Lajitas Trails Outer Loop

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This is a great loop if you want to get an excellent sampling of the Lajitas trails. It has great flow and will put a smile on your face. Sections like Fun Valley make it a Big Bend classic. Combine it with a lap of Loop 3 when you are finished to get all of the best singletrack Lajitas has to offer in an excellent 20 mile ride.

Head out from the Lajitas Airport Trailhead to the north leg of Loop 3, locally called the Singlespeed trail. It's a flowing, gradually uphill ride for severally miles, followed by a fast run out to Well's Creek. There is a nice downstream section through the creek botton and then you'll follow the Loop 3-4 split to the left and follow the signs for Loop 4 out of the creek.

From here it's several miles of fast and flowing singletrack with numerous dips and short steep climbs and descents. At mile 6 the trail crosses a creek and hits an old jeep road for several miles. The road is nice riding and has great views of the Mesa de Anquila off to the south. Look for the signed turn-off onto JR's singletrack at the botton of a steep hill.

The next 3.5 miles are pure fun with flowing technical singletrack that offers lots of challenge in the form of steep grades and fast technical sections. The trail will cross a jeep road (Loop 1) but the singletrack right across the road 1-B or the Dog Leg)) is what you want to follow. At the end of 1-B you'll follow the dirt road (Loop 1) to the right until you hit Loop 2. Follow the singletrack up a steep hill and across a gently uphill trail back to the trailhead.

This ride contains many shorter trail segments that were used in the Chihuahaun Desert Challenge. The race was one of the premier multi-day mountain bike stage races in N. America from the late 80's to 2001 and attracted many top Pros and over 700 racers annually to the region. The course was designated By VeloNews as one of the top 10 mountain bike race courses in the world.