Our Neighbor Pioche

Somewhere in my back catalog of articles, I sang the praises of our Nevada neighbors in Caliente for their burgeoning mountain bike scene. They have a nicely rounded mix of wellbuilt, very fun trails. Kershaw-Ryan State Park’s trail system even hosts the annual Broken Record 3 and 6 Hour Challenge mountain bike race. This high-desert town has really embraced the mountain bike community.

So when whispers of new trails began hitting my perked-up ears, I was eager for news. News of new trails is always good news. As it turns out, Caliente’s neighbor (so technically our neighbor as well!), Pioche, decided it was high time build a network of its own in order to expand the area’s potential to draw more people to experience the cool things a person can encounter when exploring new trails and the towns that host them by building a network of its own!

News of new trails is always good news, and as it turns out, Caliente’s neighbor (so technically our neighbor as well!), Pioche, decided it was high time to build a trail network of its own! The idea is simple: get more people out exploring, discovering cool trails, and enjoying the towns that make those adventures possible.

Now, I don’t want to make it sound like there is some sort of trail rivalry between Pioche and Caliente … or is there? Hmmmm. No. I’m sure they’re fine with each other. Anyway, the cool thing is that when you get to the “T” in the road at Panaca, if you turn left and drive about fifteen minutes, you’ll find Caliente. Turn right for about the same amount of time, and you’ll find Pioche. So hitting multiple trail systems and flavors of trails is easy.

In fact, the Prospector Trails (not to be confused with Prospector Trail in St. George) are on the opposite side of Treasure Hill from town, so the drive is even shorter. I’m hoping one day a trail will drop into Pioche. It would be fun to ride to town for a coffee, then head back into the hills for another lap. For a moment, you can catch sight of Pioche through the trees from the Silver Strike Summit Trail, so that might be a good place to make it happen.

Anyhow, the trails that are already there are worth the time to explore. There are just over sixteen miles of well-thought-out, flowy, twisty, good-fun trails. Three trails begin right at the trailhead and converge higher on the hill, with connectors between them, making shorter loops easy to figure out. It’s also a fun way to tack on a few extra miles toward the end of a ride without committing to a long loop.

Once you get a little higher on the hill, there is the aforementioned Silver Strike Summit Trail, which seems to run a little easier counterclockwise, with Claim Jumper providing a cool downhill. Or run it the other way and challenge yourself with a techy climb. The views up here are outstanding, with long-range scenery and tree-lined singletrack.

Up here, you’ll also find Gold Fever—I believe it’s my favorite section—an out-and-back that is such a sweet ride that I did it twice! It ends at a primitive dirt road that looks fun and will take you back to one of the main trail intersections, but I couldn’t resist the smile-inducing rip back along its twisty track. Perhaps this trail will continue with future expansions, but it is definitely worth the ride as it sits!

So, it may sound like I’m being paid to talk up these cool trails, but the fact of the matter is that I get paid exactly the same as I do for writing these articles: bupkis. I’m writing about them because I love exploring new trails, and if there’s a road trip involved, even better. Maybe you feel the same. If so, I encourage you to pack up the car and go find some new dirt to put under your tires!