With this super long winter we’ve been having, I’ve been having so much fun exploring the trails in the lower elevations surrounding Truckee. Last weekend, Greyson and I checked out some new-to-us trails in the Mount Rose area of Reno, as you might have seen in my video. We rode the Dry Pond Loop counterclockwise, and it was a great intermediate ride, on the easier side of intermediate. It’s about 6.5 miles and a little over 1,000 of climbing, with most of the climbing coming in the first half.
Check out my video of the Dry Pond Loop here!
This loop is below Mount Rose in the Galena area, south and west of downtown Reno off of Highway 431. We parked at the Thomas Creek Trailhead parking area (Click here for Google Map directions) and headed up Thomas Creek Trail right from the large parking lot. This trail climbs steadily, but not too steeply along Thomas Creek through aspen groves and into the pines. We saw a ton of hikers with dogs on this section of the trail, but nearly everyone was very friendly. After about 1.5 miles and ~500 feet of climbing, Thomas Creek Trail intersects with the Dry Pond Trail.
Dry Pond Trail continues to climb, and the climb definitely gets steeper at this point, and there are a few very tight and steep switchbacks that I struggled with. Dry Pond trail takes you through a curly leaf mountain mahogany forest, which is really cool. I’d only ever seen bush sized mountain mahogany before. There are also really sweeping views looking down into the Washoe Valley.
After about 1.2 miles and another ~440 feet of climbing, we arrived at the dry pond that gives the trail it’s name. We stopped here to have a snack and admire the awesome view of Mount Rose across the meadow. The Dry Pond Trail starts heading downhill almost immediately after the meadow, and the trail on the south side was pretty different from what we’d just climbed up. While the climb up was mostly dirt with some embedded rocks and roots, the downhill was looser, rockier and more exposed. It’s all very rideable, but I was amazed at the quick change in the terrain.
At about mile 3.8, Dry Pond Trail intersects Whites Creek Trail. We turned left and continued down hill. Whites Creek Trail isn’t as steep as Dry Pond, and it’s back in the pines and aspen groves. The trail isn’t a “flow trail”, but I thought it was fast and flowy, with lots of little rock gardens and objects to pop off of that you can choose to challenge yourself on. It also gets a little sandy in spots, especially towards the bottom, and I imagine it will be even more sandy later in the summer. As we got closer to the end, we started to encounter more bikers, hikers, and dogs, but generally people were really friendly. Whites Creek Trail dead ends at N. Timberline Dr. where we turned left and headed the last half mile back to the car. There’s a tiny bit of a climb back to the parking area, and my legs were dead at this point. It was almost comical how hard the less than 75 feet of climbing felt to me.
I really enjoyed riding the Dry Pond Loop. There were great views, interesting ecosystems, friendly people, and enough challenge to make it entertaining. I think this would be a great trail to take newer riders on.
Trail Stats
Location: Mt. Rose, Reno, NV
Mileage: 6.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,025
Difficulty: Easier Intermediate
See my Strava Route here!
Washoe Land
($88). Other popular, well reviewed mountain bike specific hydration packs are the 
($140), 
($82), and 
($88). The pros for hydration packs are that they give you the ability to pack a lot of gear, the ability to carry quite a bit of water, they distribute their weight across your whole back for comfort and stability, there a lot of options at a lot of price points, and they can be used for a variety of outdoor activities. The cons are that they tend to be on the heavy side, they can be hot and increase sweating during the ride, and having more contact points give more opportunities for chafing.
($40) for Christmas, and I love it – 
($83), 
($56). The pros for waist packs include that they are light weight, they allow for more air flow across your back, and that there are fewer pressure points that might cause chaffing. On the downside, you can’t carry as much gear or water, there are fewer quality options, and they move around more while riding.
($75), but I’ve never tried any out, so I don’t have any opinions or recommendations on those.
tablets have electrolytes without many calories, and I like 
when I need more nutrition along with electrolytes. Tailwind has about 100 calories per serving and is really easy on my stomach, especially when it’s hot out.
($50) which I’ve had for a couple of years and really like it. Slightly heavier but incredibly tough is 
($36) jersey that I’ve had for almost ten years and that has held up through a bunch of crashes. My newest light weight jersey is the 
($60) and the 
($35), which I’ve used a few times and really like. I have 
lightweight knee pads ($60) as well. If it’s really warm, I’ll strap them on my pack for the climb and put on for the downhill, but they’re also comfortable enough to pedal in if needed. Greyson also recently got the 
($85), and he really likes them. Finally, having a lightweight helmet is a key factor in staying cool. I highly recommend the 
($230), which is super ventilated and has a removable chin bar that you can take off for the climbs.
with a light layer underneath, since I’m going to be working up a sweat. I usually wear either my 
or a midweight 
for my base layer. For shoes, wet hikes are about the only time I switch trail runners for my 
light hikers. If it’s really wet or I’m going to be out for a long time, I’d replace the yoga pants I normally wear hiking with lightweight waterproof pants, like 
.
. I also wear full finger gloves when it’s rainy and cold. The 
work great for this. There is all sorts of other gear for long road rides in the rain, like shoe covers, under helmet hats, etc., but honestly, my rides in the rain don’t last long enough to need it.
wouldn’t work. The Hot Laps 2L was one of the few packs that met my criteria, and it had great reviews.
, which packs really small) or tube, pump, tool, phone, and keys, depending on the ride. This isn’t a pack to take if you’re going very far or alone. I’ve generally used it on rides that are short, close to home, or with another person who is carrying most of the tools (thanks, 
.
, and I’ve started playing around with it. This weekend, Greyson, my friend Kelly and I headed back to 
(full review coming soon) on a few road rides and on one trail ride, but they were all pretty short and I was excited to see how the bike did on a longer route with a mix of road, trail, and gravel riding. I can’t take credit for this route, Greyson did all of the research and put it together. It was challenging (especially the road climb!) but fun, and it had amazing views.
