I know you just did a double take, but you read that right. Not only is it a new trail, but it’s a trail that is available to trail users of every flavor! At 4 PM today at Betasso Preserve, the ribbon was cut at the Canyon Loop which connects to a lollipop called Benjamin Loop. It was a quiet and rainy afternoon, but it wasn’t rainy enough to keep curious singletrack enthusiasts away from the grand opening. The rain lasted just long enough to make the dirt delightfully tacky. For us mountain bikers, we call that hero dirt. Dirt where your tires stick like velcro and you have unbelievably good traction!
The 3.12 mile loop may be news to some of us, but the truth is that this trail has been in the works since 2008. Boulder County Parks and Open Space staff have been hard at work and built the majority of this trail. Not only did they build the trail, but it was done with their bare hands and hand tools. Once you peruse the trail, you’ll see the amount of work that went into trail building – lots of sweat, manual labor, heart, and more elbow grease than you can shake a stick at! Rocks were moved by hand to make the switchbacks. Boulder County Youth Core was also involved with the trail building with local teenagers out in nature contributing to our beautiful open space.
Another huge contributor was our own Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance? They partnered with Wildland Restoration volunteers over the last 2 years and put forth a great effort. “It’s amazing how far Boulder County Parks and Open Space has come in designing fun and interesting trails that are going to benefit all Boulder County citizens” said Jason Vogel, the president of BMA, who was also out on the trail today.
Jason Vogel of the Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance enjoying the tacky, fresh singletrack
The trail is a magic carpet ride. On a mountain bike, it’s fast and flowy making it accessible to all ability levels and guaranteed to make you smile and be full of child-like glee.
Almost 100% of the trail is bench cut, meaning cut out of the side of the slope.
How do you get to the new trail? Take the normal Betasso loop and there will be a sign for Canyon Loop that is hard to miss. When the main loop is going clockwise, you’ll be making a left turn onto Canyon Loop which leads you to Benjamin Loop.
Just a reminder that Betasso is closed to mountain bikers on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Enjoy the spring weather, dust off the mountain bike or strap on your hiking boots and go check out the Benjamin and Canyon Loop at Betasso! It won’t disappoint. One more thing – there will be construction of a .84 mile trail from 4 Mile Canyon connecting to Benjamin Loop starting this summer to be completed this fall.
Thanks Boulder!!
