Further Out

Rolling red dirt at the far east end of the Highlands

Further Out is exactly what the name says: the easternmost trail in the network, a 1.3-mile rolling ribbon of red dirt that marks the far edge of the Highlands. Nothing out here is steep; climbing and descending trade off in roughly equal 130-foot doses, and the riding is more about rhythm than features. The tread threads pinyon, juniper, and oak brush across open hillsides, past a rocky point guarded by a gnarled juniper snag, with the green ridges above New Castle filling the horizon. In late spring, claret cup cactus blooms red out of the gray fractured rock beside the trail. The last connection went in during 2021, and finishing it completed the Highlands network end to end.

You earn the quiet: it takes real pedaling through the rest of the Highlands just to reach the start, so traffic stays thin and you’ll often have it to yourself. Ride it as the turnaround on a full Highland tour, or tack it on when Sweet Mother and Faye’s Fury felt too short. It rolls fine in either direction. Bring water; there’s none out there, and the exit costs the same as the entry.

The far-east trail carries a black-diamond marker, which fits the ground better than “mellow” — it crosses broad exposed slabs of red slickrock, squeezes a notch between stacked sandstone boulders and a lichen-crusted wall, and rides a rim edge above a steep drop. Claret cup cactus blooms red out of the fractured rock in late spring, and a weathered juniper snag marks the big-view stop. Kids ride it, and it sees winter tire tracks.

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