Backcountry Loop

Dogs Off-leash

No reliable trail signs or marks. Look for trail cairns, though those are unreliable. West-facing slope throughout.

This trail takes off from the Highland Loop trail southeast of the parking lot. It can be reached directly without hiking the Highland Loop, just go SE out of the parking lot up the valley. The southern part of the loop is a remarkably steep, slippery slope without switchbacks and makes for a precarious descent or a calf-torching ascent.

The northern part is a steep but manageable switchback stretch. In between is mostly sand with intermittent gravel and bedrock singletrack speckled with horse tracks and manure. At the top, it connects to (and runs along) a jeep trail that can be followed to Virginia City. Great views of Truckee Meadows and Reno with eastward views into the desert from the top.

Wild horses, jackrabbits, coyotes.