Falls along Canaan Loop Road running into the Red Run.

Heading out of the Red Run hollow up to Canaan Mountain.

Bridge across the Long Run in Douglas. Right before the Douglas Falls and the long drop into the valley along the old Blackwater Canyon Railroad Grade.

After peddling and hiking up to Table Rock, a beautiful sunset greeted me as I was riding along Canaan Loop Road.

A largely undeveloped gravel bike trail outside of Thomas and Hedricks.

Most of the descend occurs in the 5 1/2 miles from Douglas, roughly 900 feet drop which works out to be an over 3% average grade, with a maximum grade of 3.75%.

It's much steeper then locomotives are engineered to safely climb, which is 2% or less, preferably less then 1.5%. It took at least two locomotives paired together climb, and heavy riding of the brakes down it and at least once in 1910s an out of control train crashed into the gorge below.

While not steep compared to many mountain roads, it's still a fun ride down and a good climb back up. Probably best done on a mountain bike, as the railroad gravel is fairly course on it

Got up early several mornings in National Forest to watch the sun rise. Not such a cold morning this day but still the sun felt good on my face.