The pedaling on Windmill begins on relatively flowy singletrack interspersed with slabs of iconic Gooseberry slickrock. Windmill is a much more approachable trail than the more challenging sections found on South Rim, yet it still offers stupendous views with swoopy rim-side singletrack and vistas across the valley below. If you're looking for a slightly easier ride on Gooseberry Mesa, pedaling an out-and-back on the Windmill Trail is a great option.

After connecting through the Bowls and Ledges and Practice trails, this loop does reach the classic South Rim trail, following this challenging yet entertaining section of slickrock ridges and bowls for a few miles. However, to create a different ride variant than the Classic Loop, you'll turn off of South Rim before you actually reach the rim itself.

The turn you're looking for is the right-hander onto Hidden Canyon. While Hidden Canyon might look short and relatively flat on the map, this stretch of singletrack, if ridden in the proper direction (as mapped here), it provides a fantastic dose of speed and flow in an otherwise up-and-down trail system. Here, you'll find some superb sections of swoopy singletrack, still interspersed with rock shelves to climb up and over. Some of the rock sections here are decidedly different than the rest of Gooseberry, with narrow ledges and narrow canyons alike.

After dropping out of Hidden Canyon, you'll pick up the North Rim Trail and follow it all the way along the rim until it runs into Windmill, and then retrace your tire tracks back down Windmill to your car.

If you ride this route on one day and the Gooseberry Mesa: Classic Loop on a different day, you'll have successfully covered almost all of the designated trails on the Gooseberry Mesa!