Everything you need to know

Trail Details

Experience focused

something for everyone and variety to keep things fresh

The trail system was designed and constructed to provide the widest possible range of trail experiences while also emphasizing the strengths of the property.  

On the trail system a whole, large berms and other dirt sculpting has been kept to a minimum, because in many areas the soil is not clay-heavy enough to hold those shapes well over time.  Rather, we have emphasized our awesome rock content by putting significant effort into gathering rock and placing it into the trail in challenging and interesting ways.  Jumps and berms have been concentrated on a handful of trails that are near the trailhead or otherwise easily accessible for routine, machine-based maintenance.

On the blue and black trails, we’ve made a concerted effort to avoid monotony by creating corners that don’t have a perfect radius or tons of support, laying out tight and twisty corridors, placing rocks that try to push you in wrong direction, and generally doing our best to keep the trails from feeling too “paint-by-numbers.” And we’ve worked hard to give each trail a style that’s different from most of other trails.

The hiking-only trails are meant to complement the green multiuse trails and the troads.  Like the green multiuse trails, the troads offer a relatively wide, flat, and smooth “walking path” experience. Conversely, the hiking-only trails are narrower and hand-built. Additionally, the hiking-only trails have very few intersections or road crossings and are situated so that users very rarely see other trails. As a result, they offer a great sense of remoteness and wonderfully peaceful experience.

As a result, we think the trails reflect some of the best aspects of both modern, machine-built trails as well as more traditional, hand-built trails, and thus offer an impressively wide array of experiences.

A SENSE OF ADVENTURE

DON'T HEAD OUT UNPREPARED

Outside of the green multiuse and hiking trails, the trail system is not divided into separate and distinct loops.  And other than some of the green loops, none of the multiuse trails are directional.  The resulting freedom to piece together trails (or even portions of trails) to create different routes is intended to create a greater sense of adventure and help keep things from getting stale.  While we are proud of the job we’ve done signing the trails, be sure to study the map, download a navigation app, and take responsibility for knowing where you are and how to get back to the trailhead.  The trails are not a fitness facility or amusement park.

MORE DETAILS

PICK THE RIGHT TRAILS FOR YOU

We are especially proud of the resources we devoted to building excellent green trails that are fun for a wide range of users.  These trails are very accessible to bikers as well as hikers and runners.  As a result, they are and always will be the most heavily utilized trails.  Accordingly, they are directional by day, with foot traffic traveling one direction and bikers traveling the other.  This means riders will encounter fewer riders, and hikers will not have riders constantly coming up behind them, with the overall result being a less crowded feeling and better experience.

For hikers looking to explore the blue and black multiuse trails, the trails most likely to offer the best experience are Lonely Hunter and Tie Snake.  The blue and black multiuse trails on which you are likely to encounter the most bikes are Chufi and Primus (including Sittin’ Pretty below The Bullseye) because they are close to the trailhead and drop off the ridge.

We encourage all users to use your common sense based on the number of cars at the trailhead.  For example, if it’s a beautiful weekend day, there are a lot of people out, and you are going on a hike with a large group or younger kids, you’re probably going to have the best experience on the hiking trails or troads.  Similarly, if you are an advanced rider who wants a fast, uninterrupted ride, then it’s probably not a great day to ride the green trails.  And for all users it might be a good day to consider using Quick Draw or Straight Shot to get up on the ridge instead of Chufi or Primus.

For the most part, there are meaningful distinctions between our green, blue, and black trails. We didn’t haphazardly build trails and then label the easiest ones green, etc. The blue trails are materially more challenging than the green trails and have some rocky, difficult sections, with Lonely Hunter and Primus offering the smallest increase in difficulty over the green trails.

For people looking for an experience that is more “teal” (the color you get if you mix green and blue), a great place to start is using Primary Goods, Bimini, Lonely Hunter, Primus, and Viberations to create an outer loop that offers a step up in difficulty and a more remote feeling than the green trails.  You can also use Primary Goods, Doughboy, Sittin’ Pretty, and Primus to create an inner teal loop with some great views, but this loop is a slight step up in difficulty from the outer teal loop due to a few sections on Sittin’ Pretty. 

Once you’re comfortable on those trails, you can graduate to Chufi.  And when you’re feeling good descending Chufi, Tie Snake and Scrambled Dog are great choices for your first black trails.  Climbing up Tie Snake is markedly easier than Scrambled Dog, and riding Tie Snake as an out-and-back would give you a chance to see what you’re getting into on the way up.  

For bikers chasing the descents, Quick Draw and Straight Shot provide great ways to get up onto the ridge quickly. The Bug is fast, flowy green trail. After it, Cyclone Gallop is a flowy blue trail, just be sure to scope out the various options at the drop (there’s a ride around). And you may want to try some of the multiuse trails before giving Lickety Split a shot. Chufi offers some great rocky sections and features, while using Sittin’ Pretty and Primus to descend from The Bullseye offers a less technical run. Even though it’s black, Scrambled Dog is a slower speed descent compared to Lickety Split and sees relatively little climbing traffic.