Pawnee Grasslands Reservoir Loop

Super easy trail - very nice to see the grasslands created to suppress the Dust Bowl. It's a great place for a first-time driver to get some time behind the wheel. We were stopped by some guy who was complaining about cows, a motorcyclist, and some guys shooting. Here's the deal - if you go out there, you will experience three things: (a) cows, (b) motorcycles, and (c) guns. It's been this way for as long as I can remember. If you expect a drive where you will not be in contact with anybody - this is not it - you need to learn to share and get on with your life.

Change of scenery from mountains. Very desolate. Huge sky!

Trail is open and dry. Nothing hard to overcome but had some areas that needed a lot of clearance if staying in the tracks. Interesting wheeling and different scenery then the mountain shelf roads that you normally get in colorado.

Went out to the grasslands for a change of pace. This was a fun trail although not technical at all. A lot of the road on the southern end is pretty rutted and a few washouts, but nothing you can’t get through. Reno reservoir is completely dry 🤷‍♂️. I can see in wet conditions there could be some problem areas. I did use the new Trails Off-road app for navigation and it was awesome. Loved having the waypoints accessible as you drive!

Although I did not run this specific trail, the trails I did run on Pawnee Grasslands on December 26 were clear and dry.

Went out to Pawnee Grasslands to get pics and data for a refresh of the trail guide. My friend, Ken, came along as support and back up. We had a gorgeous day with sunshine and just enough clouds to make for a beautiful sky. The temperatures were warm but not overly hot. The trail was mostly dry with a few slightly muddy spots here and there. It was crowded by Grasslands standards as we met 3 or 4 other rigs, passed another 3 or 4 groups enjoying some target shooting and a rancher putting out salk licks for the cattle but we still found plenty of solitude. We saw lots of birds; the lark Bunting and Northern Harriers were especially plentiful. Overall it was another enjoyable, relaxing day on the prairie.

I ran the Reservoir Loop as part of a day enjoying solitude and reflection on the Pawnee Grasslands. There had been rain earlier in the week so I expected the trail to be wet and muddy but, for the most part, it was dry with only a few wet patches here and there. There was fog and then sunshine earlier in the day but it was cloudy by the time I got to the Reservoir Loop and was threatening to rain again. I ran the route backwards of how it is described and skipped the hike out to Sand Reservoir #1 due to time constraints. There were a couple of target shooters near Reno Reservoir and some folks loading their horses back into trailers at the trail end (where I started). Other than that I had the trail to myself except for a few cows and some pronghorns.