If you ever ride in Las Vegas - Bootleg Canyon

MTB Aussie

Member
Just over a week ago I was lucky enough to ride in Las Vegas for the second time. This time someone who "knows" pointed us to Bootleg Canyon which is in the hills near Boulder City NV on the road to Lake Mead/Hoover Dam.

Bootleg is also where they take the test bikes from interbike. The first thing that struck me is how cool it was that they had a small bathroom/shower facility right at the trail head. They also had a shade house with picnic table underneath and drinking water. This place is made for bike riders!

There were numerous trails with varying degrees of difficulty coded like a ski resort with green, blue and black diamond. There were DH and XC trails and a mix of riders and they all were getting along fine! I rode the easy XC trails starting up a hill on a trail called girlscout, and then putting on a loop at the top around the caldera fittingly called "inner caldera". A local showed us the way.

It was 108 degrees which is my excuse for not riding anything harder. It was typical desert hardpack with some loose shingle and some cool dips and rises. Some of the dips were so fast the suspension on the bike compressed hard at the bottom as you came back up the rise at probably 25 mph.

After the caldera we rode back down the way we came and it was very fast and ended too quickly. We took a break in the shade house (that was the only shade for miles around). Then we headed out towards Lake Mead and noticed that the trail was crossing over the bottom end of the DH trails. There were quite a few constructed hits on the DH that I saw. One of the locals said there was a shuttle road to haul bikes and riders up for the DH runs. Our trail made a loop short of the lake which like all desert features was further away than it looked. On the way back the trail was like a pump track with some cool berms, drops and small air features. When we got back we played around on a teeter totter and some skinnies that were constructed near the trail head.

Bottom line - two thumbs up and recommended. I have ridden the cowboy trails and red rock canyon a couple of years back. This was less technical and would have been a lot more fun with cooler weather and more time. I rented from Las Vegas Cyclery but one local told me there was a shop in Boulder City that would have saved hauling the bike into the hotel the night before. It would also be a better choice if you had a small rental car.

Cheers
Tim
 

Madness

New Member
I was out there two weekends ago for work. We actually did an event right in the middle of the canyon. I saw the trails and was so upset that I didn't have my bike or the time to even demo one for a day to ride there. I will call bitch and say that it was average of 112 degrees and on the actual saturday of the event it hit 119 at some point through out the day. So I probably would have bitched out and went to a pool somewhere instead of riding. But it looked really fun and I would love to check it out with one day. I have a friend that lives out in Vegas now so there is a good excuse for me to go back out there for a little vaca with my bike. But I will wait till the weather breaks and it is a little more managble tempature, cause I can't deal with that kind of heat while riding, especially with absolutely no humidity like there is in the dessert.
 

MTB Aussie

Member
I was out there two weekends ago for work. We actually did an event right in the middle of the canyon. I saw the trails and was so upset that I didn't have my bike or the time to even demo one for a day to ride there. I will call bitch and say that it was average of 112 degrees and on the actual saturday of the event it hit 119 at some point through out the day. So I probably would have bitched out and went to a pool somewhere instead of riding. But it looked really fun and I would love to check it out with one day. I have a friend that lives out in Vegas now so there is a good excuse for me to go back out there for a little vaca with my bike. But I will wait till the weather breaks and it is a little more managble tempature, cause I can't deal with that kind of heat while riding, especially with absolutely no humidity like there is in the dessert.

Were you part of the Scion festival or something? I saw a ton of cars and tents in the canyon. I was there May 18th.
 

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
I scared the crap out of myself chasing Jeff Lenowsky and Lance Trappe around this place. Very Very fun. Don't fall here.


J
 

Madness

New Member
Were you part of the Scion festival or something? I saw a ton of cars and tents in the canyon. I was there May 18th.

Yeah I was. The marketing company I freelance for in NYC put that whole thing together. That festival was my headach for the last three months.......
 
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