On Nevada Day morning, Keith Conrad took me on a trail I hadn’t done on the south side of C Hill. There used to be a trail in this area years ago, but it never got fully established, and was quickly overgrown. Before the housing crash, plans to build luxury homes behind C Hill were underway, and bulldozers carved away parts of the trail to prepare for seismic testing. I hadn’t been back to this area for a long time. The trail now is all new, and is still a work in progress. I’m not sure if there is an official name for the trail, but I’ll call it the South C Hill Trail for the purposes of this discussion.
The singletrack begins
We started this trail at the southern terminus of Thompson Street, where you can access the fire break road. Ride the fire break road south towards the power lines. Near the power lines on the fire break road on the west side of C-Hill, follow the trail that leaves the road. Keep going straight and south through the intersections until the trail fully becomes singletrack.
Climbing above south Carson City
The trail wraps around around the east side of C Hill, and then begins to ascend the canyon on the hill’s south side.
Ascending the canyon
The trail climbs north up the hill for a ways, and eventually you’ll come to an intersection. Going right continues the climb, while a left will take you back down to the bottom of the canyon.
Intersection
Not long after the intersection, you’ll climb to a dirt road. Ride the dirt road up west a short ways, and you’ll see the single track take off again on your left.
Spectacular Views
This section of trail is the most challenging. There are some fun rock obstacles, a switchback, and a few steep but short climbs.
The trail ends near the C and Flag
The trail finishes with a gentle climb and rejoins the dirt road that climbs C Hill. From here you have the C and the American Flag in view, and there is a great view of Carson City below. Descending the trail is fun, but like most new trails, it’s still a bit bumpy and narrow. It will definitely get faster in time.
Carson City overlook
It’s obvious this is not going to be the end of this trail, and I imagine it’ll eventually keep climbing up the mountain. For now though, it’s quite rideable and a lot of fun. The grade is good too, and was comfortable on my single speed in almost all areas.
A video of the nice views!
Go check it out!
Another fabulously written post! Thanks Jeff. Who put the trail together?
I’m not sure who’s building this one. We rode it again today, and the trail is in even better shape than a few days ago.
in the days of old we would hike up the face of c hill with bmx bikes and then bomb down the fire road. we would even take the sidehack (the one still in the shop today) we had to take it apart one guy would take the hack and someone would push the bike.
That’s wild. I was just looking at that road yesterday, and was thinking, “Who builds roads that steep?”. It’s slick…might as well be covered in ball bearings.