Cutoff Trail

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Getting There: Getting to the trails is a little confusing since this area has
a ton of trails, tracks, and roads crisscrossing all over the place and none of the
trails are signed. If you are trying to start from Ely I would advise bringing a GPS
or a local guide for your first time out, otherwise you'll have to rely on your sixth
trail sense. Maybe we'll have these trails signed or marked with flagging by next
spring. That said the directions and map start at the water tanks next to the High
School off of the Hwy 6 bypass. You can easily ride to here from downtown Ely.
Start near the High School and the water tank with the large Bobcat mural on it
(GPS 001) and head south on Bobcat Drive towards the college. On your right
as the road curves left towards the college you'll see a series of berms, jumps,
and trails. Head into this spaghetti bowl and ride west towards the mountains on
the quad width trail that runs along a small ditch. You'll know you're heading the
right way when you come upon an abandoned car, follow the trail left and keep
going on this, ignoring all the side trails, until you get to the poleline road (GPS
030),
about 1.25 miles from where you started on Hwy 6. Remember this junction since
you'll loop back to here. If you've made it this far congratulations.
Directions for All Trails: Cross the poleline road and keep heading
west on the same quad trail towards the mountains. There's a spaghetti bowl of
trails in here that all end up in the same place. Take the narrowest one on the
right side, you should be able to get glimpses into a big canyon on your right.
Keep climbing up and after about 1.75 miles you should see a trail that goes off
to your right with a big rolling berm at the top of it. This is the top of Whoops
which loops back to the trail you just came up (see directions for Whoops later
on).
Another ¼ of a mile you should see a faint single-track trail coming in on your
left,
(GPS 031) this is the Cutoff which ties into the upper trails coming down.

Keep climbing and in a short while (.14 miles according to TOPO) you might see
a very hidden piece of single-track on your left (it's hidden so wider things don't
use it GPS 009), this loops around to avoid a nasty climb. Look for it when
you're halfway up the second steep pitch of the climb. If you miss it no worries,
just climb the nasty hill and keep going. About ½ a mile from the Cutoff there
is again a very hidden piece of single-track on your left (GPS 012). Look for it
on a mellow twisty section right after a couple of steeper climbs. This is the
cutoff for Lower Coyotes.

For Upper Coyotes keep climbing up Ice Plant Canyon until you top out at
8,200'. On your right you'll see the connector trail (GPS 017) that takes you over
to Ward Rec. Area (see that trail description for more info). From here it is mostly
all downhill. Watch out for the first pitch, it is STEEP! After that smooth sailing
and
some fun cruising downhill with a couple of unexpected peddles. Once you hit
the fence line keep following the trail downhill, again watch out for another STEEP
section! Keep cruising on this super fun downhill. When you hit a crest after a
little
bit of pedaling and before the next downhill pitch look to your left (GPS 023), this
is where Lower Coyotes comes in (A fun alternative is to cross back over on this
and then hit Whoops). At the tail end of this next downhill section it'll flatten out
with some whoops, slow down and look to your left for a single-track trail. Follow
this, and after a little while you'll see the Cutoff coming in on your left, then keep
an
eye out on your left for some sneaky sections of single-track to avoid stupid
climbs.
Hopefully you find them, if not, life goes on and you climb harder. Enjoy Upper
Slalom until it spits you out on a dirt road, cross straight over the road and
continue
with lower Slalom. This dumps you out onto the poleline, head North and tie back
in with the trail you came up, then head back into Ely.

Description for Whoops: This is a fun little side trail (GPS 008) with
some big whoops that were created by the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent
flooding in Ely. The only tricky part with this trail is the exit. If you miss it, you'll
end up in the bottom of Ice Plant Canyon and the only way out is to throw the
bike over the shoulder and hike. Not a fun experience for anyone. After ¾ of a
mile the trail will follow one of the drainage channels to the right (GPS 007), you
should see tracks, and connect back with the trail you climbed up. Climb up and
take Cutoff over to hit upper and lower slalom or just head down.