Reviewed by: Ryan Connolly , from Menlo Park, CA

Summary:
If you like high-altitude, exposed, overgrown, rocky, and cow-shit laden doubletrack -- this trail trail is for you!

Recommended Route:
My recommended route: stay on I-80 and drive straight through Nevada. Do not stop, and do not pass Go. When you arrive in Moab, Sun Valley, or Bozeman, stop and ride your bike. You will want to kick your own ass for stopping to ride in this town if you are heading anywhere remotely near good trails. I speak from experience.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Ride hard or ride home alone.

Reviewed by: Darrell McMillan , from Round Mountain, NV

Summary:
This is an excellent ride with 2 big and well spaced climbs. The descending is as fast as you want to go. The trail is very well marked and maintained by the Central Nevada Mountain Bike Association. Portions of this trail serve as the race course for the annual Claimjumpers Mountain Bike Festival, which this year also served as the Nevada State XC and DH Championships. It has also attracted several top 20 ranked NORBA pro racers. When ridden as described above there is about 1600' of altitude gain in 9 miles. Would rate a 5 if there was more singletrack.

Recommended Route:
Start at T-Rix bike shop and climb up to Austin Summit. Turn right (south) and head up over the mountain top. Descend down the back side of the mountain to where the fire road levels off and then hang a left (east). Drop down through the cow pastures along a jeep trail (kind of like singletrack because only 1 side is maintained) and into a singletrack section that is very fast with lots of dips and 3 water crossings. At the bottom, head back to the highway and turn left(west), go up about 100 yards and turn right(north). Follow the fire road and jeep trail up to the top of Austin mountain and drop down to cross the highway again. Then drop down the fire road you first climbed back to the bike shop.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
The pro level downhill course is awesome and drops 1000' in .9 miles. There is also rumor of a planned 25 mile singletrack loop.

Reviewed by: Ted , from Oakland, Calif., USA

Summary:
The Cahill Canyon Run is one of six trails recommended by Austin's Tyrannosaurus Rix [sic] bike shop, phone (775) 964-1212. In brief, you can either ride up on a dirt road from Austin proper or begin at Austin Summit, which lies on U.S. Highway 50 just east of town. I think the trail is signed as number 2; you'll see a sign listing several numbered mountain bike trails as you ride south on a dirt road from the highway turnoff at Austin Summit. Just after a short climb and downhill is the Cahill Canyon turnoff, to the left onto wide singletrack that runs through grass and aspen and juniper groves in or near the Toiyabe National Forest. The trail crosses Highway 50 east of Austin Summit and heads north and then west back to the trailhead. Pick up a free route map from the bike shop. As I recall, the trail runs from about 7,000 to 7,800 feet (~2135 to 2380m), and it has about 1,000 feet (~300m) of climbing, so if you're coming from sea level you'll breathe hard at times. The trail is technically moderate. I give it four tires here, or two stars ("vaut le dtour") under the Michelin Guide rating system for those who wonder how far they should go out of their way. Austin, a tiny and roughhewn but historic hamlet in the center of Nevada, seems to be trying to develop itself as a mountain bike destination. If you're driving between Denver and San Francisco you might want to drive through Austin on U.S. Highway 50 and check it out. There's an annual mountain bike race there, too.

Recommended Route:
Either from Austin Summit or from the town of Austin.