At the end of August, I hiked Pioneer Trail for the first time. This trail is a newly built trail that opened up last year. It’s a shared bike/hike trail on the ski mountain. Pioneer Trail begins mid-mountain at the Rainbow Saddle and traverses across the mountain to an out-of-bound area. The trail includes beautiful views, patches of Aspens, and 13 bridges, all that cross a creek. Close to the end of the trail, you’ll hit a bunch of switchbacks. The trail is 3.7 miles long.
At the end of this trail, you have a choice of two trails to get you the rest of the way down the mountain. One choice is a black diamond bike trail with the bottom half of it a paved road. The other choice is a blue trail called Zig Zag. We took Zig Zag. This trail is an uneven dirt road that wanders down to the base of the mountain, but there are no zigs and zags in it. I have no idea why it is called Zig Zag.
The entire hike, along with the walk back up to the parking lot, was 6.5 miles long. I have decided I am a 4 mile hiker! I really loved the Pioneer Trail part but was not a fan of the bottom Zig Zag part of the hike. Even so, it was a fun day!
Below are photos from the Pioneer Trail part of the hike…
shave ice & gelato 