This page covers less-popular rides in the Bloomington area south of Bearclaw
Poppy. This includes Hoj Wash (classic Bloomington Micro Loop),
Farmer's Fenceline (an out-and-back off the bottom of Hoj Wash), and the BupStarch Loop
(found off the Bloomington Alternate singletracks or by riding to the far end of the Fenceline
Trail). These trails are easy technically with little overall climbing.
Bruce rides Hoj Wash. Original review by Bruce
in May 2006, with latest update on November 10, 2022.
The riding season for these trails is year round -- weather
permitting. The surface is clay, so like Bearclaw
they should be avoided when soaked after heavy rain.
The Bloomington Micro Loop (Hoj Wash) is a classic loop ride that starts at
the Bloomington trailhead for the Bearclaw Poppy trail.
It's a fast and quick ride without much work. For most riders, Hoj Wash is also the route to Farmer's Fenceline and
BupStarch.
Looking east in Hoj Wash.
The BupStarch Loop is a fun two-mile loop ride through
undulating Moenkopi clay. This loop lies between Hoj Wash and the
Bloomington Alternate trails. It can be reached from the bottom of Hoj
Wash via Farmers Fenceline, or from the top via a couple of short
connectors from the Bloomington Alternate singletracks.
Crossing a small wash in the desert preserve. There are lots of dips and
twists here.
You can reach these trails by riding Bearclaw Up. This trail is designed to be ridden ONE WAY. At the trail's west end is a 4-way where you can connect to Stucki Springs
(straight ahead), Bearclaw Poppy
(to the right), or Hoj Wash (left).
On Bearclaw Up are two alternate singletracks that fork away to the left.
These are called the "Bloomington Alternate" singletracks. These
trails, in turn, give rise to connectors to the BupStarch Loop.
Heading up a wash on the Farmer's Fenceline trail.
Once we're on top of the little hill, the trail will turn east for some
easy cruising.
Getting to the trails
Bloomington Trailhead
Go to the west end of Navajo Drive in
Bloomington. Go across the cattle guard and drive about 1/10th mile. Turn left
into the large multi-level trailhead. Around the middle of the trailhead,
on the downhill side, there's a ride-over gate.
The gravel road past the trailhead is the Apex Mine or Curley Hollow Road, which will be your
return path from Hoj Wash if you ride the classic Micro Loop. Curley
Hollow is a
popular destination for ATVs.
Coming back into the parking area at Bloomington.
From the trailhead ride-over, pedal about 100 feet
straight ahead, then fork 90 degrees to the left. This is
Bearclaw Up and it's the outgoing path for the Bloomington Micro Loop or
the Bloomington Alternate singletracks. Now ride westbound.
Stay generally straight on what appears to be the main trail to avoid getting lost on alternate lines.
The Bearclaw Poppy Up trail and the
Bloomington Microloop share this common origin. Looking north as the Up
trail heads west.
From upper Bearclaw Poppy or Stucki Springs
At
the bottom of Clavicle Hill (the last of the Acid Drops of Bearclaw) keep
straight and to the right where Bearclaw turns to the left in a fenced
corridor. Continue south to a signed 4-way intersection. To your left is Bearclaw
Up; to the right is Stucki Springs; straight ahead is the Micro Loop,
headed to Hoj Wash.
Taking a plunge on the Acid Drops
of Bearclaw. If you keep straight and slightly right after dropping
Clavicle Hill, you'll arrive at the 4-way with Stucki and the Micro Loop
trail to Hoj Wash.
The Bloomington Micro Loop (Hoj Wash)
The Hoj Wash loop ride begins on Bearclaw Up. The loop features about
4 miles of nice narrow singletrack, then two miles on graded dirt road to close
the loop. Total length is 6 miles with about 200 feet total climbing. The singletrack is easier
intermediate technical.
The trail parallels the Roller Coaster
section of the Bearclaw Poppy, which is about 1/3 mile away. Some
"cheater routes" forking to the north go to Bearclaw. In
general, stay left when in doubt.
There will be some branching
trails. Some are legitimate shortcuts and alternates. In general, keep
straight on what appears to be the main
trail as you head northwest through the white and red desert soil. If you
aren't absolutely sure an alternate trail is legit, don't go there.
The wash bottom is usually firm and
smooth. No tire-sinking sand. In this spot, the wash breaks over stone
slabs. The ledges are easy for experts; a bit of a challenge for
beginners.
After about 1/2 mile, the trail will drop in to a shallow wash.
You'll follow the wash bottom for a mile or so, still heading northwest.
About two miles from the beginning of the loop, the trail
climbs out of the wash. You're back on the familiar white clay, still
heading northwest.
Bruce's Superfly 100 takes a rest in
the wash.
After a short distance on the white singletrack, you'll
cross the main Bloomington Alternate (not marked), then reach a clearly
marked 4-way intersection. Straight ahead is the way to Stucki Springs and
the Snakepit trail; to
the right is the connector to the middle of Bearclaw Poppy
just below Clavicle Hill (where the one-way downhill section starts).
When you reach this spot, turn left.
(We're looking straight -- northwest -- at the Stucki Springs trail.)
To ride the Bloomington Micro Loop, turn left at the 4-way intersection. There should be a
"Bloomington Micro Loop" sign here. Follow the singletrack down into the wash.
The trail will head to the south, following the course of Hoj Wash.
View from a small ridge where the
trail shortcuts across a small rise before re-entering the wash.
In several spots, you can either continue down the wash
bottom, or follow the singletrack between goosenecks of the
wash. The riding here is pretty easy. This is a good ride for experienced beginners.
About half-way down the wash, there's a connector on your left (marked
by a tiny rock-pile in 2022). It's usually used as a downhill from
BupStarch to Hoj Wash, but you can climb it if you're game for some steep
slopes.
Drone view as we ride the wash bottom.
After about a mile in the wash, you'll reach a gate at
the edge of the Desert Preserve, where the wash opens up. On your left is
the Farmer's Fenceline trail.
To continue the Micro Loop, climb over the
metal gate. (The step-over around the gate had been fenced off during my last visit,
probably because idiots with light motorcycles were lifting them into the
desert preserve.)
The singletrack exits and re-enters
the wash multiple times.
Turn left on the gravel road (called Curly
Hollow Road or Apex Mine Road) and head back to the Bloomington Trailhead. You'll spend
about two miles on the dirt road.
View on the dirt road as we head back toward the
trailhead.
Bloomington Micro Loop -- the ride down Hoj
Wash
If the above video does not appear on your
browser/device, you can watch it on YouTube by clicking
here.
Farmers Fenceline
The Farmer's Fenceline trail starts at the bottom of Hoj
Wash, just before the Micro Loop hits the Apex Mine (Curley Hollow) Road. As you approach
the gate near the road, the trail will be on your left.
Looking northeast as the Farmers Fenceline trail
leaves Hoj Wash.
The Fenceline trail is 1.4 miles in length. There's a bit of
up-and-down riding, with around 150 feet of overall elevation change from
the wash to the BupStarch Loop.
Climbing up a wash to get on top of the bluff.
From Hoj Wash, the Fenceline trail will climb up a low
bluff. There are two pathways, with the trail fork just over 100 yards
from the wash. The right-hand trail is better as a climber, the left-most is
steep and should be reserved for your ride back. These paths will rejoin in 1/10th mile on top of the bluff.
View southwest on the return path of an out-and-back
on the Fenceline.
After a bit of meandering, the Fenceline trail will approach
-- surprise! -- a fenceline. Continue to ride parallel to the fence eastbound. The fence will
come to a 90-degree corner, forcing the trail to also turn 90 degrees left,
uphill and north.
Looking north as the trail rolls through cryptobiotic
crust.
Pedal 0.2 miles uphill to find the start of the BupStarch
Loop. The loop turns gently to the left for a counterclockwise ride; hard
left for the clockwise direction. (There are several confusing cheater
trails here.) If you continue uphill and north (counterclockwise on
BupStarch), the options
to your right (just after you start the loop) are connectors to one of the
Bloomington Alternate singletracks (see map).
Nearing
the top of Farmers Fenceline. The BupStarch Loop will turn to the left at
the bottom of the white mound. (A connector trail drops down from the top
of the white ridge. The connector joins BupStarch to an alternate
Bloomington singletrack at the top where
the fence again turns to the east.)
Bloomington Alternates
There are two trails that fork to the left off Bearclaw Up that are
referred to as "Bloomington Alternate" singletracks. While
considered "alternates" to Bearclaw Up, they're not exciting
rides when used for this purpose. But these
trails allow you to connect to the BupStarch Loop from above.
The first alternate is
found at the spot where the Curley Springs (Apex Mine) road -- which you
can see to your left across the
fence -- turns away
from the Bearclaw Up trail at
mile 0.6 from the trailhead. The singletrack, on your left, is unmarked
but will appear to be a fairly prominent trail.
Climbing uphill to the west.
This first Bloomington singletrack is 0.6 miles long, ending on the
main Bloomington Alternate. Once you turn away from Bearclaw Up, keep
generally straight and left. Shortly after leaving Bearclaw, it begins following
a fenceline
westbound. At mile 0.4 from Bearclaw Up, the fence
turns away to the south. There's a connector trail here that drops down to the
BupStarch Loop. The trail splits after 100 yards. Left is a steep drop-in
straight down to Farmers Fenceline, and the trail on the right rolls down
to the top of BupStarch Loop and is suitable for climbing up from the loop.
Looking ahead as the Bloomington Alternate follows
the edge of a low rise. The BupStarch Loop is just out of sight to the
left of this photo, at the bottom of the break in the Moenkopi clay.
The main (2nd) Bloomington Alternate forks away from Bearclaw Up
in the wash at mile 1.0. It's on the left, exactly opposite the Shortcut
#1 trail (on your right). The Bloomington Alternate rejoins Bearclaw Up after
1.3 miles. It's a rather non-interesting trail. But at mile 0.4 from Bearclaw
Up, there's a short connector that drops off the ridge down to the
BupStarch Loop.
On the main Bloomington Alternate, heading back
toward the wash of Bearclaw Up. To get back to the trailhead, we'll cross
Bearclaw Up and take the Shortcut trail north to Bearclaw Down.
BupStarch Loop
The BupStarch Loop officially begins at the northeast end of the
Farmers Fenceline trail. This is the eastern corner of the loop. You can
also drop down to the loop via short connecting trails from the
Bloomington Alternate singletracks. I've shown the two most useful entries on my map.
For mileage -- and how to find the connectors -- see the Bloomington
Alternate section above.
Looking east on the loop, riding clockwise.
Bloomington Hill is seen above the clay slopes north of the trail.
The loop is 2.1 miles around and is very easy riding. But
navigation is NOT straightforward, as there are a couple of cheater trails that you might confuse with the main loop. There are no
trail signs. Occasionally, a small rockpile designates the appropriate
trail fork. The loop is featured on Trailforks, and I suggest you
use GPS navigation to confirm that you're making the right trail choice.
Looking west as the trail cruises through
cryptobiotic soil.
At the northwest corner of the BupStarch Loop there's a 0.4 mile trail that connects the loop down to
Hoj Wash. On a counterclockwise ride, it's located at the point where the
loop turns from westbound (and gently uphill) to south and downhill at mile 0.9
from Farmer's Fenceline. Because this connector trail is as prominent as the
loop trail, you might be suckered into taking it. So if you find yourself in
the bottom of a big wash after descending 100 vertical feet, turn around and ride back uphill.
The wash connector. A nice ride, but it's not part of
the loop.
The uphill side of the loop traverses along the bottom of a
low bluff. (The Bloomington Alternate trails are on top, near the edge of
the bluff.) If you're riding clockwise, it's gently downhill as you go
east.
Looking east as the trail undulates along the edge of
the hill.
The lower (southern) side of BupStarch Loop descends
gently from west to east, following the top of a low ridge in an area of
open rolling clay desert. At the eastern
end, the loop turns uphill and meets the top of the Farmer's Fenceline. Again,
there can be some confusion because of competing cheater routes. Please
try to stay on the main trail so you don't make things worse.
Looking east toward Bloomington on the lower side of
the loop, riding counterclockwise. The trail winds along the top of this
low ridge.
BupStarch Loop via 1st Bloomington Alternate
If the above video does not appear on your
browser/device, you can watch it on YouTube by clicking
here.
Sample Ride
Sample Bloomington ride "Snakepit
Figure-eight" with Snakepit, Stucki Spring, and Bearclaw: From
the Bloomington trailhead, take Bearclaw Up, then do Stucki Springs
clockwise as a loop, then join Bearclaw downhill to the trailhead.
Single-page guide
to this ride: View
to print
GPX course file for the ride: Download
Wide-area view showing
the Microloop in the lower right, with Stucki Springs at upper left.
0.0 Bloomington TH, step over gate
N37 03.125 W113 37.344
0.2 Fork L on Bloomington Microloop
N37 03.224 W113 37.504
2.4 4-way, keep straight to Stucki Spring
N37 04.160 W113 39.387
2.7 R and into wash for Snakepit
N37 04.268 W113 39.584
2.8 R on edge of wash (in wash = alternate)
N37 04.326 W113 39.699
3.1 Rejoin alternate from wash
N37 04.399 W113 39.907
3.2 Stay in wash (L = up to Stucki)
N37 04.482 W113 40.018
4.4 Snakepit Rim joins on R
N37 05.180 W113 40.836
5.0 Hard L on Stucki Spring trail
N37 05.659 W113 40.933
5.7 Alternates N37 05.387 W113 41.473
(straight = plunge, R = around)
5.2 Alternates rejoin N37 05.366 W113 41.568
6.7 Viewpoint, Cottonwood Wash, turn L
N37 05.227 W113 42.143
9.3 Keep R (L = down to Snakepit)
N37 04.619 W113 40.243
9.6 Keep R (L = to Snakepit)
N37 04.470 W113 40.184
10.3 Keep R at original Snakepit fork
N37 04.261 W113 39.620
10.6 At 4-way, turn L
N37 04.160 W113 39.387
10.7 Bottom of Clavicle Hill, fork R
N37 04.202 W113 39.313
East (R) on Bearclaw Poppy
trail
N37 04.209 W113 39.259
13.0 Back at Bloomington parking
Getting there: Go to the west end of Navajo Drive in
Bloomington. Go across the cattle guard and drive 1/10th mile on the dirt
road. Fork downhill to the right into either of the trailhead entrances
and find a parking spot. The outgoing trail begins on the north side of
the lower parking lot (toward Bloomington Hill).
Classic Bloomington Micro Loop, with the alternate trails
edited out for clarity.
