Man, every time I go there, I learn more incredible trails, and I can’t figure out why this place doesn’t get the headlines. It’s only 3 hours away, the town is fun, the weather’s good, it’s not at mind-melting altitude, and it seems like you’d have to ride for weeks to see everything. It’s the complete package, baby.
Rob and I hit a quick weekend up there and planned a big epic for day one. We grabbed the gondola up the ski resort (after having our wallets emptied by said ski resort…ugh!), then still had a considerable climb up Storm Peak. At the top of that, we jumped onto the Mountain View trail, connected it to the Wyoming Trail and made our way to Buffalo Pass. From there we descended the road until we could slip onto the Spring Creek trail. This route is seriously rad! The trails offer great variety, from the rooty fun of Wyoming trail to the smooth ride on rails down Spring Creek. Plus the views are great and there’s a lake to skinny dip in, if you dare.
The next day, we met up with some pals who knew the trails on Emerald Mountain. Holy moly, I hope I can even do justice to this experience. It’s a jungle at 8,000 feet! The dense trees and foliage grow from the edge of the skinny singletrack to way up over your head, hemming you into a wall of green. You can’t even see the trail around the next corner. You can both climb and descend like this, and it’s such a strange sensation for Colorado natives like myself who have never ridden in places that look like this. I couldn’t stop laughing out loud.
I waited for a slightly more open spot to shoot pictures, and my pal Brad can’t quit grinning, either.
Go check it out, you’ll love it.
