Smo Joes Loop

Typical trail on Smo' Yoes -- rocky dirt among junipers along the edge of the mesa, with occasional brush and flowers. Trail review May 2011.

Smo' Joes Loop

Smo' Joes is a trail that follows the eastern rim of the same mesa as Luke's Trail. The Smo' Joes Loop is a counterclockwise loop that's essentially Knott Pete's Rim , the Smo' Joes trail, plus Luke's Trail backwards.

Smo' Joes Loop is 7 miles You can add some side meanders such as Wyatt's Way, Bonus Loop, and Alan's Alley to make it longer.

There are a lot of other riding options on the mesa. See the Luke's Area page for a list of trails.

The Knott Pete's Rim trail skirts the north edge of town on the mesa overlooking Price.

Near Wyatt's Way.

The trail starts from the old Luke's trailhead by backtracking a little bit east on the dirt road. (Note this is NOT the new Wood Hill trailhead. See below.)

From the road, head east on Knott Pete's Rim. After a mile, you'll fork north on Smo' Joes. (Option: keep eastbound onto Wyatt's Way, circle around, and rejoin Smo' Joes 0.1 mile from the trail fork.)

Smo' Joes is mostly easy riding northbound along the eastern edge of the mesa. There's a gentle upward slope. Occasional rock rollovers are offered along the side of the trail, but overall it's a pretty easy ride.

Trailside rock rollover on Smo' Joes.

Heading north, we see the Book Cliffs in the distance. The Book Cliffs are layered sandstone of the Mesa Verde group of the Cretaceous.

Keep straight as the trail hits a little cattleguard in the fence. Just after crossing a dirt road, you'll reach the IMBAtween fork. Head left on IMBAtween -- away from Mead's Rim .

(At the cattleguard, an alternative shorter loop is to take the cutoff trail over to Bill's Sandy or Luke's.)

At Mead's Rim, if you're looking for a much bigger ride, follow the directions for Floating Rocks or Yoo Hoo You get there by forking left toward Mead's Rim at the IMBAtween fork.

Otherwise, take IMBAtween to begin heading west toward the Kenilworth Road.

Trail sign at the IMBAtween fork.

Looking north as IMBAtween heads away from Smo' Joes toward a wash crossing.

IMBAtween will turn back to the south and begin climbing. There's a little rocky loose stuff. Not too hard, but tougher than what you've been riding so far.

IMBAtween crosses the dirt Kenilworth road to become Luke's Trail. Keep going. Cross another road. Shortly after that 2nd road, a fork to the right will take you through a wash to the Bonus Loop. To skip it, keep left.

When you reach the cattleguard on Luke's, there's a trail heading left. This is the Cutoff. It will take you over to Bill's Sandy if you want a less-techy descent -- bypassing almost half of Luke's.

Luke's Trail aims gently downhill. There will be some tight turns in trees. The dirt surrounding the trail base gets softer here. If you overshoot a turn, your tire will dig in and throw you.

A little tech rollover on IMBAtween.

The trail on the western edge of the mesa as we head back.

At the fork with Alan's Alley, consider this as an add-on. It takes you out to the west mesa edge and back, adding about a mile to the total distance.

Smo' Joes Loop counterclockwise:
0.0   From Luke's TH, backtrack E on DT
0.1   Cross road to ST N39 37.357 W110 48.697
1.3   L on Smo' Joes N39 37.652 W110 48.276
        R = Wyatt's Way (option side loop)
1.4   Stay L (R= Wyatt's Way)
        N39 37.727 W110 48.242
2.8   Keep straight, cross cattleguard
        N39 38.722 W110 48.272
        L = shortcut to Lukes
3.4   L on IMBAtween N39 39.075 W110 48.063
4.2   Cross road to Lukes N39 39.031 W110 48.268
4.5   Cross road N39 38.849 W110 48.430
4.55 Keep straight (L) N39 38.849 W110 48.458
        R = option Bonus Loop
4.6   Straight N39 38.829 W110 48.496
        (L after cattleguard = to Smo Joes)
5.8   Keep L N39 38.246 W110 49.160
        (R = option Alan's Way loop)
6.1   Keep L N39 38.038 W110 49.046
        (R = return from Alan's)
7.1   At trailhead

Smo' Joes Loop

Getting there, Wood Hill trailhead parking: Eastbound on US 6, take the first Price exit. Turn left and enter town on 100 North. About a mile after leaving the freeway, turn left (north) on 300 East. Drive to 900 North and turn left. The road will turn to dirt and/or narrow asphalt, and will veer right and climb the mesa. As you reach the top of the mesa 1/2 mile later, continue straight north for another 1/2 mile. The gravel trailhead will be on your left. Solis Way begins across the doubletrack from the northwest corner.
South Luke's parking: As you first reach the top of the mesa, fork left (west) and proceed 100 yards to the primitive Luke's parking area.

Riding resources for this trail:
Smo' Joes Loop riding guide     Other area trail pages: Luke's area
GPS track files (right-click link, then save as a file:
    GPX area with individual trail tracks
    Smo Joes Loop course file
Maps for printing
    Smo' Joes Loop
    Full area topo
Lodging, camping, shops   Links to Price area resources

Camping: Primitive sites just southwest of the old Luke's trailhead
Water: None at trailhead.
Bathrooms: Wood Hill trailhead, Pioneer Park in Price
Bike services: Price