tracks, riders will notice that the track to the left is a bit more advanced. The track to the right is great for warming up and getting a feel for this pump track.

Pros: many great smooth transitions and banked turns of multiple sizes and difficulty levels, multiple routes

Cons: The track to the right has many transitions that are at a sharp but rounded angle. These transitions are smooth but cause the bottom of a longboard to scrape along every hump in the track.

Know Before You Go: Carmel Valley Pump Track is located within the larger Pacific Highlands Ranch Rec Center. The park has a dog park, sidewalks to cruise on, ball fields, workout stations, picnic stations, basketball court and more.

Directions: Click here for directions to Carmel Valley Pump Track.

Riders Thoughts:

The Carmel Valley Pump Track is not the largest pump track but it is a lot of fun! Getting started, there are mellow ramps that merge onto the pump track allowing riders to enter with the flow of traffic.

When we were here, we experienced many others including bikes, skateboards, scooters and riders of all age levels. But the flow of traffic was well organized and helped avoid any collisions. Traffic wasn’t really an issue here.

The track to the right has smaller features and includes many repetitive small humps that are great for teaching riders the mechanics of how a pump track works. These humps also provide riders with the opportunity to easily build and maintain speed throughout the route. It’s a great place to start when you first arrive at the Carmel Valley Pump Track.

Be aware the small repetitive humps on this side of the pump track are at a steep angle and will likely cause a longboard to bottom out on every hump. If you’re not aware, this can really throw off a riders flow and may result in a crash. It also may cause damage to your longboard so rails may help. Or you can skip this side altogether and check out the route on the left side of the track.

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The left track was the highlight of my experience at the Carmel Valley Pump Track. This side of the pump track has larger banked turns and more dramatic features. The smooth transitions and features make it possible for riders to reverse their flow on the track and be creative while making new lines and taking turns in different directions.

This side of the pump track is great for riding a longboard in a pump track because the humps in the track are at good angles and the smooth transitions provide plenty of clearance for a longboard deck. The flowy transitions and directions of banked turns give riders a very surf like experience when longboarding in the pump track.

The track on the left has multiple points of entry which can put riders skills to the test. Some of these entry points can be taken at odd angles which can be a lot of fun but can also be sketchy.

All of this continuous pumping can be quite exhausting. Luckily, if you need to take a break there are picnic tables right in the middle of the pump track as well as water fountains nearby.

The size of the obstacles in the Carmel Valley Pump Track are smaller than some of the larger pump tracks such as the Temecula and Broomfield Pump Tracks. Another difference that I noticed is the smooth pavement on this pump track is different than most of the asphalt pump tracks that we have visited recently. I found that the cement of this pump track is more comparable to the cement of most skateparks. This cement was a little bit slicker than the asphalt pavement making it well suited for a little bit harder of wheels.

Thanks for reading!

Longboarding in Carmel Valley Pump Track was a lot of fun! We’ve visited several pump tracks as well as many skateparks across the country. Check out the links below to see some of our favorites!

• Frisco Skatepark
• Granite Skatepark in Sacramento
• Volcom Brother Skatepark in Mammoth Lakes

To sustain our full time on the road lifestyle, we create hand painted longboards. You can check out our latest line up at our Lost Coast Longboarding Shop! We also design and screen print our own t-shirts.

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