Stinking Sidewinder Loop

Dogs Off-leash

E-Bikes Unknown

Sidewinder is one of the more accessible singletracks in the area. It's a flowy downhill with tight corners and great views. Using Stinking Spring Canyon ATV Trail for the climb makes this an easy loop ride.

This is a loop combining several trails. Familiarize yourself with the map or MTB Project mobile app and don't miss the turn at mile 2.3 or you'll climb a lot more then you meant to! Also be aware of and considerate of other people, dogs, motorcycles, and ATVs on the trail.

The first 2.3 miles is uphill on Stinking Spring Canyon ATV Trail. This is a multi-purpose ATV trail. As such, it is much wider then a normal singletrack MTB trail. You may run into motorized vehicles, so pay attention. The trail is very nice with almost no obstacles. While uphill for its duration, the grade is never too bad and there are really no stand out climbs to watch for. The nice part about the wider trail is that it's easier to navigate a line uphill especially if you are sucking wind!

The Stinking Springs Canyon ATV Trail continues uphill for another two miles or so but for this loop, don't go that far. Instead, take a left after you gain an obvious ridge. A connector trail called Sidewinder Connector is marked with a trail sign. Not sure why this is designated as its own trail because it's basically Sidewinder but that's how it's labelled on several different maps. After about 0.2 miles of flat singletrack, you come to a wooden sign held up by a stack of rocks. The sign is old and has faint paint lettering that says Sidewinder, this is the official start of that trail.

From the sign back to the parking area is about 2.6 miles of real straightforward singletrack. No obstacles or crazy trail features to worry about. The trail is real flowy with lots of tight corners and great views of the valley. It's a consistent downhill that you can rip out on if you want but there are no aggressive steep downhill grades that intermediate riders need to worry about. There are a few spots where the trail is narrow and the hillside is steep enough that it wouldn't be a favorable place to crash, but you can easily go slow on these spots or even walk your bike if you're so inclined.

This is a quick loop with beautiful views and it's easy to get to. The other big plus is that it's on the sunny side of the hill, so when everything else is muddy or snowy this one might still be nice.