Colorado

Mountain Bike Trail Guide

Jefferson County Open Space has a great variety of trails, and is where I do almost all of my riding!. This excellent page has maps and trail descriptions.

Colorado Search and Rescue Card

 

State wide information: non-location specific

• TrailCentral: Colorado trail descriptions and forums
• Colorado Mountain Biking
• Bicycle Colorado: Colorado bicycle advocacy
• dirtworld.com trails db
• Colorado's State Parks (several of which have mountain biking trails)
• Road Trip: Read a Swede's comparison of Colorado singletrack vs. Swedish trails
• Road Trip: A report on several riding areas (by Helen Priest & Jonny Waghorn of New Zealand) I like this format!

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Aspen/Snowmass

Snowmass has tons of miles if interconnecting trails including 25 miles withing the Snowmass Village borders. The Government Trail is known as the best. Access it from the Burlingame lift (free rides from 1 July to 5 September!), or ride to it up Wood Road to Elk Creek Road. At the trail junction, choose from a ride heading east over the aspen covered slopes, or west for more challenging hills and wildflowers. Both are out-and-back, but there are some loop options. Next, try out the Rim Trail that departs from the village and switchbacks up to the rim, accessing more great riding at the top.

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Boulder

• The Boulder Off-Road Alliance has links to pdf format maps.
• The Sourdough Trail between Boulder and Nederland, offers 12.3 miles of rocky singletrack and is considered moderate to difficult.
• Also near Boulder, you'll find Hall Ranch, a 9.3-mile loop or hard-packed singletrack with very technical sections and extreme difficulty. Keep your eyes peeled for deer, rabbits, ground hogs and squirrels, and be prepared for mountain lion sightings along the trail. Do your homework to avoiding run-ins with these beautiful, but potentially dangerous, beasts and you'll be fine.
• gpstrailmaps.com free GPX format maps: Longs Peak, Colorodo (Rocky Mountain National Park)

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Colorado Springs

Medicine Wheel: Colorado Springs area mountain bike advocacy group, with GPS trail info for a coupla trails.

Trails & Open Space Coalition of the Pikes Peak Region also has trail descriptions on their site

The Intemann Trail is a 5-mile mountain trail above Manitou Springs, Colorado. See maps here. This technical singletrack is challenging-difficult and great for fine-tuning your handling skills. Don't be fooled by the short 2.5-miles one way trek, as it can take several hours your first time.

• Palmer Park
• About 40 miles southwest of Colorado Springs is the 65-mile Shelf Road loop, one of Colorado's best off-road tours.

If you can clean the trail of Section 16 Loop, you'll ready for the big leagues. Located near Colorado Springs, this six-mile round trip is considered challenging-difficult. You can create many loops with this route, so one time is probably not enough.

This main trail to hike Pikes Peak, Barr Trail in Colorado Springs is the first leg to the top of the mountain. Starting at the Cog railway, the first 3.5 miles of trail are a solid climb with some technical hard spots, and the next two are a gradual climb to Barr Campground. If you're screaming legs are up for tackling the rest of this fourteener, lock up your bike at the campground and hike the remaining 7.3 miles to the summit Pikes Peak. Don't forget to stretch.

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Cortez

Kokopelli Bike & Board LLC
30 W Main St
Cortez, CO 81321
Phone: (970) 565-4408

The shop has trail info listed and updated.

Dolores River Canyon - Dove Creek. 26 mile marked route on an abandoned jeep trail. Immediately south of Dove Creek turn east and follow the Public Lands Access signs to river and parking areas. As several river crossings are necessary, call BLM Dolores Hot Line at 970-882-7600 for flow information before attempting this trip.

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Creede/Rio Grande National Forest

• Mountain biking in the Rio Grande National Forest (southwestern Colorado)

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Crested Butte

Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in Crested Butte also offers a local trail condition list.

• Fat-tire rides in Crested Butte (from Outside Online)
• Deadman Pass trail
• Trail 403 (See also this additional article)
• The Paradise Divide Loop
• The Pearl Pass ride (between Crested Butte and Aspen)
• Some nice photos of Crested Butte
• Crested Butte, Colorado is one of the few areas cool enough to make GORP's list of Meccas Beyond Moab
• Trail #403, Crested Butte, Colorado is an Altrec rcommended ride

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Denver

Apex Park, Golden

Sections of the Colorado Trail near Denver

The Jefferson Creek Trail with a start and return on the Colorado Trail (Park County)

The Red Mesa Loop and Strawberry Jack Trail (Jefferson County)

The Jackson Creek Loop It's a ways south of Denver, unless you're already headed there, there's far better. (Douglas County)

Buffalo Creek Trails in Pine, Colorado is on IMBA's list of epic trails

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Durango

Trails 2000: Durango-area multi-use trail advocacy

• Trails Guide with access notes for bikers, hikers, and more.
• Write-up on mountain biking near Durango
• The Telegraph Trails
• The Dry Fork loop
• The Hermosa Creek Trail
• The annual Red Bull Divide & Conquer multi-sport event
• Telegraph Trails in Durango, Colorado is on IMBA's list of epic trails

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Fort Collins

• A hand-drawn, but usable map for Riding at Horsetooth Mountain Park
• 56 miles of designated bikeways, trails, lanes, and routes, some exclusively for bikes. Contact the Ft. Collins Chamber of Commerce for a pocket guide to the system. City info on the paved recreation and commuter trail system
• An awesome pump track and more at Lory State Park.

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Fruita

• The Edge Loop
• Peter Fagerlin road trips to Fruita in 2001 and 2002 (photos and video clips)
• gjmountainbiking.com trails near Fruita: Bookcliffs and Kokopelli Loops, Rabbit Valley, and Westwater
• Peter Beers has a decent write-up on mountain biking Fruita, including gps maps, elevation, and lots of pics.
• Moab Fruita March 2005 - Ogre Hut
  Pictures from my March 2005 trip to Moab and Fruita.
• Fruita, Colorado is one of the few areas cool enough to make GORP's list of Meccas Beyond Moab
• The Edge Loop in Fruita, Colorado is on IMBA's list of epic trails
• Edge Loop Ride, Fruita, Colorado is an Altrec rcommended ride

no info

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Grand Junction

gjmountainbiking.com trails

COPMOBA: Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Asociation. Western Colorado advocacy group.

Kannah Creek Trail - Grand Mesa National Forest. This 11.8 mile trail follows Kannah Creek from the forest boundary to Carson Lake, passing several smaller lakes among the aspens and spruces.

Red Rock Riders

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Leadville

Leadville & Twin Lakes Area Mountain Bike Trail Guide & Maps - information on some of Lake County's more popular biking trails.

• Mountain biking around Twin Lakes near Leadville

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Montrose

Hundreds of miles of jeep trails ideally suited for mountain biking can be found on the Uncompahgre Plateau, west of Montrose. The variety of terrain offers trails for all skill levels and a climate permitting three-season biking. The trails weaving through the plateau's canyon country are excellent during spring and fall, and the highland trails are inspiring summertime biking.

Access to the trails is from the Dave Wood Road, Highway 90, and the Transfer and Divide Roads.

City Bike Trail maps are available at the Visitor's Center, Chamber of Commerce and City Hall

no info

Pagosa Springs

no info

Rifle

no info

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Salida

• The Monarch Crest trail near Salida

Buena Vista Area Hiking Trails

Pictoral tour of the Midland Trail, built on a railroad grade, and is primarily an easy, casual trip, ideal for visitors from lower altitudes and beginner mountain bikers.

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Steamboat Springs

• RouttCounty Riders: SteamboatSprings area bicycle club. Their site also has a pretty good list of local trails with maps and descriptions.
• Trail advice for Mountain biking in Steamboat Springs
• Several rides in the Routt National Forest
• Steamboat Springs city Open Space and Trails page

Hahn’s Peak Lake/Nipple Peak Loop - Routt National Forest. This trail may require technical riding skills as it features steep climbs and descents on rocky, sandy soils. Follow FR 487 to TR 1156, ride west about 3 miles to TR 1147. Continue on TR 1147 to Summit Creek Guard Station and beyond, back to FR 129 and Hahn’s Peak Lake turnoff. 21 miles roundtrip.

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Summit County

Maverick Sports: Summit County race series and others.

• Photos of mountain biking at Searle Pass (near Dillon)

Peaks Trail - Frisco. This 9 mile route connects Frisco and Breckenridge along the Ten-mile Range. The trailhead in Frisco is at the intersection of I-70 and Main Street. Proceed south and turn right onto Rainbow Lake Road. The trail leads on past the lake and eventually into the Breckenridge Ski Area.

Breckenridge - Summit County: More than 200 miles of off-road trails. Ride the Superchair at Peak 8 to the top. From there, Peaks Trail winds along the eastern edge of the 10 Mile Range to the base. The portion of the Colorado Trail near Breck is an epic 26 mile loop. Follow Tiger Road out of town, go right at the first fork, head to Middle Fork at the next junction, then look for the trail on your left!
Burro Trail & Mayflower Lake is a Forest Service trail south of Breckenridge. It's high and it's long at 9800-11300 elevation and 12 miles of moderate-challenging, singletrack dirt roads. You'll even have to walk a piece on this one.

Keystone - Summit County. Loaded with over 150 miles of awesome singletrack, lift access trails, a freeride park, and downhill trails, it's worth checking out. Let It Ride and Suz's Cruise are two favorites along with the new downhill trail: Motorhead (presumeably without the umlauts). Follow the West Ridge Loop of Keystone Gulch Road for six miles of great singletrack on the Colorado Trail.

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Telluride

• The Deep Creek Trail

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Vail

• Descriptions and directions to quite a few Vail Beaver Creek Area Mountain Bike Trails in the National Forests of Colorado
• ecosports.com is a new site that has trails of every sort, including mountain biking, for the Vail Valley. The site is way too fluffy, but it works.
• Vail valley race series
• The Meadow Mountain loop (Eagle County, northeast of Minturn)
• The 10th Mountain hut system near Vail (article is from 1996)

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Winter Park

• Headwaters Trails Alliance: Winter Park/Granby area trails advocacy. They sell a map, but it looks like it's too large scale to use fro navigating trails.
• The Devil's Thumb Park Loop (near Fraser in Grand County)
• Race at Winter Park resort. A page on the same site provides Winter Park Trail System Status

600+ miles of designated trails, eight major loop arteries, thousands of backcountry roads, this is what makes the Winter Park aea a haven for bikers. Contact the active local group Winter Park FATS for more information. Trails to try include:

• the Long Trail that winds up from the base through aspens and evergreens and beautiful views of Frasier Valley
• Upper Roof of the Rockies is another ride with great views that climbs to 11,000 feet
• Tipperary and Spruce Creek is another great choice. Follow highway 40 to County Road 5 to County Road 50 to the Tipperary trailhead. The trail winds up through mountain meadows then down to RD160 from where you can take other trails or head back.

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Epic Trails

• Good, brief overviews of the differences between the Kokopelli, Tabeguache, and Paradox trails
• Great Divide Mountain Bike Route Mike Curiak gets tortured soloing the Colorado portion of the GDMBR

Classic Rides

Trail #403, Crested Butte, Colorado
Fisher Creek Trail, Sawtooth National Forest, Idaho
Edge Loop Ride, Fruita, Colorado
Fletcher Creek/ Trace Ridge Trail, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina

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