Bootleg Canyon (Vegas) Beta?

[smmokan]

I might be heading down that way early next week for a day of riding... what are the must-hit trails? I can handle myself on just about anything other than mandatory drops and ridiculous chutes. I'm basically looking to sample the best of that trail system, whether that means blue, black or double black.

It looks like there's basically one main climbing road, and then all the good DHs drop off that? My buddy and I are planning to ride most of the day, so we're up for a bunch of laps. Especially if we can easily head back down to the car for some food and refueling. If anyone is in that area and wants to meet up, I'll buy you dinner and a beer to show us around. I think we'll probably be down there on Tuesday.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

I am subscribing to this thread. Buddy raced there a few weeks ago. Said it was "too pedally" for enduro haha. Place looks sweet to me. This is definitely on the short list for a places I need to ride ASAP.

[One (+) Sentence]

Bootleg Canyon is pretty straightforward as you mentioned. It’s an easy pedal up the shuttle road and then you have all the DH trails at your access. Snake back is super fun and probably the easiest way down. Armageddon is also pretty fun. Poop Chute and Kevorkian have more difficult moves in them.

Lots of sharp rock EVERYWHERE there. Really easy to damage stanchions, carbon frames, etc. if you were to crash (not to mention, punctures.) There are a couple fun XCish loops there too, but if you want a longer XC ride head southwest of the strip to Blue Diamond. Lots of fun XC trails through Joshua trees there.

I’d avoid Bootleg 2/11-2/13 as they are hosting the first DH race of their winter series that weekend.

[One (+) Sentence]

And yeah, it would be super easy to stop by your car after every lap. Trailhead has grills and showers too…

[XXX-er]

does anybody run shuttles on a regular basis ?

those were pretty nice at interbike way back in the day

[One (+) Sentence]

does anybody run shuttles on a regular basis ?

those were pretty nice at interbike way back in the day

All Mountain Cyclery

[smmokan]

does anybody run shuttles on a regular basis ?

those were pretty nice at interbike way back in the day

I found this one, but it's Fri/Sat/Sun only: https://www.bootlegcanyonracing.com/shuttles

[toast2266]

I think the shuttles have always been weekends only unless there's a special event going on. You can shuttle yourself easily enough if you have the people / vehicles for it. It's not a bad pedal up though.

If you're looking for pure techy descents, the stuff off the top is the best. And yeah, like others have said, serious cheese grater rock. A lot of the stuff is decently techy, but the consequences of falling make everything a little scarier. If you wanted to, you could ride most of them in a day, just pedaling, especially if you cut out and don't run the descents all the way to the bottom (since the bottom half of the trails are generally less interesting).

The lower elevation trails are mellower and more pedally, but still fun. There are some nice little loop options if you're not concerned about hitting all the gnar.

[rippling over canyons]

Ginger was too gnarly for me; I couldn't ride it. But, Armageddon, Kevorkian, Snakeback, and Poop Chute are game on. Those are very challenging, but ride-able trails. I've viewed a bunch of videos of Power Pole and Elevator Shaft, but I've never descended that side. Girl Scout is a good climb which parallels the road, so it keeps you out of the dust of the shuttlers.

[alewi11]

I am subscribing to this thread. Buddy raced there a few weeks ago. Said it was "too pedally" for enduro haha. Place looks sweet to me. This is definitely on the short list for a places I need to ride ASAP.

The stuff they race in the enduro races, really is too pedally. I'm racing there next weekend and I'm bringing my Epic Evo. Just gonna put some burly tires on it because the rocks are no joke even on the xc trails. A few years ago Josh Bender put together a couple enduro races that incorporated the DH trails. It should have been super fun, but it was complete shitshow.

[toast2266]

Bumping this since moab is looking cold and wet, so we're considering other options. What's the best camping option in the general vicinity of bootleg? Looking for somewhere we can set up shop for a few days with a camper trailer (as opposed to a semi sketchy pull off that we could get away with for a night). We have toddlers, so significant bonus for something that's got fun terrain to explore and minimal side-by-sides that will run them over.

I've been eyeing stuff in the government wash zone of lake mead, but was hoping for something a little closer to the riding. Also open to stuff that's proximate to the other Vegas riding areas.

[One (+) Sentence]

Bumping this since moab is looking cold and wet, so we're considering other options. What's the best camping option in the general vicinity of bootleg? Looking for somewhere we can set up shop for a few days with a camper trailer (as opposed to a semi sketchy pull off that we could get away with for a night). We have toddlers, so significant bonus for something that's got fun terrain to explore and minimal side-by-sides that will run them over.

I've been eyeing stuff in the government wash zone of lake mead, but was hoping for something a little closer to the riding. Also open to stuff that's proximate to the other Vegas riding areas.

I believe you can camp at the trailhead parking lot (you definitely can if there is a race.) As I mentioned, they have grills and showers at the TH.

I usually camp at Boulder Beach campground on Lake Mead about 10 minutes away. Or, I get a room on the strip, eat about 40mg of edibles, and go see a Cirque du Solei show.

edit: Boulder Beach campground would be pretty kid friendly. Cirque du Solei too, but I might drop the mg’s down to 20ish.

[toast2266]

I believe you can camp at the trailhead parking lot (you definitely can if there is a race.) As I mentioned, they have grills and showers at the TH.

I usually camp at Boulder Beach campground on Lake Mead about 10 minutes away. Or, I get a room on the strip, eat about 40mg of edibles, and go see a Cirque du Solei show.

edit: Boulder Beach campground would be pretty kid friendly. Cirque du Solei too, but I might drop the mg’s down to 20ish.

Yeah, strip + edibles used to be my preferred method at Vegas, but that's more complicated these days.

Thanks for the Boulder beach rec. I'll check that one out. 10 minutes from the trails sounds more attractive than the other stuff we were looking at.

[One (+) Sentence]

Yeah, strip + edibles used to be my preferred method at Vegas, but that's more complicated these days.

Thanks for the Boulder beach rec. I'll check that one out. 10 minutes from the trails sounds more attractive than the other stuff we were looking at.

I too, understand these complexities…

[MarcusBrody]

Bumping this since moab is looking cold and wet, so we're considering other options. What's the best camping option in the general vicinity of bootleg? Looking for somewhere we can set up shop for a few days with a camper trailer (as opposed to a semi sketchy pull off that we could get away with for a night). We have toddlers, so significant bonus for something that's got fun terrain to explore and minimal side-by-sides that will run them over.

I've been eyeing stuff in the government wash zone of lake mead, but was hoping for something a little closer to the riding. Also open to stuff that's proximate to the other Vegas riding areas.

It's my time to shine! I live in Boulder City.

You can camp in the Bootleg parking lot or venture up the access road a bit and camp off to the side or at the middle little parking lot. I see people camped there all the time and there are actually showers at the main trailhead (I've never seen them used, but I don't stop in often). There's also a lot of land nearby that's open for camping, (a dry lake bed just west of town), so you've got a lot of options. What is your setup like?

Best place for toddlers: Redstone inside of Lake Mead NRA on Northshore Drive. It's one of the best places for little kids scrambling I've ever been. Just super cool rock formations, little "caves" to explore, and grippy sandstone. We almost took some visitors there yesterday, but it actually rained (!) so we didn't want to mess with the sandstone until it dried out. Another great place: Spooky Canyon, just off of US 93. It's really near the Arizona Hot Spring trailhead, but you either pass it (coming from the south) or make a highway u-turn where you could turn into that trail head and it's about 1/4 mile up the road where there is a little dirt lot. Hike back along the highway toward the trailhead maybe 100 yards, go down and under a game fence, and you have a super cool friendly little slot canyon. The wider right branch eventually had an amazing little slot gallery to the left maybe 2/3 of the way up. Hemenway park is a city park pretty near Bootleg that kids seem to love. It usually has bighorn sheep just chilling and grazing there, but the actual rain this year seems to have given them a food source in the desert so they aren't in as regularly.

It sounds like your toddlers are pre-biking age, but the Sloane Canyon Trails in Henderson are great for kids, particularly one called "Nitro Bench". I think the best place to park and go in is off Sandy Drive. There's good stuff for non-toddlers too. I particularly like "Trail Mix" which is now on Trailforks I think.

Feel free to PM me if you want to ride or for more kid recommendations. I have a 6 year old and have spent a lot of time finding stuff in the area for him to explore.

[toast2266]

It's my time to shine! I live in Boulder City.

You can camp in the Bootleg parking lot or venture up the access road a bit and camp off to the side or at the middle little parking lot. I see people camped there all the time and there are actually showers at the main trailhead (I've never seen them used, but I don't stop in often). There's also a lot of land nearby that's open for camping, (a dry lake bed just west of town), so you've got a lot of options. What is your setup like?

Best place for toddlers: Redstone inside of Lake Mead NRA on Northshore Drive. It's one of the best places for little kids scrambling I've ever been. Just super cool rock formations, little "caves" to explore, and grippy sandstone. We almost took some visitors there yesterday, but it actually rained (!) so we didn't want to mess with the sandstone until it dried out. Another great place: Spooky Canyon, just off of US 93. It's really near the Arizona Hot Spring trailhead, but you either pass it (coming from the south) or make a highway u-turn where you could turn into that trail head and it's about 1/4 mile up the road where there is a little dirt lot. Hike back along the highway toward the trailhead maybe 100 yards, go down and under a game fence, and you have a super cool friendly little slot canyon. The wider right branch eventually had an amazing little slot gallery to the left maybe 2/3 of the way up. Hemenway park is a city park pretty near Bootleg that kids seem to love. It usually has bighorn sheep just chilling and grazing there, but the actual rain this year seems to have given them a food source in the desert so they aren't in as regularly.

It sounds like your toddlers are pre-biking age, but the Sloane Canyon Trails in Henderson are great for kids, particularly one called "Nitro Bench". I think the best place to park and go in is off Sandy Drive. There's good stuff for non-toddlers too. I particularly like "Trail Mix" which is now on Trailforks I think.

Feel free to PM me if you want to ride or for more kid recommendations. I have a 6 year old and have spent a lot of time finding stuff in the area for him to explore.

Awesome!

We're in a truck pulling a ~20' trailer, so not particularly well suited to getting too far off the beaten path. Seems like camping right at bootleg would be a good bet to start, and then we can move somewhere else if we get restless.

That's all great beta. Kids are 2.5 yrs old, so pump tracks and maybe some mellow green trails will be exciting, but they won't be able to pull off much distance. They're pretty happy just cruising on paved bike paths too, so the stuff around the bottom of bootleg will probably keep them fairly entertained.

We're figuring out our plan and watching the weather, but I'll hit you up if we get down that way. We'd probably be getting down there Saturday evening-ish. Still trying to decide if we want to do the long drive with toddler hell spawns though.

[raisingarizona13]

I really enjoyed breakfast at the South West Diner in Boulder City.

[MarcusBrody]

One thing that might complicate things is that there is a trail race at Bootleg on Saturday. I suspect it will be done by late afternoon, but I don't know the details and there might be more folks in the lot than normal.

[MarcusBrody]

Found the race: https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=99782

It has a 50k ultra and is advertising "free camping" (in an area that's always free if they aren't there) so it might bring a lot more vehicles to Bootleg than normal.

[jm2e]

Would love a TR of this trip since Steve didn't follow up. Sounds like a pretty sick place to have in your backyard!

[toast2266]

Found the race: https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=99782

It has a 50k ultra and is advertising "free camping" (in an area that's always free if they aren't there) so it might bring a lot more vehicles to Bootleg than normal.

Cool, thanks for the heads up!

[beaterdit]

Ginger was too gnarly for me; I couldn't ride it. But, Armageddon, Kevorkian, Snakeback, and Poop Chute are game on. Those are very challenging, but ride-able trails. I've viewed a bunch of videos of Power Pole and Elevator Shaft, but I've never descended that side. Girl Scout is a good climb which parallels the road, so it keeps you out of the dust of the shuttlers.

Echo this, while Ginger was mostly rideable, there was some sketchy downclimbing. Everything else is fine.

The showers were turned off and freezing when I was there in the off-season, thanksgiving, but the bathrooms were functional. Camping at the base lot was fine, we ended up finding a spot up canyon a bit more off the beaten path. Not sure it was strictly legit.

Pedal laps to the top via the singletrack that parallels the road were around an hour round trip IIRC.

Bootleg is pretty rad!

[XXX-er]

I remember looking at the ground and thinking almost everywhere would be a really bad place to fall, I seen some bandages to back that theory , I would be a make sure you are wearing knee & elbow padz

[MarcusBrody]

Cool, thanks for the heads up!

I found a better link with race info while I was trying to find the course map so as to plan my own riding for Saturday: https://www.desertdash.com/blood-sweat-beers

Looks like the award ceremonies are 12-1 PM and the final cut off is 4:20, but the aid stations don't close until after 6, so I imagine there will still be more people/infrastucture there until later in the afternoon/evening. I'm not sure if people camp before or after the race, but if I ran 30 miles at Bootleg, I wouldn't move for at least several days.

The course is kind of annoying in that they basically end up blocking every single BC entry point. I understand why though as they are natural loops and it probably makes it easier to set up the aid points. If you decide to come and by chance get in early and want to ride Bootleg, the thing to do would be to park at the Railroad Pass motel/casino and do a loop going up Cams and then down Ernies and back via Ernies Extra. Or Up Cam's then out and back down Mother, using Coyote Loop as your turn around, then either go down Cam's (there is a fun little black detour that's marked out there but not on Trailforks), or down the Shit, which I've only done once or twice as it is just super rocky even by Bootleg standards and if I'm riding out there, I'm probably on my way to work for a bit and it's pretty brutal. Maybe I should ride it more and try to find the flow.

[MarcusBrody]

Ginger was too gnarly for me; I couldn't ride it. But, Armageddon, Kevorkian, Snakeback, and Poop Chute are game on. Those are very challenging, but ride-able trails. I've viewed a bunch of videos of Power Pole and Elevator Shaft, but I've never descended that side. Girl Scout is a good climb which parallels the road, so it keeps you out of the dust of the shuttlers.

Just to build on this: Power Pole is pretty manageable. It's basically the next step up from East Leg or Boy Scout after you get past the entry chute, which is nasty simply because 90% of the time it's just deep gravel/loose rock. It is one of the few Bootleg trails I've fallen on though. There's a tech section that lets you build up a good chunk of speed as you pass through kind of a keyhole and I carried way too much up the other side and clipped my front wheel as I came back up a rise. As long as you break before you get to the keyhole section, though, you're fine.

Elevator Shaft is consistently steep and techy. It's also pretty loose in a lot of sections and there are some pretty good ruts. I found the loose and steep sections more challenging than the rocky, more intimidating sections. I'm a decent but not particularly good biker, but it's a trail I end up walking sections on, whereas Power Pole is one of my favorites and outside of the gravel entry, I rarely have to put a foot down.


So as this is the Bootleg Discussion thread and it's the only thing around biking in which I have comparatively high knowledge here, here are my thoughts on Bootleg's trails from easiest to hardest:


1. Par None Connector and Desert Cruise - possibly the only truly easy trails in Bootleg. It's still not a dirt path, but it's pretty manageable, especially if you come in from the road that passes the pump track (which I believe is Par None Connector). The hardest part is at the beginning, though it drops in and out of a few washes. It's the only Bootleg trail my 6 year old rides on his 20in rigid. It's fun though.


2. Par None - Also pretty easy and maybe on par with above, but I think it's a bit steeper. I rarely ride it so I'm not sure.

3. IMBA - it's twisty and flowy for Bootleg and pretty smooth. It's a good way to bypass the beginning of Mother and save some energy if you're doing a longer loop.

4. Pow - It's again pretty smooth and flowy, but is much closer to the fall line. There are a couple of steeper sections that might intimidate a beginner, but as long as you manage speed, it shouldn't be a problem. If you ride it fast, it's fun for anyone. The bottom is often really loose, so watch for that. It ends at one of the secondary trailheads, so I ride it all the time as it's a good quick morning spin. Maybe it's my early morning legs, but it feels tougher to climb than Girl Scout for roughly the same vertical. I think it is softer with more quick punchy steep bits. There are a few tech sections a beginner might walk, but it's pretty manageable.

5. Lower Lake View - I prefer to ride it going out from the main trailhead. you have a little descent, some of which can be loose, then a traverse that's well built, then a climb up to the junction with the other Lake Views. There isn't Exposure with a capital E like a lot of other places in Bootleg, but there are some areas that are benched into slightly steeper grades that might make folks who don't like that nervous, which is why I put it above POW. It's one of my most ridden trails as if I ride from my house, I generally enter from the middle of Lower Lake View.

6. Middle Lake View - cuts pretty much straight across the bottom of the front face and drops in and out of a bunch of washes, sometimes pretty steeply. Those can be intimidating to beginners, but they're almost all situations where if you let off the brakes and keep your speed, you'll be fine. I like to ride it either way.

7. Ernie's Extra - It's way out there, but it's one of the flowiest trails in Bootleg in some places. I don't ride if often, but I really like it. It's nice desert cross country.

8. Girl Scout - Great climbing and intermediate descending trail. There are two sections of genuine tech and the rest is pretty flowy. Don't blindly gap the rock jump at the bottom as the fall line direction leads you into a rock if you don't go really big. This is probably my most ridden trail, but I mostly ride up and it's great for that.

8.5. North Enduro - Almost forgot this. No idea why this is a red on trail forks. It's pretty much desert cross country with one sketchy section. I've never gone the whole way to the very end though, so maybe it finishes with a 30 foot stepdown. It's not a bad trail, just inconvenient as it's the farthest from any common trailhead and doesn't connect to anything as a loop.

9. Upper Lake View - it's the most exposed of the Lake View trails in places and has a couple of spots where it's tough to clear due to either rocks or really loose trail surfaces making climbs out of drainages more difficult. That's mitigated by riding it from the lake side to the trail head side. It crosses Reaper and G String about 1/4 of the way down, so you can hop off and ride the bottom of the DH trails for a good finish.

10. Outer Caldera - I have never once gotten up the first climb (going clockwise), then the next section is steppy and a bit rough on the initial descent, so it isn't a beginner trail, but after that it is less chunky and is a good long XC loop.

11. Boy Scout - The easiest trail coming off the top of the mountain. It has a tight switchback near the beginning which - if you miss - will put you on Skyline. It has a somewhat sketchy entry then a series of droplets in the first half which you can take at speed. Ends in an uphill.

12. West Leg - The benched into a mountain version of Girl Scout. There is some exposure here and a lot of pedaling across some off camber stuff.

13. East Leg: One of my favorite trails. It's physical, but doesn't have many big features. There isn't too much exposure unless you overcook a corner. I - and most people I think - generally ride it to the Connector down to Girl Scout, but if you keep going you get a good tech climb with some exposure, which is why it's above the last three trails. I've never once cleaned the climb, though I claim close a few days ago!

14. Inner Caldera - kind of a weird trail and one of my favorites. The first half is probably black. You come around a turn a couple hundred yards in (everyone rides it clockwise) and have a move bigger than anything else on the blue trails at Bootleg where you get a manageable but fairly large and chunky rock roll. I like to go high early and move slightly from right to left during the roll to carry the most speed to get up the next section, but as long as you don't panic, you'll be ok. It's trickier than some spots though as you come in at an angle. After that you get a couple more challenging sections including a weird double off camber section that was the last thing on the trail I cleared. Later, things open up and you pop up a loose hill onto a pretty off camber section over minor exposure. Then halfway through it becomes a longer, XC climb out.


[to be continued but becoming paranoid that I'll lose all my text so posting]