Type: Trail, Loop
Difficulty: 2 / 10
Altitude: 4,590 ft
Elev. Gain/Loss: 390 ft / 390 ft
Dog Friendly: No
Jog-Stroller Friendly: No
Filed Under: Cycling, Running
Take the fork that climbs uphill just west of the parking lot. At the bottom of the hill turn right on to a narrower dirt road. Stay left on the larger road at mile 0.2. At approximately 1.5 miles you will come to a cool overlook at Horsethief Canyon. After 2 miles or so the trail turns to singletrack. At mile 3.1 a fence line intersects the canyon rim, either use the steps to cross the fence or leave the gate as you found it. At mile 4 the singletrack turns to double track again. Within 50 yards of this point there's a spur to the left. Stay right. At this point you'll leave the river and head back in northerly direction towards the Mack Ridge. At mile 5.1 you'll reach a major intersection. Here, to proceed on to Mary's Loop, go right (the Kokopelli's Trail turns left). At mile 5.4 there's a spur to the right. stay left and climb up over the ridge and across the cattle guard. At mile 5.7 you return to the frontage road. To continue on Mary's Loop, go right (east) and follow the Frontage Road 2.1 miles back to parking lot/trailhead, or you can take a technical trail all the way back to the trailhead on a ridge loop that forks off Mary's Loop near the cattleguard before you reach the Frontage Road.
At 1.6 miles into the loop, you can add 3.4 miles (12.8 miles total combined with Mary's Loop) by taking the Horsethief Bench Loop. At the fork/junction, this trail drops down a break in the cliff line and makes a nice loop before returning back to Mary's Loop in the exact same place it leaves off.
At approximately 6 miles on Mary's Loop is another possible side trail. The spur to the left is Steve's Loop. This is a technical lop that can add another 2.9 miles to your run. This combined with Mary's Loop and Horsethief Bench will make a fine 15.7 mile desert run.
Take I-70 to the Loma Exit (Exit #15). Cross over the interstate to the south. At the access road turn right, heading towards the weigh station. Just short of the weigh station, turn left and follow the gravel road for about .5 mile until you come to the parking area.
Comments
fattirecolorado said ...
Better than Moab
Want to throw some spice to this run. Take the Moore fun trail up. Come back on Mary's loop counter clockwise/the single track portion to the parking area. This bumps the run up to 10.3 miles at 1,700ft elevation gain. If you making a weekend getaway to this area. Bring your mountian bikes as well and check in at the Single Tracks/ Park Hotel in Fruita CO. 970-858-3917. The Store owner is a runner, plus has wrote a first rate trail book of this area.
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