Level: Intermediate
Length: 5 mi (8 km)
Surface: Doubletrack
Configuration: Out & Back
Elevation: -
Total: 4 riders
Mountain Biking Lucas Canyon (t251)
#94 of 283 mountain bike trails in New Mexico
Trail starts out as a short, steep rocky (think babyhead...) section for about 1/4 mile, then you hit the top of the climb and it's relatively smooth sailing all the way to the bottom of the trail.
Lots of flowy downhill slalom type action with a few technical (rocks, roots, and ruts) sections to keep you honest.
About 3.5 miles of this trail are going downhill, so you won't do much pedaling on the way down. Just navigating to the line of your choice.
Trail starts at 9,560 ft and drops down to 8,050 ft at bottom.
Once you hit the bottom trailhead you have three options: 1. Ride back up the way you came, 2. Ride up Russia Canyon to NM6563 to FR223 back to the trailhead (about 16 mile round trip), or 3. Shuttle.
First added by pawndream on Jul 11, 2010. Last updated Apr 28, 2020. → add an update
Before you go
- Drinking water: unknown
- Lift service: unknown
- Night riding: unknown
- Pump track: unknown
- Restrooms: unknown
- Fat bike grooming: unknown
- E-bikes allowed: unknown
- Fee required: unknown
This trail information is user-generated. Help improve this information by suggesting a correction.
To reach upper trailhead (coming from Cloudcroft) take 130 towards Sunspot Highway (NM6563). Turn right on NM6563. Go about .2 miles past mile marker 6. Turn left on Forest Road (FR) 223 - Benson Ridge Road. Follow the road about 3.7 miles. 223 will run into T5005. Take a left and look for the trailhead shortly after turning at the intersection.
Upper trailhead starts out kind of rough. Very rocky climb right out of the gate. Rideable, but technically challenging. The good news is that even if you can't make it all the way up, it's only about a 1/4 mile before you reach the top of that first climb.
Then it's mostly downhill for the rest of the 5 mile trail, with maybe a one mile section of terrain where it levels out.
The trail is basically doubletrack with lots of options for picking different lines all the way down. Good mix of berms, rocks, roots, and waterbars to keep things interesting. Watch out for the occasional deep rut or muddy section.
This trail can be as difficult as you want it to be. Take it slow if you want to keep it tame. Let go of the brakes if you want to live on the edge. You can gain a lot of speed on this trail!
Great views along the way and you end up going through a wide variety of terrain. There's also numerous unmarked logging roads shooting off this trail, so there's room to explore as well.
Recommended Route:
Start at the upper trailhead (in trail description) and head all the way to bottom.
I like making a loop out of this trail as mentioned in the trail description. Russia Canyon is pretty moderate grade all the way back up to Sunspot Highway, so it's a good fireroad climb that's not too demanding.
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