From Big Hole Pass ride south away from the pass on the two track road. There are a couple short steep climbs, look for the Continental Divide Trail on the left after about a mile.
The CDT is good, rolling singletrack through woods for close to 2 miles then comes to a hunting camp on a ridge and meets a two-track.
Look for a gate across the road and descend on this steep road. There is new trail being constructed rerouting the CDT away from this road and is not yet complete as of early 2013.
The steep roadbed levels out, descends more gradually and is generally overgrown making it more like singletrack. Signs of old mining activity are everywhere and the road comes to a major stream crossing.
After getting your feet wet, follow the road past the old cabin then to a trail junction. Go right, away from the CDT and onto Sheep Creek Trail. The road bed drops to another stream crossing.
Here the ride joins singletrack and stays fairly close to the creek briefly then climbs steeply away from it. The trail continues to climb, about 1000' in the next 2 miles, and is mostly ridable w/ short steep pushes mixed w/ level sidehills.
The trail crosses a ridge and descends 500' vertical then sidehills across an open face to another ridge.
Now the trail drops through the woods on great singletrack, steeply at times, for 1200' in Elkhorn Gulch.
At the bottom is another shallow stream crossing and the ride stays on the right side of Sheep Creek. The shrubs can get thick along this stretch and the trail then comes out on gravel road.
Follow this down the canyon to the highway.
Another great all mountain shuttle ride in the Salmon area.
Ride this one as a loop: Park at Sheep Creek, take the highway to Gibbonsville then the Dahlonega Road to Big Hole Pass. This loop is 27 miles and 4800' vert.
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