I saw a blurb about this in a tourist magazine while eating breakfast in Steamboat and decided to check it out. Was very pleasantly surprised - although pretty short (even with the side trip out and back to the wilderness boundary) it was a worthwhile ride.
Head up Mad Creek Trail a couple miles at most. This is generally wide hardpack with a few broken sections - lots of dogs and hikers. You'll hit Saddle Trail on your left. You can take this or continue up the main trail all the way to the wilderness boundary (couple miles more) to add some fun, fairly easy singletrack. Take Saddle Trail and begin an "extended" climb to the intersection of Red Dirt. This starts a skinnier, fun singletrack descent back to the road. Here, ride south on the road about a mile or so back to the trailhead.
 | Mad Creek |   | 2 mi |
| Red Dirt Trail | | 6 mi |
 | Saddle Cutover Trail | | 1 mi |
| Saddle Trail | | 1 mi |
Great trail, especially after work riding with zero-minimal people. Rode up Mad Creek Trail (is it actually called Swamp-something?) until you reach the Zirkel Wilderness sign. Turn around, rip back down that tight singletrack (fun), and I stayed right at every junction possible. You'll eventually get to the junction with Red Dirt trail, where there's a trail sign. I went left to go down Red Dirt, which was a blast - steep in parts, rocky in parts, switchbacky, little bit exposed here and there. Fun all round, feels like you get in the backcountry quick. Multiple different ways to ride it looks like.
| ThankRelatively steep singletrack connecting Mad Creek to Red Dirt.
| ThankMost of red dirt should be referred to as "black dirt," as the loam beneath the aspens is ridiculously awesome! This trail is a fast, fun descent, with a few techy sections and some great flowy, swoopy sections. I could ride this all day!
| ThankGreat loop for as short as it was, with an awesome descent down Red Dirt. Also, there are some great additional out-and-back options that you can tack onto this loop.
| ThankThe Mad Creek trail itself was a bit of a letdown, but it access other great trails like Swamp Park and Red Dirt
| ThankNice animal-made singletrack, but nothing too special. Really just functions as a connector trail.
| ThankAwesome ride around mad river side with the huge drop off to the one side and red dirt was real fun too but can't ride the whole way thru yet still snow
| ThankIncredible views traveling up and some nice fast and thin downhill on red dirt. Holds up nice after a rain
| Thank