Want to know where to find off-the-radar, core mountain bike rides in Colorado and Utah? We give you the best riding away from the unwashed masses.
You’ve been to Moab, that hip, happening scene in the red rock desert, with more mountain bikers than lizards. You’ve fought the crowds on the trails around your home, hunting for parking spots as the sun scorched the blacktop. You’ve even taken long weekends to exotic locales, battling the credit card blues for tiny hotel rooms at VIP prices to find a stretch of singletrack to call your own. In other words, you’ve worked hard to earn your singletrack stripes, paid your dues and suffered with the best of them. Suffer no more. You don’t have to fight the crowds to find singletrack salvation in the Rocky Mountains, you just have to know where to look for your bliss. Here are a few of our favorite lesser known spots. Each offers different types of riding, in diverse environments ranging from lush aspen forests to slickrock deserts. But despite their diversity, they all have something in common, they’re enough off the beaten path that you’ll never have to worry about finding singletrack solitude—or a parking space—again.
rabbit valley
Colorado/Utah
Just east of the Colorado/Utah border, the Rabbit Valley area has long attracted dirt bikers and ATVers to the high desert. It’s now becoming a mountain biking hot spot simply because it’s not controlled, coddled or costly. Thus, while you may have to hear the engines and smell the exhaust of the dirt bikers at the campsite next to you, they’ll also probably share their cold beer (hey, they are on two wheels too). You’ll see more people riding here than, say, the Abajo Mountains (see below), but that’s no reason to avoid Rabbit Valley. In fact, during weekdays the trails are deserted and quiet, all the more reason to make this the first stop on your next road trip while timing your departure for a Friday to move to less traveled areas. There’s also ample riding here, courtesy of the local biking community in nearby Fruita. Easy singletrack like Trails 4 and 5 are perfect for beginners, while advanced riders will appreciate new developments like the Western Rim Trail, an 18-mile loop that features sweet desert singletrack and fantastic views of the Colorado River or the ripping singletrack of Zion Curtain, a 20-mile ride. Check out Rabbit Valley West’s trails including the Westwater Mesa/Overlook trail, where you can combine a series of loops to go as long and as hard as you’d like. The well marked paths allow for plenty of creativity, but watch out, there’s also plenty of sand that will sap your motivation and suck the life out of your legs if you forget to put a few miles in before testing yourself in this playground.
Signature Ride: Western Rim
Camping: Pick a spot, any spot.
Local Bike Shop: Over the Edge Sports (202 East Aspen Avenue, Fruita; 970-858-7220; otesports.com)
More Info: Bob D’Antonio’s Mountain Biking Grand Junction and Fruita (Falcon Press) features the beta on 22 rides in the Fruita area including Rabbit Valley.
the abajo mountains
Utah
Too far south and way too quiet for the Moab crowd, Monticello sits at the base of the Abajo (or Blue) Mountains. This small range features a variety of 4×4 roads, trails and tracks that climb from the desert into the peaks, the tallest of which, Abajo, stands at 11,360 feet. Monticello’s 7,066-foot elevation, means that it’s possible to ride comfortably here even in the scorching haet of mid-summer—but plan on being challenged. The better rides feature steep singletrack climbs, technical descents and enough elevation gain to make you puke. That doesn’t mean the riding is a complete sufferfest: there’s plenty of mellow action too, including the option to use car shuttles on some of the longer rides. But if you want to taste the best that the Blues have to offer, you better be ready to earn it. Take the Shay Ridge Trail, which tops out at approximately 11,000 feet, high enough to leave even strong riders gasping. Or Trail 20, a 50-mile slog that was created by dirt bikers but which also gives those beasts who thought Shay was too easy the opportunity to test themselves. For the rest of us, there’s a variety of singletrack options as well as easy cruisers like Geyser Pass road, which crosses the range. Throw in the opportunity to ride from the top of the Blues into the desert environment of Indian Creek and Utah Highway 211, the southeast entrance to the Needles District of Canyonlands Park, (use a car shuttle for this one) and you have an area that combines a lack of people with rich opportunities to explore—something that’s becoming rare in this day and age.
Signature Ride: Shay Ridge
Camping: Dalton Springs (USFS) or find your own on BLM land.
Local Bike Shop: Good luck in Monticello. Try Chile Pepper in Moab (702 South Main Street; 4350-259-4688; chilebikes.com)
More Info: Moab-Monticello Ranger District; 496 E. Central, Monticello; 435-587-2041
carbondale
Colorado
With its community of core athletes,Carbondale scores big when it comes to superb riding—old mining roads, singletrack and even a paved bike path that takes you all the way to Aspen. The trails here feature aspen glades, spruce forests and sagebrush covered hills, and the area’s rich mining history has left a legacy of old roads, some of which, like the Montezuma Basin Road (which features a 3,000 ft elevation gain in just under five miles), are steep and high enough to challenge the world’s best riders (Lance anyone?). Or try the East section of the Government Trail, which crosses Tiehack, Buttermilk and Snowmass Ski Areas and which features a 9.8 miles of mostly singletrack and 1,400 feet of elevation gain. Other highlights include the West section of the Government Trail, one of the most challenging rides in the Carbondale area and the Ragged Mountain trail, a 19 mile epic that drops 2,000 feet in elevation and passes through the largest aspen grove in the world. Head to Red Hill for 15 miles of singletrack makes for loops where the locals may be training. On The Crown, you can head up “Inny” and down “Outty” for singletrack or brave the luge-like downhills of Father and Ginormous. While not as well known as Red Hill, the Prince Creek trails are also worth finding.
Signature Ride: Ragged Mountain Trail
Camping: Avalanche Creek (USFS)
Local Bike Shop: Ute City Cycles, 0580 Highway 133, Carbondale, CO, 970-963-2500
More Info: carbondale.com
breckenridge
Colorado
Breck has long been a cycling hotbed, with the locals ditching their skis and boards for the singletrack as soon as they can. Add in old mining roads and a tourist based economy powered by recreation and you have a special slice of the singletrack life that’s within easy driving distance of the Front Range (not to mention that it’s nice and cool up there in July). Trails for all abilities abound, but the hardcore will want to attempt riding the Colorado Trail from Kenosha Pass to Breckenridge over Georgia Pass. The descent from the top of the pass encompasses some of the best singletrack found on the Colorado Trail, and is ample reward for the three plus hour climb over the top. For the rest of us, the Flume Loops offer the chance to connect singletrack in various permutations right outside of town to catch an easy singletrack buzz. True freaks can sign up for the six-stage, 240-mile, 37,000-veritcal Breck Epic (brekepic.com) race in August.
Signature Ride: West Ridge/Swan Valley on the Colorado Trail
Camping: Peak One (USFS)
Local Bike Shop: Avalanche Sports; 540 South Main Street, Breckenridge; 970-453-1461; av-sports.com
More Info: gobreck.com
BEST OF THE REST
Twin Lakes Loop
(Twin Lakes, CO)
This winding singletrack loop around Twin Lakes includes a history lesson at Inter-laken, an abandoned summer resort town founded in the late 1800’s.
High Lonesome
(Winter Park, CO)
Winter Park Ski Area has made a huge investment in mountain biking trails, but the local gem remains High Lonesome.
Indian Creek
(Waterton Canyon, CO)
One of the Front Range’s finest gems, this ride takes in portions of the Colorado Trail.
Happy Jack/Pole Mountain
(Laramie, WY)
Go north, young man, and find solitude and singletrack Wyoming style.
Salt Wash/Sovergn
(Moab, UT)
Yes, you can leave the crowds behind in Moab. Salt Wash is a trip back in time, before everyone and their brother hit Utah with their mountain bikes.
Prospect Trail
(Telluride, CO)
Telluride offers plenty of riding, but locals keep coming back to this sweet slice of singletrack Heaven in the San Juans.
