Cowboy Trails – 15 Minutes from Las Vegas, NV: Who Woulda Thunk?

I was driving through Las Vegas the other day, on my way to New Mexico.  I’d heard about the Cowboy Trails outside of town, and have always been curious.  When I think of Vegas, I think of stinky, smoky casinos, with old hags pumping their lungs full of ashes as they anxiously deposit their social security checks into slot machines and gamey shrimp cocktails and surf and turf at the Rio buffet.  I never would’ve guessed that a mere 15 minutes from the strip could put you in a spot where you felt away from everything, and visualize what this area was like before the gangsters were pimpin and scrimpin.

If you’re in the area, it’s worth a ride – I did it on my rigid SS- mistake.  Rubber knife at a gunfight.  With trail names like “Bob Gnarly”, “Bone Shaker” and “Bomb Voyage” (all the trail names that start with “B” are classified as expert), I should’ve known better.  Rocks and shale and drops… suspension would’ve been nice, but I still had a blast on great singletrack and such.  I downloaded this ghetto map from the internet, and went exploring- If you don’t know where you’re going it’s tough to navigate.  But you never stray to far, since it’s a bunch of fingers and you eventually find your way back to base.  Read up on the reviews and routes on the mtb blogs – and enjoy your time there.  Here’s a few pics from my ride.  I simply wanted to open your eyes to this spot, in case you’re in Vegas for a weekend, and your homies are drunk passed out on the toilet, you can go take a nice ride and get the 2nd hand smoke outta your lungs.  Hoot!!

my Goonies treasure map to the area

a rare trail sign - these trails are confusing and easy to get lost on - be warned.

looking out at some of the views - no city lights or "the strip" in sight!

again, would you have any clue casinos are just around the bend?