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Smo' Joes Loop
Smo' Joes is a trail that follows the eastern rim of the same mesa as Luke's Trail. The Smo' Joes Loop is a counterclockwise loop that's essentially Knott Pete's Rim, the Smo' Joes trail, plus Luke's Trail backwards. Typical trail on Smo' Yoes -- rocky dirt among junipers along the edge of the mesa, with occasional brush and flowers. Trail review May 2011. |
| Smo' Joes Loop is 7 miles You can add some side meanders
such as Wyatt's Way, Bonus Loop, and Alan's Alley to make it longer.
There are a lot of other riding options on the mesa. See the Luke's Area page for a list of trails. The Knott Pete's Rim trail skirts the north edge of town on the mesa overlooking Price. |
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The trail starts from the Luke's trailhead by backtracking a
little bit east on the dirt road, then heading east on Knott Pete's Rim.
After a mile, you'll fork north on Smo' Joes. (Option: keep eastbound onto
Wyatt's Way, circle around, and rejoin Smo' Joes 0.1 mile from the trail
fork.)
Near Wyatt's Way. |
| Smo' Joes is mostly easy riding northbound along the eastern
edge of the mesa. There's a gentle upward slope. Occasional rock rollovers
are offered along the side of the trail, but overall it's a pretty easy
ride.
Trailside rock rollover on Smo' Joes. |
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Keep straight as the trail hits a little cattleguard in the
fence. Just after crossing a dirt road, you'll reach the IMBAtween fork.
Head left on IMBAtween -- away from Mead's Rim.
Heading north, we see the Book Cliffs in the distance. The Book Cliffs are layered sandstone of the Mesa Verde group of the Cretaceous. |
| This is the "turnaround" to head back. If you're
looking for a much bigger ride, follow the directions for Floating
Rocks or Yoo Hoo. You get there by forking
left toward Mead's Rim at the IMBAtween fork.
Trail sign at the IMBAtween fork. |
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IMBAtween will turn back to the south and begin climbing.
There's a little rocky loose stuff. Not too hard, but tougher than what
you've been riding so far.
IMBAtween crosses the dirt Kenilworth road to become Luke's Trail. Keep going. Cross another road. Shortly after that 2nd road, a fork to the right will take you through a wash to the Bonus Loop. To skip it, keep left. Looking north as IMBAtween heads away from Smo' Joes toward a wash crossing. |
| Luke's Trail aims gently downhill. There will be some tight
turns in trees. The dirt surrounding the trail base gets softer here. If
you overshoot a turn, your tire will dig in and throw you.
A little tech rollover on IMBAtween. |
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At the fork with Alan's Alley, consider this as an add-on.
It takes you out to the west mesa edge and back, adding about a mile to
the total distance.
The trail on the western edge of the mesa as we head back. |
| Smo' Joes Loop counterclockwise: 0.0 From Luke's TH, backtrack E on DT 0.1 Cross road to ST N39 37.357 W110 48.697 1.3 L on Smo' Joes N39 37.652 W110 48.276 R = Wyatt's Way (option side loop) 1.4 Stay L (R= Wyatt's Way) N39 37.727 W110 48.242 2.8 Keep straight, cross cattleguard N39 38.722 W110 48.272 L = shortcut to Lukes 3.4 L on IMBAtween N39 39.075 W110 48.063 4.2 Cross road to Lukes N39 39.031 W110 48.268 4.5 Cross road N39 38.849 W110 48.430 4.55 Keep straight (L) N39 38.849 W110 48.458 R = option Bonus Loop 4.6 Straight N39 38.829 W110 48.496 (L after cattleguard = to Smo Joes) 5.8 Keep L N39 38.246 W110 49.160 (R = option Alan's Way loop) 6.1 Keep L N39 38.038 W110 49.046 (R = return from Alan's) 7.1 At trailhead Getting there, Luke's 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. One-half mile later at the top of the mesa, fork left (west) and proceed 0.1 mile to the Lukes parking area. Camping: Primitive sites just southwest of the trailhead |
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| Riding resources for this trail: One-page riding guides Smo' Joes Loop Other area trail pages: Luke's area GPS track files (right-click link, then save as a file: GPX area with individual trail tracks Smo Joes Loop course file Maps for printing Smo' Joes Loop Large-format map courtesy of PASS Lodging, camping, shops Links to Price area resources |
Copyright 2011 Mad Scientist Software |
