The loop described here is 20.6 miles. Peak altitude is 6700, bottom 6000, but with constant up-and-down riding, your climbing will be around 2000 vertical feet. The loop starts with 3 miles of doubletrack, then a mile on the upper-intermediate Red Trail. After 7 vicious miles on Five Miles of Hell, there's 1 intermediate-tech mile to trail's end. Then you grind back on doubletrack to complete the loop. Allow at least 5 hours.

To envision how tough this trail is, imagine the toughest, trickiest 50 feet of Gooseberry Mesa. Add a tricky steep spot from The Portal. Add that same Portal section again, but make it uphill. Repeat over and over again for 7 miles. Throw in the deepest sand pits from Slickrock, but make them longer, softer, and deeper. Add a few of Poison Spider's worst sand-to-wall, wall-to-sand transitions. Get the idea?

This trail is best in spring and fall, when the temperatures are moderate. This is a rough, long trail that demands a lot of work. In mid-summer, you'll find it difficult to haul enough water to complete this trail safely.

The riding surface is Coconino sandstone (deposited near the ocean shoreline during the Permian Period, about 250 million years ago). Although a tad smoother in grain than the Navajo sandstone of Slickrock, Coconino has cross-hatching "ribs" that create lots of ledges and rough spots. For more info, see our page on the geology of the San Rafael .

I recommend a freeride bike for this trail. (You can ride it on a light cross-country bike -- I did -- or even a hardtail -- I did, after I ruptured a seal and lost all the air out of the rear shock.) Soft-rubber, low-pressure tires will help. Many climbs are extremely difficult, intended for trials motocross.

There's a lot of fun here. But expect to walk your bike a little. (If you think you're an "advanced technical rider" because you rode Slickrock once on a rented bike... Well, bring comfortable hiking shoes, and a bike that's easy to carry.) To ride the whole loop is exhausting. The bailouts give the option of a shorter ride. Consider this.

Which brings us to: Trail Sanity. Be sure you have patches, spare tube, pump, tool kit, and plenty of food and water. And don't ride this trail alone. (OK, I rode alone when I explored this trail. But I'm deranged, and have lots of life insurance.) In Five Miles of Hell, you're miles from the Middle of Nowhere. In a visit to 5MOH in fall of 2002, no human or machine had disturbed my tire tracks from 10 days earlier. That's a long time to wait for rescue.

Getting there:  On US-6 approaching Green River, turn right (westbound) on I-70. Drive 25 miles and exit at Ranch Exit 131 (formerly known as 129 -- the numbering has changed). If you're going eastbound, the exit is 75 miles east of Salina. Turn left under the freeway, then veer right with the road. Keep straight at all intersections. Note a first cattle guard at mile 3.2. After crossing a second cattle guard at 6.7, descend and turn left on a small road at mile 7.6. Park on the left 0.1 miles down the road, just before the wash, N 38° 47.340' W 110° 42.583'. Begin the ride by continuing on the road.