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You might have second thoughts at the end by PaleoRob Warning
Mountain biking can be dangerous - please know your skill level and be appropriately prepared with PPE before starting any trail. This trail is also open to dirtbikes - use caution, especially around blind corners.
This ~2-mile trail provides great views of the Grand Junction area and allows for longer hikes in the southern Little Park area. Hike This hike can be run either direction, but for this description, we'll start from the southwestern point at the Snakeskin junction. In heads northwest, paralleling Snakeskin on the south side of the canyon that separates this trail from that one, winding around points and ridges while steadily losing elevation. Eventually, a little over a mile into the trail, you can see Snakeskin disappear into the pinyon-juniper across the canyons, and the trail that reemerges is the Gunnison (Gunny) Loop trail. All the while, the trail has been descending and downtown Grand Junction has been getting closer, looking down the canyon. At the final ridge, you have a good view towards downtown Grand Junction, some of the bridges across the Colorado River, and the Orchard Mesa area, especially the several cemeteries that dot the bluffs above the Gunnison River. This is your last look at the Grand Valley until near the end of the trail (heading in this direction), so enjoy it! Once you have rounded the point, it is all uphill from there. You can see the trail rising in front of you, and there are several sandy patches along the lower portion of the trail as you are climbing. The canyon you are following shows massive landslide blocks of overturned Morrison Formation along the far wall - these same features can be seen from the Gunny Loop trail before the Big Hill. After climbing for a little while, you will see a trail slashing across a far hillside at a steep angle. You may think that this is a connector, perhaps from the Twist-N-Shout trail, coming down to you. It is not. Slowly the trail grows larger until you see it connect, uninterrupted, to the one your feet are on. After crossing a small meadow in a draw, you climb up the steepest part of the trail. It switchbacks along the nearby ridge and then crosses a small patch of pinyon-juniper before connected with the Twist-N-Shout trail at the signed junction. Turn right to head towards the trailhead, or turn left to head further out on Twist-N-Shout. Water Sources None, bring all you need. Camping No. Note This trail is rated Blue (Intermediate) for mountain bikers. This trail is also open to motorized traffic, specifically dirtbikes. Check out the Triplog. Leave No Trace and +Add a Triplog after your hike to support this local community. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
