Back To School

Flat cruise back to the Elk Creek trailhead

The trail that closes the loop. Back To School runs about three-quarters of a mile along the base of the hogback foothills, carrying you from the bottom of the Burning Mountain system back to the trailhead at Elk Creek Elementary, hence the name. It’s nearly flat, around 40 feet of total climbing, rolling through valley-bottom grass and rabbitbrush beneath slopes studded with sandstone boulders and juniper. After the sustained descending off Fire In The Mountain it works as the spin-out: a few easy minutes to shake out your hands and let your heart rate settle before the parking lot.

Ridable in either direction, though most traffic flows toward the school at the end of a Burning Mountain loop. It doubles as an easy out-and-back for walkers and runners starting from the trailhead, and because it sits low and catches sun, it stays usable through much of the winter. Nothing technical anywhere on it — this is the easiest tread on the Burning Mountain side.

It runs the valley floor beside the road and the railroad, so trains and traffic are part of the scene, with the hogback’s tilted sandstone slabs rising directly above. Old ranch relics sit in the grass — a vintage yellow bulldozer, rusted farm iron — and patches of coal-black soil streak the tan grassland. Fall lines the corridor with golden cottonwoods. One caveat the easy rating hides: the low tread collects snowmelt, so shoulder season leaves standing water and wheel ruts, and one access pitch near the tracks is a steep, loose drop.

More on this trail: View on MTB Project → (original description contributed by community members on MTB Project)