Muscle Powered and blue-belly guarded: Bob's Trail

Bob's Trail Post at Four Day Trail junction: manzanita backdropped and blue-belly guarded

The three-mile-long Bob's Trail is your backbone trail through the Ash Canyon Trail System. Various side tracks add interest and challenges to the east-west oriented Bob's Trail, which connects the (limited) Foothill Drive parking space at the outskirts of Carson City, Nevada, with the trailhead of the Ash to Kings Trail. 

Bob's Trail's side trails are short single tracks, between 0.3 and 1.3 long, and have max grads up to 19%. They include:

• Vicee Canyon Rim Trail
• Seven Steps Trail
• Eagle View Trail
• Evidence Trail
• Four Day Trail

It needs less than a day (depending on your mode of traveling: only a few hours) to visit, hike or bike all of them. And after each side trip you will always end up on Bob's Trail to get straight back to from where you started. Once the section between the ends of Eagle View Trail is completed, you'll have, for example, less than three miles back to Foothill Drive. 

Like the Eagle View Trail, Bob's Trail was built by Muscle Powered [1]:

Built by Muscle Powered at the beginning of 2018, Bob's Trail was named in honor of Robert “Bob” Crowell who was an advocate for trails and Open Space. Currently there are two segments of this trail with future plans to connect.  

Foothill Drive Gate: Bob's Trail starts here

Muscle Powered

Promoting a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly infrastructure: https://musclepowered.org

Map link

Ash Canyon Trail System map: https://www.carson.org/home/showpublisheddocument/80022/637861499835270000

Reference

[1] Click the Bob's Trail tab on the Ash Canyon Trail System website or look for other trails within the trail network: https://www.carson.org/government/departments-g-z/parks-recreation-open-space/parks-and-places/trails/ash-canyon-area

Four Day Trail

A curious blue-belly lizard hanging on to a Four Day Trail post

The 0.6-mile-long Four Day Trail leads through open forest between Evidence Trail and Bob's Trail in the Ash Canyon Trail System west of Carson City, Nevada. The trail system website describes the trail as follows [1]:

Named after the original fireman who built the trail with the license plate “Four Day”, the Four Day Trail is a stacked loop trail just below the Evidence Trail.

Expect hikers, mountain biker and horseback riders on Four Day Trail—and lizards.

Four Day Trail with views of lower Ash Canyon

Map link

Ash Canyon Trail System map: https://www.carson.org/home/showpublisheddocument/80022/637861499835270000

Reference

[1] Click the Four Day Trail tab on the Ash Canyon Trail System website or look for other trails within the trail network: https://www.carson.org/government/departments-g-z/parks-recreation-open-space/parks-and-places/trails/ash-canyon-area.

Evidence Trail

Evidence Trail switchback with views into Ash Canyon

The one-mile-long Evidence Trail is a staked loop trail above the Four Day Trail in the Ash Canyon Trail System west of Carson City, Nevada. It is named after the Thelonious Monk tune “Evidence” [1]. There we go again: along with the Seven Steps Trail we found another single-track that derives its name from a jazz tune. What would have Miles Davis or Thelonious Monk made of their tune-to-trail-name fame?

Evidence Trail is open to hikers, mountain bicyclists, and horseback riders. Jazz musicians.are welcome!

Like Vicee Canyon Rim Trail, Seven Steps Trail and Eagle View Trail,  Evidence Trail is a side track of Bob's trail.

In late spring, here, the air gives evidence of the many flowering tobacco brushes, which are growing on the surrounding slopes and deodorizing the environment with their spicy fragrance.  

Trailside Sego lilies

Map links

Map of westside Carson City with Vicee Canyon: https://mapcarta.com/23374436/Map.

Ash Canyon Trail System map: https://www.carson.org/home/showpublisheddocument/80022/637861499835270000

Reference

[1] Click the Evidence Trail tab on the Ash Canyon Trail System website or look for other trails within the trail network: https://www.carson.org/government/departments-g-z/parks-recreation-open-space/parks-and-places/trails/ash-canyon-area.

Eagle View Trail

Eagle View Trail

The 0.8-mile-long, single-track Eagle View Trail through wildlife habitat—mainly for mule deer and raptors—was built by Muscle Powered in 2019. This mountain biking and hiking trail circles around the “knob” of Eagle View Open Space with varying vistas and steep side slopes [1,2].

Eagle View Trail is part of the Ash Canyon Trail System near Carson City in northern Nevada. Like Vicee Canyon Rim Trail and Seven Steps Trail, it is a side track of Bob's trail. In fact, the section of Bob's Trail between the east and west ends of Eagle View Trail is marked as a “future connection” in the March 2022 map of the Ash Canyon Trail System. Such, Eagle View Trail is the “current detour” until this missing section is completed (which maybe it is, if the east-side trail post, shown on the left, can be trusted. I haven't found a matching west-side post yet.). Sooner than later, Bob's Trail will connect the Foothill Drive trailhead at Carson City's outskirts with the trailhead of the Ash to Kings Trail—providing a main-thread path between these two trailheads with multiple options of scenic side-tracking. 

The amazing views from Eagle View Trail will always be worth the detour.

 Vicee Canyon seen from Eagle View Trail. This canyon section is located west from the Vicee Canyon Rim Trail section.

Map links

Map of westside Carson City with Vicee Canyon: https://mapcarta.com/23374436/Map.

Ash Canyon Trail System map: https://www.carson.org/home/showpublisheddocument/80022/637861499835270000

References

[1] Click the Eagle View Trail tab on the Ash Canyon Trail System website or look for other trails within the trail network: https://www.carson.org/government/departments-g-z/parks-recreation-open-space/parks-and-places/trails/ash-canyon-area.

[2] Eagle's View Open Space favored as name for newest Carson City property. Lahontan Valley News, October 29, 2019: https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/2019/oct/29/eagles-view-open-space-favored-as-name-for-newest-/.

A tune became a trail: Seven Steps Trail

Seven Steps Trail

The Seven Steps Trail is a continuation of the Vicee Canyon Rim Trail. Both trails are short single tracks—side trails to Bob's Trail—within the Ash Canyon Trail System west of Carson City, Nevada.

The 0.3-mile-short Seven Steps Trail is open to hiking, mountain biking and equestrian activities. It connects the west-side end of  the Vicee Rim Trail with Bob's Trail—the main trail thread through the trail network connecting Carson City's Foothill Drive with the Ash-to-Kings trailhead. 

From Vicee Canyon, the Seven Steps Trail travels upward across an east-facing slope with views of Carson City. The trail has some step-like features. While hiking uphill and counting, I came to the conclusion that “seven steps” is a reasonable approximation. However, according to the trail website, the trail name is attributed to the tune of jazz musician Miles Davis: “Seven Steps to Heaven” (on a record released in 1963). 

The smell of trail heaven: sweetly fragrant flowers of tobacco brush

Once you are in heaven, it just takes a few steps downhill to get back onto Bob's Trail.

Map links

Map of westside Carson City with Vicee Canyon: https://mapcarta.com/23374436/Map.

Ash Canyon Trail System map: https://www.carson.org/home/showpublisheddocument/80022/637861499835270000

References

Click the Seven Steps Trail tab on the Ash Canyon Trail System website or look for other trails within the trail network: https://www.carson.org/government/departments-g-z/parks-recreation-open-space/parks-and-places/trails/ash-canyon-area.

Seven Steps to Heaven (Wikipedia, accessed on June 11, 2023): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Steps_to_Heaven.

Vicee Canyon Rim Trail

Vicee Canyon Rim Trail with mountains of the Carson Range in the back 

Vicee Canyon Rim Trail is a 1.3-mile-long single track within the Ash Canyon Trail System west of Carson City, Nevada. Vicee Rim Trail—a shorter name for this short track—follows the south rim above Vicee Canyon. The open-space dirt trail leads through sagebrush habitat with views of the canyon and the Carson Range. 

At its west-side end, Vicee Rim Trail continues as Seven Steps Trail. Along with the latter and a section of Bob'sTrail, these single tracks form one of  many trail loops within the trail system.

Vicee Canyon seen from its south rim

Getting to the Vicee Canyon Rim Trailhead

The Vicee Canyon Rim Trail splits of Bob's trail less than half a mile northwest from the start of Bob''s Trail at the end of Foothill Drive. Foothill Drive is a short cul-de-sac next to where Carson City's West Winnie Lane bends south and continues as North Winnie Lane.

Bob's Trail/Vicee Rim Trail Y-junction

Map links

Map of westside Carson City with Vicee Canyon: https://mapcarta.com/23374436/Map.

Ash Canyon Trail System map: https://www.carson.org/home/showpublisheddocument/80022/637861499835270000

More about the trail system

Click the Vicee Rim Trail tab on the Ash Canyon Trail System website:or look other trails within the trail network: https://www.carson.org/government/departments-g-z/parks-recreation-open-space/parks-and-places/trails/ash-canyon-area.

Jacks Valley Loop

View of Genoa Peak from Jacks Valley Loop

Jacks Valley Loop is a 6.5-mile-long loop trail in the Jacks Valley Wildlife Management Area southwest of Carson City, Nevada. The loop is part of the Clear Creek Trail System—4.7 miles of the loop is coinciding with the 21.7-mile-long Clear Creek Trail that connects James Lee Park with the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT) at Spooner Summit.

Map of Jacks Valley Loop and access trails

Access trail from James Lee Park

As a single-track trail, Jacks Valley Loop is open to running, hiking, mountain biking and equestrian sports. The trail is open to dogs. Once on the loop, no further climbing is needed: the open-space trail winds through sagebrush habitat with amazing views of  the Carson Valley, the Carson Range and the Pinenut Mountains.

To get to the loop, follow the 0.9-mile long uphill path from the James Lee Park Trailhead to the eastside Clear Creek Trail/Jacks Valley Loop junction (CCT/JVL-east).  

CCT/JVL-east trailpost

Here, I am following the loop clockwise by starting out southbound. This sequence of switchbacks makes for over a quarter of the loop. The final switchback at the southeast tip of the loop is a great place to rest and enjoy views of the Carson Valley towards Minden/Garnerville and beyond.

Peaks of the southern Carson Range 

My favorite section of the loop is the panoramic south section. During winter and spring months, it offers vistas of the snow-covered peaks of the southern Carson Range. At mid-section, I found a small area with a scattering of low-growing yellow violets (Viola aurea), showing their bright, five-petaled flowers backdropped by white-hairy, gray-green leaves. The purple veins on the lower middle petal are arousing my curiosity at each close encounter.    

Yellow violets, south-facing slope, Jacks Valley Loop (April 23, 2023)

The shorter westside section of the loop offers views of Jacks Valley and Duane Bliss Peak. From the Clear Creek Trail/Jacks Valley Loop junction (CCT/JVL-west), Clear Creek Trail leaves the loop northwards to the Jacks Valley Road Trailhead and the Jacks Valley School Trailhead. To return to CCT/JVL-east, take the 1.8-mile-long north section of the loop to conclude your round trip.

View fromCCT/JVL-east: Carson Valley and Pinenut Mountains

Getting there

Driving south from Carson City to Minden on Highway 395, pass the Jacks Valley Road exit and then—about another mile south—turn right onto Mica Drive. Continue west for 500 ft and turn left onto Vista Grande Blvd. Follow this south-west leading road to the James Lee Park sign. Turn right onto James Lee Park Road (going westward), which soon bends south. Turn right onto James Lee Road. It ends at the trailhead. 

James Lee Park Trailhead

Nearby trails

• Clear Creek Trails (lower section north of Jacks Valley Road)
• Clear Creek Trail (Jacks Valley Road to Highway 50)
• Dead Truck Canyon Trail, Prison Hill
• Discovery Trail, Genoa 
• Genoa Waterfall in Genoa Canyon
• Sierra Canyon Trail
• East Brockliss Loop Trail at River Fork Ranch
• River Fork Ranch's West Fork Trail
• Bently-Kirman Ranch Trail
• Lincoln Bypass Trail
• Lower Kings Canyon Waterfall
• Kings Canyon Falls: Upper Waterfall Loop

References and more to read

Map of the Clear Creek Trail System: https://carsonvalleytrails.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-04-18-Clear-Creek-Trail-System-Map-39x23-for-website.pdf.

Clear Creek Trail System Information. URL: https://carsonvalleytrails.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-04-Clear-Creek-Trail-Overview.pdf.

Yellow Violet on page 37 in Laird R. Blackwell's Tahoe Wildflower Guide, Morris Book Publishing, LLC, 2007 (ISBN-13:  978-0-7627-4369-8,  ISBN-10: 0-7627-4369-7).