La Cueva Trail

The La Cueva Trail is the main trail in the La Cueva Trail System outside of Carlsbad, NM. It's an 8 mile long loop starting out pretty mellow winding through the desert before beginning to climb up into the limestone hills. The center portion of the trail has some loose sections of singletrack. There are a couple of bail-out points at the halfway mark (farthest from the parking lot). Just past the halfway point (going in a counter-clockwise direction) you'll top out at the highest point and then be rewarded with some nice downhill. The southernmost portion of the trail winds through a clayey flat which is fun if it's dry (otherwise like hiking through pudding).