On Art Smith Trail to Palm Springs



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Name:On Art Smith Trail to Palm Springs
Description:Quite nice ride in Palm Springs area. I did this as a point to point ride, but, a loop coming back on Hwy 101 and 74 would be also doable. Started at the BLM visitor center about 3.5 miles up Hwy 74. Art Smith trailhead is on the right side of the road, visitor center on the left. Art Smith trail climbs up about 1500 ft on a granite rocky singletrack, somewhat reminescent to the South Mountain in Phoenix (although a bit less difficult). After several miles, the trail levels up and goes up and down relatively smoothly till Dunn Road. Crossing the road onto Hahn Buena Vista trail, one descends to Cathedral Canyon, and on the trail of the same name back to Dunn Road. Then about a mile down on Dunn Road to a faint singletrack on the left going uphill to a ridge. From the ridge, descent on a rocky singletrack to a steep canyon (Aqua Caliente ?). There is quite a maze of trails in this area, I took a switchback climb up a ridge to the south, and then descended to a jeep road, found another singletrack that went down steeply to water tanks and onto a dirt road leading to the Von's in Rimrock shopping center, where is trailhead for the trails in this area.
Overall an awesome ride, mostly on singletrack, definitely worth the road ride to finish it as a loop.
URL:On Art Smith Trail to Palm Springs
Trip Length: 17.03 miles
Total Trip Time:3:50
Total Climbing: 4308 feet
Total Descending: 4978 feet
Average Speed: 5.37 mph

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