Rides

Cycling is our favorite activity for fitness and sight-seeing. As you may have seen from our RoadTrip blog posts, our vacations are based on getting to ride in awesome places. We split our riding between mountain biking, fat biking, gravel and road riding. We periodically head to a ski resort in the summer for some down hilling.

This trail system was a factor in our decision to move to Evergreen.  Trail difficulty ranges in increments from beginner to advanced making it a great place to improve your cycling skills by gradually taking on more challenging terrain. The scenery is amazing with frequent wildlife sightings.

Good for: MTB, Fatbike

Trailhead Location: Evergreen, CO

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The Kenosha Pass trail is a segment of the Colorado Trail that can be ridden as an out-and-back to Georgia Pass or can continue on to Breckenridge. This is an amazing ride to do in the Fall with the changing colors of the leaves.

Good for: MTB, Fatbike

Trailhead Location: SR 285, Park County, CO

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Good For: MTB, Fatbike

Trailhead Location: Conifer, CO

Fun, fast, flowy, rollercoaster trails. Be sure to catch the Rib Cage trail downhill for maximum fun. Watch out for the jack-rabbits.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Cortez, CO

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Bergen Peak is a local favorite, the mileage is low but the challenge is high. This can be ridden nearly year-round and I actually prefer to ride it on the fat bike when the trails are packed with snow. The trails are steep with some areas of technical chunk. The top has a wonderful vista. There are also a couple of beautiful overlooks as you approach the top. Elk Meadow park is at the base of Bergen Peak and offers several miles of XC riding.

Good for: MTB, Fatbike

Trailhead Location: Evergreen, CO

The Colorado National Monument in Grand Junction is one of our favorite places for road riding. There are a few different routes that can be ridden to include the Monument. The most popular route would the one from the annual Tour of the Moon ride. The route can be extended by riding Little Park road to Glade Park and back in to the Monument.

Good for: Road, Gravel

Trailhead Location: Grand Junction, CO

The Kokopelli Loops trail system is home to the world famous Horsethief Bench which is a 100 yard long very technical section of trail that is more of a boulder pile with drop after drop that connects Mary’s Loop to the Horsethief Bench loop. The trail system consists of several loops with varying degrees of difficulty. The scenery is unbeatable.

Good For: MTB

Trailhead location: Fruita, CO

Oil Well Flats is a fun singletrack trail system with great scenery. In addition to the MTB riding, there is also some great gravel riding and disbursed camping. This is a great place to go in early spring when many other parts of Colorado are still drying out from the winter snow.

Good for: MTB, Gravel

Trailhead location: Cañon City, CO

This is a popular and challenging road riding route with lots of climbing and great scenery.

Good For: Road

Start location: Deer Creek Canyon Road

South

This is a classic route with an abundance of scenery and climbing. With the addition of a new bike path, this route no longer requires a stretch of riding on the interstate.

Good for: Road, Gravel

Start location: anywhere on the loop, but most often at the Rooney Road parking lot

The Sedona area is absolutely gorgeous. Sedona’s early embrace of mountain biking has been with very technical trails. More recently, intermediate, flowy trails have been introduced. This route, which highlights trails such as Chuckwagon and Mezcal embodies this newer attitude.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Sedona, AZ

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This is one of my favorite mountain bike rides in Arizona. This route is just a section of the overall Black Canyon Trail (BCT). There are several river crossings that can get too deep to traverse. Be sure to get a report on water levels from the locals before heading out on this ride. This route gets to feel very remote quickly.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Black Canyon City, AZ

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Brown’s Ranch has a nice assortment of flowy and techy trails in a very scenic desert setting. As an added bonus, there is a desert museum at the trailhead.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Scottsdale, AZ

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The Fantasy Island trail system in southern Tucson is a purpose built system for mountain bikes. The southern half is beginner level trails and the northern half is more intermediate with techy short dips and climbs. The most fun way to ride these trails is to ride fast. However, if you go too fast and get off trail, you will be introduced to the Jumping Cholla cactus. That is an experience you won’t soon forget.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Tucson, AZ

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Mt. Lemmon is probably the most iconic road ride in Arizona. There is over 7000 feet of climbing in less than 30 miles of distance. Near the top, a slight detour will bring you into the small town of Summerhaven, which is a good stop to refuel for the ride back down. Weather is always a potential issue on a mountain such as this, be sure to check local conditions before attempting this ride.

Good for: Road

Start Location: Tucson, AZ

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This road ride can be done in numerous different configurations with the climb up and over Gates pass being the highlight. Close by is Saguaro National Park West, McCain Loop and ‘A’ Mountain, adding any or all of these to Gates Pass makes for a truly enjoyable ride.

Good for: Road

Start Location: Tucson, AZ

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This trail system has multiple personalities with sections of fast flow and technical challenging climbs and descents. The Golder Ranch trail system can be ridden on its own or from the Catalina State Park via the 50 Year Trail. The trails immerse you in the desert landscape as well as offer wonderful views of the mountains.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Catalina State Park, AZ

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The Loop bike path was mostly built by Pima County and covers a great deal of Tucson and Oro Valley. There are art installations all along the route. The route is mainly flat and is a great way to see much of Tucson and rack up a bunch of miles without too much effort.

Good for: Road

Start Location: Oro Valley, AZ

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Kitt Peak is a mountain in the flats south of Tucson which offers great views along a challenging ride up to the observatory on top. To make a bigger day of it, this can be ridden as an out and back from Tucson-proper.

Good for: Road

Start Location: Near Pan Tak, AZ

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The MTB trails in Tucson Mountain Park offer a variety of surfaces and views. You can go long or short with a good number of route options within the trail system. Some of the trails are on the techy side with loose rocks and short steeps, but overall a fun time.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Tucson Mountain Park

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This road route includes a nice climb around Pistol Hill on quiet roads toward the southern end of Tucson. This route also goes right by Saguaro National Park East which can be added for more fun and distance.

Good for: Road

Start Location: Tucson, AZ

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This trail system is relatively flat and non-technical, great for beginners or a recovery day. For additional challenge, add in the Ridgeline Loop trail which is adjacent to this loop.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Oro Valley, AZ

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This is a point-to-point route that is an advanced level descent down a lower section of Mt. Lemmon.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Molina Basin Trailhead, AZ

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This trail system steps up the difficulty with some steep climbs but rewards with great views.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Oro Valley, AZ

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This national park consists of a 9 mile loop road with one-way traffic. The road flows like a rollercoaster through a beautiful desert landscape. This can be ridden on its own, multiple laps or in conjunction with the “loop” bike path.

Good for: Road

Start Location: Saguaro National Park

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This is a highly rated intermediate level out and back route covering a section of the famous Arizona Trail.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Pistol Hill, AZ

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Riding from Green Valley makes this ride a mostly traffic-free climb with a punchy finish to the top.

Good for: Road

Location: Posada Java, Green Valley, AZ

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One of the most famous MTB trails in the world. The unusual terrain, challenging steeps and amazing views contribute to this trail live up to its reputation in the cycling community. The loop part of the route is generally ridden clockwise, however, it is worth giving it a go the other way as well.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Moab, UT

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This trail is the epitome of perfect singletrack for cycling. There were some challenging climbs to get to the trail from where we started, but once on the trail, it was pure joy. This is a top rated MTB trail in Montana.

Good for: MTB

Trailhead Location: Helena, MT

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