The Cottonwood Valley Trail System - North trails feature multiple trails of varying skill level which intersect. Following the directions to trailhead above will provide a choice between Landmine Loop and The Hurl. Other trails in this area are Lil' Daytone, Molly's, Inner Loop, Cactus Slalom, Lawnmower, Rubber Duck, Middle Fork, Old Spanish, Late Night, and Mustang. This area is BLM land and does have wild horses and wild burros; although they will mostly avoid bikers on the trail I have suddenly encountered a mother and baby burro at a turn. Be aware this is desert area and the heat can truly be intense - make sure to bring lots of water. There are rock gardens, steep inclines, flowy singletrack, and more fun to be had by patching together your favorite trails. Parking in town is a luxury in such a small community. Please be kind and courteous to ensure hikers and mountain bikers continue to be afforded this level of access.
Take Blue Diamond Road West then turn right on Castalia St. to Blue Diamond. Park at the McGhie's Bike Outpost then ride Southeast on Cottonwood Dr. and turn right on Cerrito. The trails will begin on your right just as Cerrito turns sharply left.
Rode 12 miles yesterday and its a blast. Very fast and scenic. Rented a bike from McGhies outpost and Blake is an awesome guy that will take care of ya if you need a rental. I can't wait to come back. Also the trails are very well marked with recent signage installed.
Beginner trail, another way to go back to town if you don't want bombing down the puke hill or the long climbs on the blue diamond loop. This is fast fun pumpy flowy trail!
What a blast this trail is. Even on a rental 29er I had a great time. The folks at Broken Spoke were great for the rental and advice/directions. I highly recommend the "Hurl" trail. It was quite a challenge for one used to east coast single track, but the view was worth the challenge
Visiting from NC rode several trails over the course of my stay.... Tons of fun, friendly people on the trails not to technical but plenty of down hill sections to put a smile on your face and get you out of the smoky casinos
Fun XC trails that can be linked to make some longer rides. No real technical challenges but the scenery is great. Good place to just rack up the miles.
This was the first MTB ride I had done. I recently just got into the sport. I thought the trail had some challenging obstacles for a beginner but I got through them just fine. The up hills had a good burn but well worth it for the fun technical down hills with some switch backs. It was a 7 mile loop and we ended where we started. For more challenging trails just turn off the main trail onto the forks. It's marked well. Lots of fun.
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.
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.
Rad trail in a rad trail network. True singletrack thru flowy, Joshua tree infested desert with a bit of rocky fun thrown in every so often.
| ThankRode 12 miles yesterday and its a blast. Very fast and scenic. Rented a bike from McGhies outpost and Blake is an awesome guy that will take care of ya if you need a rental. I can't wait to come back. Also the trails are very well marked with recent signage installed.
| ThankBeginner trail, another way to go back to town if you don't want bombing down the puke hill or the long climbs on the blue diamond loop. This is fast fun pumpy flowy trail!
| ThankWhat a blast this trail is. Even on a rental 29er I had a great time. The folks at Broken Spoke were great for the rental and advice/directions. I highly recommend the "Hurl" trail. It was quite a challenge for one used to east coast single track, but the view was worth the challenge
| ThankVisiting from NC rode several trails over the course of my stay.... Tons of fun, friendly people on the trails not to technical but plenty of down hill sections to put a smile on your face and get you out of the smoky casinos
| ThankHonestly I found this trail system quite boring. White rhino was OK though. Fortunately St. George is only 90 minutes away.
| ThankFun XC trails that can be linked to make some longer rides. No real technical challenges but the scenery is great. Good place to just rack up the miles.
| ThankThis was the first MTB ride I had done. I recently just got into the sport. I thought the trail had some challenging obstacles for a beginner but I got through them just fine. The up hills had a good burn but well worth it for the fun technical down hills with some switch backs. It was a 7 mile loop and we ended where we started. For more challenging trails just turn off the main trail onto the forks. It's marked well. Lots of fun.
| ThankGreat beginner trail! This trail is good, but you need more for the intermediate bikers.
| ThankThe 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!
| ThankOnly 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.
| ThankThe 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.
| ThankThis 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!
| ThankFill your waterpack - went through almost 100oz in just over an hour.