Riddle & Wall Trail

I will start with the Riddle trail.  This is a very easy/beginner trail and there are a few different ways to do it.  I think most locals access it from the Mayer/Second Gulch trail.  You can also access it from a side trail off Hardscrabble Road, but I don’t know that this trail has a name.  Anyway, if you access it from either of these two points, you are starting the Riddle trail at the same location.  From this starting point, it is a gradual downhill double track for about a half mile.  Right after it starts going up hill, you have to cross a cattle guard.  From this point on it is a very small climb on smooth single track.  You eventually come to the gravel road.  Beginners can opt out here by taking a left on the road.

If you continue across the road you have some pretty easy single track until you cross the next cattle guard.  At this point, the trail is called “The Wall” trail.  It becomes a little more difficult for the next mile or so.  If I was to rate it’s difficulty, I would give it a high beginner or a low intermediate rating.   It does have a steep drop to the right (if you are coming down).  It isn’t a cliff or anything like that, but it can still be intimidating.  You then have a few windy turns and some loose rock to navigate and then a final downhill until it levels out again.

You can hang a right at the bottom of the downhill to get back to the road or you can continue straight along the ridge and eventually wind up back at the start of the Mayer/Second Gulch trail.

Now, if you are looking for more of a challenge, start at the Mayer/Second Gulch trail and do the wall first, then to Riddle, then back to Mayer/Second Gulch trail.  This direction will definitely get you more climbing and it is steeper going this way as well.