Coming Around the Mountain: Going Backcountry at 50 Year
Granite Domes, Steep Climbs, and Earned Views
Around the Mountain doesn’t ease you in. Two miles of steep pitches that get you out of the 50 Year corridor and behind the main system, where most riders never trod. One mandatory hike-a-bike at the start — consider it a toll. Pay it and move on.
What’s waiting on the other side is remote, technical, and earned in a way the lower trails aren’t. This is one the 50 Year network’s best backcountry cards. Play it when you’re ready.
Stats
- Distance: 2 miles
- Elevation Gain: ~400 ft (clockwise, west to east)
- Elevation Loss: ~20 ft
- Difficulty: Advanced (technical + fitness required)
- Surface: Granite, sand, technical features, steep climbs
- Connects: Upper 50 Year Trail → Rattlesnake → Cowboy Slickrock
- Also: Connector between Charouleau Gap area and 50 Year Trail
- Trailhead: Golder Ranch (via network)
The Trail
Around the Mountain splits off Upper 50 Year just after the rollover gate onto Forest Service land. Left/north-northeast takes you around the mountain. Right/south-southeast continues up Upper 50 Year.
The trail climbs higher into the mountains, threading through massive exfoliating granite domes and crossing into a different watershed with views toward Charouleau Gap. Around the Mountain eventually transitions into Rattlesnake, which flows into Cowboy Slickrock. Locals lump all three together as “the Around the Mountain ride.”
Other trails feed into this route—Hernia and Tank—but Around the Mountain is best ridden as a standalone. The technicality and remoteness deserve intentionality.
Around the Mountain is black-rated with legitimate technical challenge. Steep climbs intersperse with rolling sections that offer brief recovery. One steep pitch near the start is a mandatory hike-a-bike. Don’t let it rattle you—it’s just the ante.
The vibe shifts as you climb. More remote. Higher. When you top out in the back, there’s a sense of achievement and a fun-filled descent waiting in front of you.
Around the Mountain also functions as a connector between the Charouleau Gap area and the 50 Year Trail system. Riders descending the backside of Lemmon who climb up through the Gap can use this to reach Golder Ranch.
Warning: Trailforks shows a trail called “Tank” splitting west off Around the Mountain midway up, supposedly connecting to a neighborhood road (Edwin). The western spur does not exist—what once maybe was a good idea is now entirely overgrown. Attempting leads to rugged, spiky terrain and potential private property issues.
The only exits are back the way you came or via Hernia and the Charouleau Gap 4×4 trail, which (eventually) descends to the Catalina area.
Worth Riding Around the Mountain?
If you’re venturing this far into the system, technical skills are assumed. The bigger factor on Around the Mountain is fitness. The repeated steep climbs demand endurance and the ability to keep it together without torching the legs.
If you can handle Upper 50 Year, you can handle Around the Mountain. Just be ready for a longer, more sustained challenge. The hike-a-bike section isn’t exactly beginner-friendly—then again nothing much about this trail is.
Descending Around the Mountain counter-clockwise is rideable and fun, though toward the end there’s a steep climb followed by the hike-a-bike section going upward (skilled riders can clean it descending).
Ride Around the Mountain when you’re ready for a mini backcountry adventure. The reason to go is simple: get out into the more remote, removed part of the 50 Year system. The trail is loaded with natural technical features that advanced riders appreciate—assuming they bring the fitness. Climbing Around the Mountain and descending Rattlesnake into Cowboy Slickrock always makes for a memorable session.
Skip it when time’s short, you’re not up for sustained watts, or you’re not prepared to be out in the wilds.
Standard flow from within the network: climb up Around the Mountain, return via Rattlesnake and Cowboy Slickrock—clockwise. To descend counter-clockwise, access via the Charouleau Gap area, or climb up Cowboy Slickrock (tricky), or via Rattlesnake (old, entrenched, unrideable in sections—not recommended).
