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Floating Rocks Loop
with Lollipop and Shamrock & Roll
A dumbbell-shaped ride using Lukes, Smo Joes, and Knott Petes Rim
This is a great ride that hits much of the best trails in the Price
area. It's 13.4 miles long, with about 1500 vertical feet of total
climbing. The ride is upper-intermediate to advanced in tech requirement. On
Floating Rocks, we're following the rim towards the Book Cliffs. Photos
and trail review based on a ride by Bruce on May 31, 2011. |
| The ride is shaped like a dumbbell -- two loops separated by
a portion of two-way trail. The lower loop starts with Luke's Trail and
IMBAtween. Then you head north away from the lower loop on a piece of
Mead's Rim leading to Floating Rocks. Next you'll hit the loop consisting
of Lollipop and Shamrock & Roll. Backtracking down Floating Rocks,
you'll hit the bottom half of the lower loop with Smo' Joes and Knott
Pete's Rim.
Starting out. Luke's trail heads north, flirting with
the western edge of the mesa. The lower slopes are Mancos Shale. The
mountains are the Book Cliffs of the Mesa Verde formation. |
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If you're up to a little more, I've added a track file for a
slightly bigger version at 16.5 miles. This ride meanders to the mesa edge
on Alan's Alley, Bonus Loop, and Wyatt's Way. This makes a very satisfying
day's riding.
The IMBAtween trail is a little more
technical than Luke's, with a fair amount of loose rock and some
up-and-down riding. |
| The trails are typical for Price. The singletrack is narrow,
often with soft shoulders. If you wobble off-trail, you'll likely dig the
front tire in. The upper (northern) end of the mesa has more rock in the
trail.
We're on Floating Rocks just after the
fork off of Mead's Rim, heading north. |
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Surrounding the trail are juniper and pinion pine.
Occasionally the trail takes very tight turns around trees to discourage
motorheads from poaching the bike trails. There will also be narrow
chokepoints to discourage ATVs.
Floating Rocks generally follows the
eastern side of the mesa northbound toward the Book Cliffs. You'll be
doing it both directions!
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| You'll enjoy views to the west, where the Skyline Drive
fills the horizon from west to southwest. Then you'll hug the east side of
the mesa. Views of the Book Cliffs dominate the north and east side.
We're on Lollipop. The trail climbs
gently north along the top of the ridge until it makes the small loop at
the north end. (We won't do the entire Lollipop loop -- we'll skip about
0.1 miles as we exit on Shamrock & Roll.) |
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The Floating Rocks loop starts at the south end of Luke's
Trail, heading north. (If you started from the new Wood Hill parking,
adjust your ride plan, as you'll be reaching Luke's in the middle after
doing Solis Way.)
The first couple of miles are pretty easy, then it gets a little more technical. For
additional miles, you can hit the side ride at Alan's Alley. When you
reach the cattleguard in the fence, go straight across and continue.
Consider another side dish at the Bonus Loop. To skip it, keep straight
(right). Cross the dirt road.
On the Lollipop loop, we're at the far
northeast corner, looking east at the line of the Book Cliffs.
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| At the top of Luke's, cross the dirt road to IMBAtween. At
the junction with Smo' Joes, keep left to head for Mead's Rim. Go north
(left) on Mead's Rim until you reach the intersection with Floating Rocks.
Follow Floating Rocks north.
From the north end, we're looking down
at the little town of Kenilworth.
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Just before a doubletrack, Lollipop forks off to the right
at an unmarked (as of 2011) intersection. Keep heading north and gently
climbing.
Keep right at the next intersection to follow the arc of Lollipop
around the northern edge of the mesa. At the next intersection near the
northwest corner, turn right and downhill on Shamrock & Roll.
The intersection with Shamrock &
Roll, it's obvious we've got a lot of downhill ahead of us. Looking south. |
| Shamrock & Roll will rock downhill with some fine tech
stunts, then climb the next ridge before dropping down again. At the
intersection with the Yoo Hoo DH, keep left and begin climbing back up.
After you cross the dirt Kenilworth road, you're back at the Lollipop
fork. Keep right to head south on Floating Rocks.
Trailside stunts and optional lines
make Shamrock & Roll more interesting.
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Stay left along the rim as Floating Rocks meets Mead's.
Watch for the fork where you joined Mead's (if you don't want to end up
down in the valley). Turn right away from the rim, then 0.1 miles later
fork left onto Smo' Joes.
A fun bermed and armored turn on
Shamrock & Roll.
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| Stay on singletrack as you cross a dirt road in the bottom
of the ravine.
Keep straight (left) along the rim when you reach a trail fork at the
little cattleguard in the fence. Stay along the rim on Smo' Joes.
On the ridgeline after climbing back
uphill on the second leg of Shamrock & Roll. |
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Toward the south end of the mesa, you'll twice reach trail
forks with Wyatt's Way. Keep right. The second fork puts you onto Knott
Pete's Rim at the end of Smo' Joes.
For more miles, consider a jaunt around Wyatt's Way before you go on.
Clockwise (taking the first fork) is a little easier to navigate. See the
Knott Pete's Rim page for navigation tips.
Southbound on Smo' Joes, we can see
the far edge of the mesa above Price.
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| Follow Knott Pete's Rim back to the Kenilworth road. Cross
it to the smaller dirt road, which takes you straight to the parking area
where you started the ride.
Knott Pete's Rim follows the edge of
the mesa westbound, a little bit north of the homes of Price. |
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Floating Rocks Loop:
0.0 Start at Lukes TH on mesa
N39 37.367 W110 48.811
Cross any doubletracks
1.0 Keep R (L = Alans Alley)
N39 38.038 W110 49.049
Option: Alan's Alley
1.3 Keep R as Alans rejoins
N39 38.246 W110 49.160
If on
Alans, fork L back on Lukes
If you
did Alans, add 1 mile
2.5 Cross cattlegrate (R=cutoff)
N39 38.826 W110 48.492
2.6 Keep R on Lukes
N39 38.848 W110 48.455
Option: L downhill on Bonus Loop
2.7 L uphill on DT N39 38.886 W110 48.455
2.8 Keep R onto ST then follow powerline
N39 38.878 W110 48.526
2.9 ST veers L away from powerline
N39 38.906 W110 48.625
3.2 Back at DT, keep straight
3.3 R on ST N39 38.886 W110 48.455
3.35 L to resume Lukes N39 38.848 W110 48.455
Add 0.8 miles if
you did Bonus Loop
2.7 Cross gravel road N39 38.848 W110 48.432
2.9 Cross Kenilworth road to IMBAtween
N39 39.035 W110 48.253
3.8 L towards Meads Rim, R=Smo' Joes
N39 39.073 W110 48.065
4.1 L (north along rim) on Meads Rim
N39 39.279 W110 47.950
4.4 Fork R and climb (L = alternate)
N39 39.464 W110 47.933
4.5 R on Floating Rocks
N39 39.535 W110 47.898 |
5.6 R on Lollipop
N39 40.240 W110 48.094
6.3 R to start Lollipop loop
N39 40.795 W110 48.127
6.6 Fork R onto Shamrock & Roll
N39 40.825 W110 48.178
7.9 Fork L uphill (R = Yoo Hoo)
N39 40.275 W110 48.209
8.2 L on Floating Rocks
N39 40.240 W110 48.094
9.3 Keep L on Mead's Rim
N39 39.535 W110 47.898
9.4 L across valley and uphill
N39 39.464 W110 47.933
9.7 Critical fork: L to IMBAtween
N39 39.279 W110 47.950
9.9 Keep L, start Smo' Joes
N39 39.073 W110 48.065
10.0 Cross DT N39 39.037 W110 48.121
10.4 Keep straight after cattleguard
N39 38.721 W110 48.274
11.8 Straight (R), L=Wyatt's Way
N39 37.724 W110 48.240
For add-on Wyatt's Way
11.9 R on DT N39 37.805 W110 48.252
Cross road to ST N39 37.802 W110 48.242
12.8 Fork hard R (straight = Devils Backbone)
N39 37.247 W110 48.035
13.5 L on Knott Pete's Rim
N39 37.653 W110 48.275
If you did Wyatt's, add 1.7 miles
11.9 R on Knott Pete's Rim
N39 37.653 W110 48.275
13.2 Cross road to DT N39 37.357 W110 48.697
13.3 Back at parking |
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Getting there, Wood Hill trailhead parking: Eastbound on US 6, take the
first Price exit. Turn left and enter town on 100 North. About a mile
after leaving the freeway, turn left (north) on 300 East. Drive to 900
North and turn left. The road will turn to dirt and/or narrow asphalt, and
will veer right and climb the mesa. As you reach the top of the mesa
1/2 mile later, continue straight north for another 1/2 mile. The gravel
trailhead will be on your left. Solis Way begins across the doubletrack
from the northwest corner.
South Luke's parking: As you first reach the top of the mesa, fork left (west)
and proceed 100 yards to the primitive Luke's parking area.
Camping: Primitive sites just southwest of the trailhead
Water: None at trailhead.
Bathrooms: Wood Hill trailhead
Bike services: Price
Riding resources for this trail:
One-page riding guides
Floating
Rocks Loop
GPS track files (right-click link,
then save as a file:
GPX area
with individual trail tracks
Floating
Rocks Loop
Larger
Floating Rocks Loop (w Alans, Bonus, and Wyatts)
Maps for printing
Mesa
topo (Floating Rocks Loop) Full
area topo
Large-format map
courtesy
of Price Area Singletrack Society
(PASS)
Lodging, camping, shops
Links to Price area resources
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