Directions:
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Description: Rode this one the first time September 14, 2002. Took a little used traile caled "Hurl" to the top of the meda west of Blue Diamond. The trip up was a hike, bue well worth the long ride down. Lots of rocks and steep drop offs.
The first time I did this trail was about 8 years ago and I completely forgot how hard it was back then! I rode the first approx. 3 miles and promptly turned around...the downhill was really, really fun and was worth the burn! This is an awesome ride for those more conditioned than me!
Only rode up the 3 mile smile section to get to the spectacular view as fast as possible. Pictures don't do it justice. It was a tough climb for me to get up there though. Every foot on the way to the top was either uphill or very uphill. Felt like a lot more than 3 miles. But going down was fast and fun. I didn't time it, but if it took 45 minutes to get to the top it was less than 10 to get back to the parking lot. Tough to keep the speed under control because it was so fun, so I ended up with one unplanned dismount. Fortunately I didn't land in a cactus.
I think this is where I rode? Killer uphills out..FAST rocky downhills, and a killer view of the strip from one point! Only for experienced....you go straight out on 1 side, and are about 8 miles from the road at the far end, I know, my rental bike screwed me and I had to walk back in.....the other side of the road is all contained in an area, but still rocks.it is a ride you must do..it is the desert...bring plenty of supplies and ride early in the day..just in case.
The climb from town is a challenge. There are lots of rock steps up and drops coming down, but all rideable for a strong, skilled rider. Once you're at the southeast corner of the loop, you can connect with over a hundred miles of fast (sometimes sandy) desert singletrack.
This trail was sweet...hard-hard sandstone. Lungbusting climb from parking lot at first. Fun singletrack through scrub, cactus, and joshua trees. Nice views throughout, best view is at turnaround to head back to parking lot - can look down on Vegas (over 20 miles away!) off a steep hill overlooking a valley. Return is superfast and twisty off-camber singletrack down through a ravine. Crashed twice and one pinchflat when I couldn't keep the bike on the ground coming back in the ravine - yeah, that's how fast it is!
Fill your waterpack - went through almost 100oz in just over an hour.