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from 9000ft to over 13,000ft
Ultimate Mountain Bike Vacation Home South Park Ranger District Trail Info MTB trail info for some of the trails Some all around info for South Park Mountain Bike Review trail information page Email:delsborg@comcast.net |
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Crossing Cave Creek on the Sheep Creek trail |
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Maps to get are the Fairplay/Leadville Topo.
RIDE DESCRIPTIONS
*Breakneck Pass/Brown's Pass. 8 miles one way. Primative 4x4 roads.
Elevation: 9920ft - 11,360 ft
From Fairplay, drive aprox 6 miles south on 285 to Westin Pass road, take this dirt road about 3 miles west, the Breckneck pass dirt road will be on the right. Follow the road over a cattle guard to a meadow on top of a small incline where you get views to the north of Silverheels mountain. Park there and begin your ride. Climb up the jeep road to the top of the pass. Here you have to choose to go down to Sheep Creek, or right across Sheep Ridge. If you go right over Sheep ridge continue till the old mine. There choose to follow a faint singletrack straight ahead to Brown's Pass. Otherwise go left and follow the jeep road down to Sheep Meadow. Browns pass going east is a fast insane downhill down to Sheep Meadow. There the jeep road can be followed north to climb all the way up to the ridge at 13,000 ft. You can continue on via faint singletrack over the tundra to climb Horseshoe Peak at 13,800ft. At Browns pass there's also an option to climb Sheep mountain, which is just shy of 13k feet. This starts as a jeep road, but quickly turns into high alpine shale singletrack. Look for the intersection of a singletrack going right towards the east. Go left on the trail which obviously climbs Sheep Mtn. Go right and it takes you down one sick 2500ft singletrack downhill all the way into the Four Mile creek basin to end at Horseshoe campground. Look at the Four Mile Creek description below for more information regarding trails in that area. Browns pass can be followed east down to the Warm Springs Road. This is one fast downhill. Dial in the suspension. To make a loop you need to travel through private property of the Warm Springs subdivision. This is possible if you choose to stay at the Ultimate
Mountain Bike Vacation Home. Please contact me on details to complete this loop. Moderate to difficult.
Approx. 15 miles.
Sheep Creek/Watrous Gulch Trail This new trail begins at Watrous Gulch and crosses Cave, Twelvemile and Sheep Creeks. Up and back is approx. 8 moderate miles. This beautiful singletrack can be accessed from the top of Breckneck pass road (see above ride) or from a road spurring off of the Westin Pass road.
*Fourmile Creek Loop. From Fairplay drive south 4 miles to Cty 20. Take the paved road to the Browns pass road on the right. Drive this dirt road to the creek and park around there. The trail follows dirt road right before the creek to the right. It turns into single track and climbs to the top of a small ridge. A spur trail comes down on the left from the top of Sheep mountain, which is a thrilling 2000ft single track descent!!! Veer left and the trail tops out and decends to Horseshoe campground in the Fourmile creek drainage. Follow a 4x4 road on the south side of the creek. The road eventually climbs south out of the drainage, over a ridge and decends south back to the Warm Springs area towards the base of Browns Pass where you parked. This can be linked with the Browns Pass/Breckneck pass loop described above. It can also be linked with the Tie Hack trail described below. Fourmile Creek drainage on single-track trail back to Warm Springs. Easy to moderate with one difficult section. Approx. 8 miles. .
*Weston Pass. Begin at the Rich Creek Trailhead on Westin Pass road about 12 miles from Fairplay. Begin at the trailhead and ride up Weston Pass for some
great views and a thrilling downhill ride. Up and back is a moderate 13
mile ride. Or you can go over the pass and down to Leadville for lunch!!
Rough and Tumbling Trail #617
* Rough and Tumbling Creek
Water Availability: Potable water is available at the Weston Pass Campground.
Backcountry water is available in Tumble and Fourmile Creeks.
Access: The easiest way is off the Weston Pass Road 22, exit from Hwy 285 6 miles south of Fairplay. Drive about 6 miles to the
Rich Creek Trailhead. Parking is available here. Cross the stream at the
footbridge and follow the trail to the left and up a hill.Another way to
access this trail is off of FDR 431. Continue to end of the road. This
road has been barricaded closed. Begin biking the closed jeep road. Trail
# 618. At the junction of Rough and Tumbling Creek and the trail, you can
only bike on the trail to the right, the trail to the left (west) going
uphill leads into Wilderness area. This is Rough and Tumbling Trail.
Note: Mountain bikes may only be ridden between the #617 / #618 intersection
and the Rich Creek Trailhead.
*Salt Creek Trail Pick up the trail at either the Bear Gulch or Lynch
Creek trailhead and follow the Salt Creek trail as far as desired. A nice
loop can be made around Brush Park that puts you back on the trail home.
Easy to moderate riding on this 26 mile up and back (with loop on end)
route.
*Bear Gulch/Long Park Begin at the Bear Gulch trailhead and ride loop clockwise to Long Park, up Forest Designated road 431 (Buffalo Springs road) and back to trailhead. This easy-moderate loop is approx. 10.5 miles.
* Midland and Lenhardy cutoff trails - Great Description at http://www.peaksnewsnet.com/mtnbike/trail14.html
*Hoosier Pass (Magnolia Mine/Crystal Lake) Begins at the top of Hoosier Pass and heads west toward the Magnolia Mine. The trail cuts north and descends to Crystal Lake and then back to Hoosier Pass. Ride is rated moderate and includes two-track and single-track. Approx. 3.5 miles.
*Wheeler Lakes Road Begins at Montgomery Reservoir near the Magnolia Mill and follows the Middle Fork of the South Platte river to Wheeler Lakes. This is a fairly busy jeep trail, so exercise caution when riding. The route is difficult for the first two miles and becomes extreme after that. Approx. 4 miles.
*Cameron Amphitheater/Lincoln/Cameron/Bross Begins at the old Quartzville Site and heads west on a ~eep trail towards Cameron Amphitheater. From there, it winds around and goes over Mount Lincoln, by Cameron, and across to Mount Bross before descending. Extreme route, expert riders only. Approx. 11.5 miles.
*Windy Ridge Loop Begins at Mineral Park just below Windy Ridge and follows both sides of Dolly Varden Gulch back to Mineral Park. The ride is difficult with a few extreme sections. Approx. 4 miles.
*Mineral Park Begins at the Paris Mill and follows the Dolly Varden road up to Mineral Park. Up and back route on dirt road is easy. Approx. 5 miles round trip. (There is an extreme 2 mile loop at the end for experienced riders.)
*Buckskin Gulch/Orphan Boy Mine/Mascot Tunnel Begins in Alma, follows the Buckskin Gulch road to the Buckskin Joe Mine, Orphan Boy Mine, down the Mascot Tunnel road to County Road 12 (Mosquito Gulch) and back to Alma. Ride ranges from easy to difficult. Approx. 7 miles.
*Beaver Creek/High Park/Beaver Ridge Many options for loop rides in this area ranging from easy to difficult. Shortest loop is 4 miles, longest is 18 miles.
*Crooked Creek Loop Begin at Forest boundary on the Crooked Creek road, circle up the Crooked Creek drainage and back down to the road. The route is a moderate 5 mile loop alternating forest road and two-track.
*Crooked Creek to Trout Creek This one way tour requires a shuttle between Silverheels and Como. Begin at Forest boundary on the Crooked Creek road, on to Trout Creek between Little Baldy and Palmer Peaks, out at Tarryall Creek and down to Como. Ranges from easy to extreme. Distance one way is about 18 miles.
*Gold Dust Trail Begin in Como and follow the road up to North Tarryall Creek. Get on the Gold Dust Trail and follow it back to Como. This easy to difficult trail is approx. 13 miles.
*Boreas Pass Road Begin in Como and follow the road to the top of Boreas Pass and back to Como. This easy route is approx. 23 miles of railroad grade riding.
*Tie Hack Trail. From Fairplay drive 285 south about 2 miles. Take the Fourmile creek road right to Horseshoe campground. Begin at Horseshoe campground following the road to Thompson Park. Get on the Tie Hack ski trail following the signs around the loop in a counter-clockwise direction. Easy to tough-moderate. There is an optional 5 mile moderate trail up to the Sacramento Site from this 7.5 mile loop.
*Colorado Trail Begin at the summit of Kenosha Pass, ride west from
the campground following the trail symbols. At the high point above timberline,
bear left to Georgia Pass. At the top of the pass take the road indicating
the middle fork of the Swan River to Breckenridge (25 miles total) or turn
around and head back to the car (26 miles up and back.) Moderate to difficult
riding.
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