Naseby Highlight Loop

Dogs Unknown

E-Bikes Unknown

Stringing together a good route in Naseby can be tough if you don't know the trails. This loop takes in fast flowing downhill, fun features, and wild badland terrain in the former gold mining area.

Naseby Forest is packed with short fun trails. Because signage is minimal (though there are rumors that this may change) many intersections are confusing and side-tracks can be easy to miss. Part of the fun of Naseby is that the area is compact and it's impossible to get terribly lost or too far off an intended route - you're never more than a few minutes away from the Mount Ida Water Race or town or a road where you can get your bearings.

From the swimming dam head west (upstream) on the Mount Ida Water Race, which meanders through uncut larch, pine, and fir forest with a few peeks of the mountains above Naseby. Stick to the Mount Ida Water Race until you get to Hoffman's Dam, where a bridge crosses the race and allows access to the lakeshore. Hoffman's travels on an exciting bench perched just above the water and travels the length of the lake to a fun set of hills in the valley above. This area has a lot of steep and exciting dirt piles to play on, and the trail network can get a bit confusing. A loop of trails east of Hoffman's Dam includes some fun twists and turns and an outstanding banked wooden construction to play on.

When you're done having fun near Hoffman's Lake head uphill on trails that will eventually converge on Walt Brennan, which includes some quality banked and flowing riding through clear-cut that will take you toward the north and east to Wet Gully Road. Crossing the road will put you on Busted Butte, which flows through eroded mining gullies with cool vistas to Ramp Road. A jog to the east (left) on Ramp Road will take you to the top of Blu Man, which is a downhill scream back to the lower part of the forest. A few hundred meters before the Mount Ida Water Race, a left turn onto Move Em On will take you to Translator Road, which you can use to get back up to the top of the forest.

At the top of Translator Road, jog to the east on Eastern Road to the top of Heaphy Highway, which is another great downhill cruise. This can be ridden all the way to the bottom of the forest, but you want to look for an easily-missed left (east) through the clearcut onto Wall Street. After an unremarkable first hundred meters or so, Wall Street drops into wild eroded badlands with some very steep descents and insane banked turns in tight gullies.

This area offers innumerable options for fun, and you'll want to explore a bit. Eventually, its worth finding your way north onto Claim Jumper, which heads east along a deepening eroded chasm formed by outflows from the water used in the mining operations above. This is fun riding in a cool landscape, ending at the trickle of water in the Hog Burn. Just downstream, you can pick up Wall Street to get you back into the heart of the badlands to explore more of the riding features and old mining operations.

Heading south and west through the badlands will get you on Gold Claim, an easy trail that will take you to a worthwhile signed sidetrack to a lookout and then downhill to Translator Road and the swimming dam where you started.