Review Date
June 26, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: xsxc ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
The Dead Horse loop took my bicycling ass to heaven, hell (up Satan's Escalator)-LITERRALY THE NAME OF THE CARVING RED DIRT FACE LYING TO YOUR RIGHT OUT THERE SOMEWHERE. I felt the wind and rode with it till the swooping panaoramic downhill that lasts longer than any other good time to be had in the city of SIN. Careful on the trail, bring lots of water and sunscreen as it was isolated and all human activity out there in mid-May ceased- not a soul to step into my flow. Enjoyed thouroughly- I gotta see more of these trails- I bought a map at red rock cycles and it named 4 other 7-50 mile routes varying hugely in distance, but all fun and huge in scope of sightlines to vegas and the desert lets you see for miles. Next time I wanna ride Bonnie and Clyde! (50 miler running on mostly singletrack on the eastern side of the red rock area west of vegas.

Recommended Route:
From Strip: S. to Westbound 160 and out until foothills and gas station is your last sight on the left- actually, keep going up the hill for a while- most people on here refer to mile 17- I don't know honestly- i think if you look left after passing the last bit of humanity, 2-3 minutes later, on your left, is a small structure and a gravel jeeproad you make a left onto to arrive in a fair sized gravel parking area with the restroom handy and maps of the area on a signboard with a teeny tiny bit of shade underneath(the Last)

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Bonnie and Clyde/Dinosaur Teeth

Review Date
May 16, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: mudmanmike ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
One wouldn't think that there are some really great rides 30 minutes from the strip. Well these trails are just simply awesome. The trail flows with hardly anything really challenging. Good flow. Easy to get around the entire network of trails. We just slapped together a ride loop on the north side of Hwy 160. Great desert riding for all skill levels. Just watch out for the catus trees, they are everywhere north of 160. The trail surface can be a bit slick form the dry sand, and rock pebbles. I found it very challenging when moving fast. There is a trail that does wind it's way up the backside of a cliff that overlooks Blue Diamond. We never managed to try it out. It looked very techy. The ride back up to the parking lot was a little difficult due to the somewhat loose sandy soil in spots. Even though it got the lungs and legs moving, it was a very scenic ride back to the car. The south portion of the trail is a much longer loop. These have different names than cottonwood or mustang trails. Pick up a map at the local shop for a better indication of flowing loops and locations. Overall a must ride even if your in Vegas for a day.

Recommended Route:
We traveled west of the parking lot and followed a single track that parralled 160. Then take the second trail to the right. Follow the single track straight until it dumps you onto a jeep road (you will cross this road several times). Then take a left down into a wash and keep riding. Then you end up at the base of a mountain hill. Take a right and follow the single track along the base of the mountain. Keep riding the trail that follows the base of the mountain and then you end up south of the parking lot near 160. Then there are some choices for an out and back or continue right and follow the trail back to the car. There will a couple of trails that bare off to teh right, these take you back to an earlier portion of the loop. There are signs in spots that tell you which way the trail head is located.

The Blue Diamond road that you take off of I-15 is currently being widen for all the traffic and businesses. It should take only 20 minutes from the heart of the strip, but we found that it took 45 minutes in rush hour traffic (3pm to 5pm). Lots of unsequenced lights and a 2 lane road.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Bonnie and Clyde
Cottonwood area south of 160
Dinasaur Teeth
Mustang Trails

Review Date
November 15, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Visitors rate this review
4.67 of 5, 3 votes

Reviewed by: turbodog22 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
The Cottonwood loop is located around mile marker 17 on Hwy 160. Going west from Vegas, when you get around mile marker 17 you'll see some power lines on the left (south side) of 160. Before you get too close to those, there is a rock parking lot on the right. Keep an eye open, it's easy to miss.

From there, my favorite way to go is head north on the singletrack that heads out of the parking lot. (If you have two people, leave a car at in Blue Diamond at the Bike Outpost and shuttle the bikes up to Cottonwood.) This way you can scream downhill and not have to worry about the trip back up.

From the parking lot, follow the singletrack until it turn into a long, flowing, hard packed, brown dirt rollercoaster. This lead to an area where the singletrack crosses a jeep track, continue down the singletrack until you get to another crossing (singletrack and jeep track) that overlooks the town of Bonnie Springs. When facing the town, at about 5 o'clock behind you, is a single track that heads to the east around a mountain ridge. Follow this around the ridge, close to 160 and this takes you back to Blue Diamond, where you dropped off the car. The total trip is around 12 miles, and takes between 2 1/2 (with another guy) to 4 hrs (with your girlfriend).

This first time I did this trip, someone said, "Just head down from here to Blue Diamond, it's about 12 miles". We had no idea where we were going, but we eventually found our way back.

It's an awesome ride. Not as technical as Bootleg, but it is a faster track. At Bootleg, we have seen more wildlife (Big Horn Sheep and some sort of deer) at Cottonwood you will hear wild burros and see some droppings, but we have yet to see one. We have seen multiple tarantulas at Cottonwood.

Email for more info and a few GPS coordinates... turbodog22 at hotmail dot com.

Recommended Route:
From Vegas, take Hwy 160 to mile marker 17. Powerlines on left, crushed rock parking lot on right (easy to miss)

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Bootleg Canyon
Old Spanish Trail

Review Date
July 12, 2004

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: wagbarney ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
I ride here on weekday mornings and seldom see more than a few other people. Park in the lot on the north side of the highway and ride thru one of the tunnels to access the southern area or just roll onto the trail for the northern zone. Aerobically and technically it's not that tuff (don't get complacent, mind you, cuz you can get hurt here) but being able to ride in and amongst the largely unmolested desert terrain and critters is pretty boss. It's a little toasty in the summer but, at 4000', it's cooler than LV. Finish riding by 11AM, or so, and all will be well.

Recommended Route:
Around and around until you're tired.

Review Date
June 19, 2004

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: biophase ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Rode is on May 28, 2004. Parked at the first parking out just south of the rode. Rode the jeep road until we reached the second parking lot and entered the single track from there.

Rode this clockwise. Gradual climb and brakeless downhilling until you get to the southernmost part where you can barely see Vegas if you look east.

A very decent trail, not technical at all (There are a few (3) switchbacks and maybe 2 rocks). According to my bike computer, the loop was 14.3 miles.

Recommended Route:
I think you can ride it either way. Although I think counter-clockwise wouldn't have been a little better (based on the gradual climb at the beginning, it would be a great downhill to end with)