Trail Overview
FS 195O is an old mining road that is now a dirt bike trail in the Elephant Rock trail system. It’s an old shelf road that is cut into the mountain side, that is now very narrow. The trail is mostly decomposed granite, with a layer of small loose rocks, riding across hillsides of gambel oak, ponderosa pines, and aspens. About ¾ of a mile in from the southern entrance, it gets really narrow as it side-hills across a couple of scree fields, with a steep and exposed slope off to the side of the trail. The scree is all packed down, and the trail is benched in and not off-camber, but it feels narrow, and there are loose baby heads that can ping you around. The bushes are a bit overgrown in these sections in the middle of the trail, making you have to navigate around the bushes on the exposed and narrow trail. After about a mile and a half, it starts switchbacking up. The switchbacks are semi-steep and rocky, but not overly difficult, and connect to a wider road portion of the trail that is gradual and less rocky. There are several intersections where the trail is mostly signed, but an offline map is super helpful here.
Difficulty
This is an intermediate route mostly due to narrow and rocky sections where the trail crosses a scree field on loose but packed-down rocks, with moderate exposure to the side of the trail. There are several sections like this throughout the route. The last portion of the trail on the north end is more flowy and easy, more like a road. This is rated as Moderate on the Forest Service trail sign.
