Like the rest of the Art Roscoe Trail system, Snowsnake is a ski trail that is designated for mountain biking in summer. Although these trails are wide enough to run a groomer, by summer most sections have a singletrack worn down the middle, so they don't really have that two-track feel.
Snowsnake is actually a bit wider than the rest of the trail system. It also has the steepest hills - sometimes you feel like it is going uphill both ways.
Although the annual Raccoon Rally Mountain bike race (one of the oldest in the country) runs this uphill, the description shown here is downhill, which still provides plenty of uphill to keep you honest.
The trail starts off of
Patterson Run, just a stone's throw downhill from the Summit Trailhead. Peel off to the right and start downhill, meeting first a sharp right turn. The trail soon keeps you honest as you climb back up to the elevation you started, and then some. This finally gives way to a long downhill, including a sharp, steep off-camber turn about halfway down.
After doubling back to the left, the trail climbs almost back to that sharp off-camber turn. Soon, it begins its longest and steepest descent (which is pure hell going the other way!). Because you've now shed so much elevation, water starts seeping out onto the trail, so the lower portions tend to be wet.
Soon, you reach the bottom and cross the creek. Which means you start climbing! After a short climb, the trail ends once again at
Patterson Run, but a much lower elevation.
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