When I arrived at work this morning, I was greeted by a pleasant surprise. Having heard the tales of my recent mountain bike purchase, slow learning curve and desire to explore the Jackson area on two wheels, my coworker Trish left The Book on my desk. Simply called The Book the subtitle eludes to the book's purpose: Guide to Mountain Biking in the Jackson Hole Area (Mark Sehultheis and Brian Prax, 2001).

With a current mountain biking IQ of -126, I was excited to start flipping through the pages and, considering that this is the first local mountain bike guide book I've come across, I thought it would be a good idea to share some of the trail information on the blog.

Cache Creek to Game Creek
This is one of the most popular trails around. It is really close to town and offers up some great riding. The ride back to town can be a little brutal after such a long trail ride, but shuttling is possible.
Difficulty: Moderate
Mileage: 18.6 (for full loop)
Elevation Gain: 1,625 feet
Top Elevation: 7,380 feet
Trail Type: Forest road, singletrack, paved road, and the Pathways System (paved, multi-user trail)
1. Follow the forest road from the Cache Creek Trail Head.
2. Junction: Look for a sign that indicates Game Creek (4.2 miles from Cache Creek parking lot). Take a right, cross over Cache Creek and start a steep uphill trail until it summits at the pass between Cache and Game Creeks.
3. Start downhill as it rolls and switchbacks down Game Creek. There will be one junction where a trail comes in from the right (at 8.7 miles from Cache Creek parking lot). Stay straight and continue on the downhill as it passes by beaver ponds and meadows.
4. Go through cattle gate and close it behind you.
5. The trail will turn into an old forest road. After being on the forest road for 3/4 mile, it will turn into an obvious single track that goes up a short hill to the left. This trail cuts off a turn in the road.
6. Continue on the old forest road until it intersects the paved road of Game Creek.
7. From here, you can ride the same trail system back to Cache Creek parking lot or ride along the bike path that follows Hwy 89-191 back to town.

Snow King to Wilson Canyon
This is rated strenuous not because it is an all day ride, but rather it involves riding up Snow King Mountain. There is good singletrack on teh backside of Snow King until the downhill, which is quite steep with lots of loose rock. The last bit of trail before the road moves swiftly.
Difficulty: Difficult/Strenuous
Mileage: 12.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,770 feet
Top Elevation: 8,000 feet
Trail Type: Ski hill maintenance road going up, lots of single track, and return on the Pathways System.
1. From the bottom of Snow King Mountain, take the trail that cuts left along the front of the slope and under the lifts. At the junctions along the uphill, just keep taking the turn that goes up. The first summit is at 1.8 miles, take a rest and then go left toward the radio towers.
2. At 2.2 miles the road will take a sharp left to the radio towers, stay straight on a downhill single track. At the bottom of the short downhill stay right through the meadows on a fast singletrack.
3. At 3.8 miles there will be a junction in a flat area. Go right/straight on a trail on an old road.
4. At 4.7 miles take a left onto a faint trail into Wilson Canyon and start the technical downhill. The trail will be on the right side of the creek during the upper section of the canyon. There will be many difficult trail sections further twoard the bottom. At the bottom the trail will dump out into an old dirt road.
5. At 6.7 miles take a right at the sign to the highway. Cross under the power lines at 7.1 miles and either stay straight or go left to the highway. They both will dump out at the road.
6. Carefully cross Hwy 89 and go right onto the Pathways System back to town.
7. At 10.4 miles turn right under the bridge and stay on the Pathways to the post office. To get through town back to Snow King, go right onto Maple Way, left on Scott Lane, and then an immediate right on Snow King Drive back to the car.

Snow King to Game Creek
This is part of the Snow King Classic Mountain Bike racecourse. Steep uphill on Snow King with excellent fast and technical single track in Game and Cache Creek.
Mileage: 16.3 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,880 feet
Top Elevation: 8,000 feet
Trail Type: Steep uphill road on Snow King and then mostly all single track.
1. Start at the right hand side of Snow King Mountain and look for a trail heading uphill cutting to the left under the lifts. At 0.6 miles take the uphill fork in the trail toward the top. Keep taking the uphill turn at any junction.
2. At 1.8 miles is the first summit, stay left and follow a dirt road toward the radio towers to continue the ride. You could also go to the right and to the top of Snow King Ski Area and get an expansive view of the entire valley.
3. Once heading to the radio towers, follow the road until it makes a sharp left turn toward the towers and look for a single track trail heading down hill to a saddle at 2.2 miles. At the bottom of the short downhill follow the trail to the right as it makes its way through the meadows.
4. The next junction can be difficult to find. But at 3.7 miles, in a flat area, look for a trail heading to the left. The trail stays flat for a short distance, but then makes its way up a steep grind just before heading into Game Creek.
5. Take teh descending trail all the way to Game Creek as it works its way down on steep inclines and fast singletrack. There is a junction at 6.9 miles where teh trail will intersect the main Game Creek trail at the creek itself. Take a left and begin to climb to the top of Cache-Game Divide.
6. Continue over the pass, at 8.7 miles, on a short winding downhill. Cross over the bridge at 9.3 miles and take a left onto the dirt road leading back to town. Be careful of other users in Cache Creek drainage.
7. At 11.6 miles is the junction with the Putt Putt trail, go right and uphill. There is a sign here. As an option, one can also stay straight on the road all the way back to town.
8. At 13.6 miles is a junction after soem downhill switchbacks, stay right. At 14.6 miles the singletrack will hit pavement.
9. To get back to Snow King, take an immediate right onto the pavement and then a quick left on Nelson Street. Go right on Hansen Street to King Street. Go left onto King Street and return to parking area.

Hagen to Putt-Putt Trail
This is another very popular trail as it is close to town and can be done quickly. Good for the late afternoon ride when time is of the essence. The trail is all single track with many different options for loops. Watch out for other trail users.
Mileage: 7.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,080 feet
Top Elevation: 7,300 feet
Trail Type: Singletrack
1. The classic way to do this ride is from the Cache Creek trailhead. From the TH parking area, go back on the gravel road toward town for about 100 feet and take a singletrack trail to the left, which crosses over Cache Creek.
2. After crossing over the creek stay left and uphill as it begins to contour along the hillside.
3. At 0.9 miles into the ride, the first bridge crossing over Cache Creek will be on the left. One can cross the bridge and get back to town quickly on the forest road if needed. Otherwise continue on the Hagen trail by staying right.
4. At 1.3 miles continue on a steep uphill with many wood water bars. At 1.8 miles (the next junction) stay right, or uphill to continue. Taking the left will take one over the second bridge and back to Cache Creek road.
5. At 2.6 miles is the third bridge. The trail will go over this and connect to Cache Creek road. Take a left on the road.
6. At 3.4 miles look for the Putt Putt trail heading off to the right. Climb up the short hill to the top of a roller coaster type ride back into town.
7. Continue on the Putt Putt trail to the bottom of the downhill switchbacks at 5.3 miles, there will be a junction here. The left will return one to the Cache Creek TH, the right will continue to Putt Putt trail. If continuing, at 5.8 miles stay straight/left at the junction and continue downhill toward town.
8. At the bottom of the downhill the trail will come to the pavement. Ride back to Cache Creek trailhead, if your car is parked there, by taking an immediate right at the pavement, then a quick left onto Nelson. Go right on Hansen, left on Rancher, and then left on Cache Creek Road.
9. If going back to your bike, take a right at the pavement, followed by another right onto Nelson Drive to return to Broadway, then take a left back to the town square.