Burro Down is closed, but
Don't cancel any trips. There are still good options for doing this ride without including Hazard County. Hazard County will be a sad omission though, and there will be a few more miles of pedaling.
I was fortunate enough to do the whole Burro Pass to Porcupine Rim last October for my Birthday. For the last three years Burro Pass has been snowed in by mid October and I missed the chance. I'll post a map shortly on my page (http://www.xmission.com/~random/Biking/bike.htm).
poach
I don't know where these are? Not Moab... go back and pick the newest
Bobsled
Parley's to Mt. Dell
Pioneer Trail (East Section)
Between Warner Lake and Mason Draw campground lies Bald Mesa. The gravel La Sal Mt Loop Road goes around Bald Mesa. An old existing trail leads just over the mesa from Wilcox Flat and peters out. This is where Hazard County starts. It is a beautiful single track with some great natural and built free-ride stunts mostly to big for mere mortals. The Moab locals built it secretly, but no trail stays secret.
The best option for bypassing Bald Mesa now would be Schuman Trail. It drops down from Warner Lake to the La Sal Loop road. It's a couple miles of great, primitive single track and has some really fun log-pile stream crossings. It's an official Forest Service trail.
The downer is the additional five mile dirt road climb up to Kokopelli. It's not steep, but it would suck. It pretty much kills DH bikes and lots of the Free-ride rides. You could stage a three vehicle shuttle such that you have a vehicle at the bottom of Schuman, as well as the bottom of Porcupine Rim.
Evidently no permission was asked or granted to build Hazard County, and the built stunts probably were the stake in the heart of the trail. I'll just point out Mt Ashland, Oregon as an example of free-ride trails done right. IMBA, National Forest, local groups and riders all came together and built a killer legal free-ride network with stunts.
