Review Date
July 11, 2008

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: timweston1 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Fun, challenging trail, definitely worth a visit if you've never ridden it. There are other local rides I'd choose over Garnet(Bangtails), but this is still cool.

Ridden as a loop, the ascent is all on dirt road and doubletrack. The first part of the ride (dirt roads) can be scenic, but some may consider it boring riding. The doubletrack starts out easily, and then just smacks you in the face with a couple of short sections of tough climbing (100-200 meters). Good views at the summit. The descent, via the singletrack, is a bit tricky. Sidehill exposure may alarm some. 2-3 really tight switchbacks, and one sweet right-hand turn with awesome exposure. The downhill is just steep enough and technical enough that I never really got going very fast (I'm also on an old hard-tail).

If it weren't for the few steep pitches, I'd say this trail rates as a 2 out of 5 in terms of aerobic difficulty.

Recommended Route:
Up the dirt road, up the doubletrack past Rat Lake, down the singletrack.