One-way Distance: 1.1 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Skill level:
Elevation: 4803 - 4929 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Klondike Bluffs
Fee: none
Attractions: Scenic singletrack
The Azurite trail is located in the Klondike Bluffs Mountain Biking Area north of Moab, Utah. The south end of the trail branches off from the Miners Loop and from there the trail travels around the hills and small valleys for a little over 1 mile to where it comes to an end at a point along the Malachite trail. As of the time of this post the Azurite is the newest addition to the Klondike Bluffs trail system.
The Azurite trail departs from the Miners Loop at the 1 mile point if following the loop in the preferred counterclockwise direction. Since the Miners Loop is 1.9 miles in total distance the Azurite trail can be thought of as connecting to the midpoint of the trail.
As the trail begins it traverses around the hillside moving through the boulders where room permits.
The Klondike Bluff Road travels up the sea of slickrock just below the Azurite trail. The only connecting route between the two would be to follow the Azurite trail to the Malachite trail and take that to the Baby Steps singletrack which then connects to the Klondike Bluff Road.
For a new trail it is packing remarkably well and as long as the outside corners are avoided it is no problem. Of course, that means you have to slow down a bit in a few places to avoid the soft corners.
Until it is better packed the north to south direction would probably be easier but this trail doesn't have much in the way of steep hills anyway.
The trail sign shows an average grade of 8% for the Azurite trail. Our Delorme software shows 7%. Regardless, the climbing elevation comes out to 260 feet. For the most part the hills are dirt track with only a few rocky sections.
There also aren't that many places that require more than intermediate riding skills. When the trail becomes better packed there will be even fewer.
