East Rim Trail was an absolute riot, and I really wish I had a trail this nice in my area. Most trails I ride have to be "accessible to all" with maybe an advanced loop if you're lucky, but this one pulls most of the stops and really let's a MTB rider rip! You can make it a moderate pedal with some berms and rocks and jumps and push into an epic challenge, depending on how hard you push yourself (and if you select the "advanced riders only" trails).
As others have mentioned this certainly is for experienced riders. If I had to recommend a bike, I'd say a true mountain bike with wide tires that can handle rocks, good brakes, and suspension fork. A full squish likely a good idea for climbing grip, though nothing is so steep it'd require a downhill bike (nor would you want to pedal a long travel bike back up the hills). I would not attempt this on a gravel bike or hybrid etc. I would not bring young kids but my teenage son that has ridden plenty of other trails with me before with an air of "jeez why do you think this is so difficult bruh" would probably have loved it (And to him I say get a job and buy a house and have a family and THEN tell me how easy a ride is... but I digress). Point is, experienced mtb teens can probably handle this, but use caution. I would not bring my inexperienced adult mtb friends here.
Starting from the main lot, riding north you can find a couple of loops to the west. The first one, the East Rim Loop, throws some great berms and rock gardens at you, with moderate climbs, lotsa roots, and decent flow. My second lap I opted for the "advanced" segment and was met with a real challenge - do beware this is a legit difficult portion! It is extremely rocky and the rocks tend towards the edge of the trail and would lead to a nasty tumble below. But I could handle the technical part, for me the biggest challenge was the punchy, rock strewn-climbs when I had no way to keep my speed up because of the choppy terrain, so I walked a good bit of it. If my legs were fresh I might have pedaled it all, but regardless it was so much fun! I truly appreciated the challenge.
The after I completed that second lap, I went to the main trail and headed north again, over the bridge, and dove left into the Lamb Loop. This trail was exactly what I wish every trail was like!!! It's longer than the east rim loop, opening up and breathing a little more, timing out the berms and the technical moments a little better. It was mostly flowy and bonus it was gorgeous wrapped in it's pre-autumn flora in the valleys and leaf littered hills around the trail making a fun pedal through the woods even more enjoyable.
Then there's a portion that is almost like a downhill park, lots of jumps, rock features, and switchbacks, SO MUCH FUN!!!! Then you have to pedal out of the valley, which is a challenge, but was totally worth it, even as I thought I was going to have a coronary getting back to the loop head. I will make the trip back to ride it again!
Note: the trails are directional by day, and I imagine either direction has its better moments. Many thanks to the trail authority that...
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