Punchline Trail

The Croy Creek canyon trail system is quite popular because of it’s close vicinity to the town of Hailey. This system is further south and at lower elevations than some of our other trails in the valley. With this, the trails tend to open up earlier in the spring and can be ridden later into the fall.
The section I’m reviewing here will be a portion of the Bullion connector, Punchline and Two Dog trails. This ride is basically setup as a big lollypop with the same start/finish leg and a loop section out on the end. Starting at the main parking lot and riding north on the Bullion connector for about 1.5 miles up to a ridgeline (Adaptive level 5). This will bring you to an intersection of the three trails mentioned above. At this intersection continue northerly on the Punchline trial. The first portion of the Punchline trail is rated advanced (Adaptive level 10) and will require a spotter in sections for safety as you work through the technical rock/boulder features. The back half of the Punchline trail is setup as a short segment of flow trail. The twists and turns are a blast to ride but, things happen rather quickly and you will have to be on your game! The Punchline trail is directional and is meant to be ridden downhill only. At the end of Punchline there is another intersection and this is where you turn back southwest on the Two Dog trail to start the first portion of the return trip. The Two Dog trail is a enjoyable section with a few obstacles but, nothing very severe. After riding for roughly a mile the trail will put you up on the same ridgeline with the intersection of Punchline where you will start your decent. The return trip to the parking lot is the same section of the Bullion connector trail in reverse.
There are several other segments of trail in this system that I have not ridden yet. As a general rule, these trails are sagebrush lined, narrow and have a lot of off camber sections in them. I need to spend more time out here exploring to see what is doable and report back.
More Information
Trail Name: Punchline Trail
Type: Narrow trail (< 30"), Start and end at the same point (Out-and-Back)
Rating: Adaptive Level 07
Length: 5 miles
Steepest Section: Difficult – over 30º
Most Off-Camber Section: Moderate – between 10-30º
Terrain: Mostly hardpack, minimal loose sections
Obstacles: Brush and/or other growth, Baby heads and/or rock gardens, Ravines, drop-ins, Drops, ledges, jumps
Help Needed? Yes, a little
Even more info: BCRD
Directions to Trailhead
Drive four miles west of Hailey ID, on Bullion street (Croy Creek road) to recreation/motocross track site parking lot.
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