Biking and hiking in City of Rocks

I plan to visit City of Rocks this Saturday-Tuesday. In addition to climbing, we'd like to do some hiking and mountain biking. I'd love to hear your suggestions for both.

Also, is it possible to rent mountain bikes in Almo or nearby?

Thanks.

PS: If anyone wants to climb Sunday, Monday or Tuesday, let me know.

adkeditor wrote:In addition to climbing, we'd like to do some hiking and mountain biking. I'd love to hear your suggestions for both. Also, is it possible to rent mountain bikes in Almo or nearby?

Almo is teeny...you're best bet for bike rentals would be Twin Falls, Pocatello, Salt Lake City or Ogden.

City and Castle both have great hiking trails. The visitor center has maps and hiking/biking trails marked. Some really nice loops whether you're hiking or biking.

adkeditor wrote:I plan to visit City of Rocks this Saturday-Tuesday. In addition to climbing, we'd like to do some hiking and mountain biking. I'd love to hear your suggestions for both.

For climbing there are many excellent routes. Pretty much anything that gets 3 or 4 stars in the MP route database will stand out.

The mountain biking is modest; CoR would not be a mountain biking destination. A glance at the map reveals that many trails are closed to biking. Of those that are open, there is a loop in the Circle Creek Basin, a spur down to the Smoky Mountain CG, and the Tea Kettle Trail. I've only done Tea Kettle. It's OK, but takes 30 minutes at most on a bike (plus a bit more on the road to make a loop) and you will probably run into cattle on the trail. About 60% is mostly buff singletrack and the rest old jeep road. Best done downhill from the Breadloaves. Decent riding through sagebrush and a few aspen groves but nothing really remarkable. The other biking trails would probably take about 30 or 40 minutes each. There are some other trails in Castle Rock that I have not investigated. Hiking the trails, especially with a climbing guidebook in hand, is much more enjoyable than riding in CoR. There are lots of "hidden" formations and passageways and it's generally good fun exploring.
One other possibility is to ride up the forest road past the campsites numbered in the 60s, then Finger Rock and then on to the upper Indian Grove TH. I have done that up to just beyond the boundary with the National Forest. It's all a dirt road gravel-grind climb but offers a decent vertical gain and some nice views. I ran out of time on that and did not have a map for the forest, but you might be able to find some NFS trails there that are open to bikes.

Thanks for the replies. We'll probably stick to hiking when not climbing.

I bike a lot and almost never ride there, climbing is too good.