Well, I can tell you that's why I ride my cross bike more than any other bike I own. I can ride it to trails, drop the psi and have a blast, though it can't go everywhere a mtn bike can. I use my mtn bike much less frequently for the same reason and I don't like riding it 12+ miles to a decent trail. My best advise would be to plan out mtn biking trips the day before, so you get up in the morning and have everything ready to go. If I don't do this, I usually get too unmotivated and just ride my crosser haha.