Horsetooth Res. Recommendations?

**rideit** · 07-18-2018, 12:40 PM

Will be there Sat. evening.
This looks good, but are there better otions for some chunky descending?
https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/702...k-sampler-loop

Late evening food recs in Fort Collins?

**adrenalated** · 07-18-2018, 01:29 PM

I've only ridden there once so take this with a huge grain of salt. The loop you linked, the first part is good (down Wathen) but from there I would go up Towers (we went up Spring Creek and it was mostly walking unless you're very fit, next time I'd go up Towers which is a dirt road). Then go down Mill Creek from the top instead of coming into it in the middle.

I have a coworker that rides there all the time and Sawmill is one of his favorite descents.

**tellybele** · 07-18-2018, 01:42 PM

Café de Bangkok, I lived a couple blocks from the cafe and it was my favorite, the most interesting menu that I have ever seen at a Thai place. The Bean Cycle has the best coffee and probably a sweet vintage road bike hanging around...

Some fun-assed chunk descents all over Horsetooth/Lory zone, I loved it, best Front Range riding I did during my short stint in FoCo. My favorite way to do the tooth was to start in Lory(closer to where I lived) and work my way over via Howard and Mill. The Wathen trail is probably the best fast chunk over there. Another plus of the place are all the drinking fountains. Hot and dry as hell and you'll have no problem keeping the water weight light on your back which is important at Lory/Horsetooth as it ain't no weenie roast over there unless you are doing the shoreline rigs.
Shoot, I just remembered you have to buy a pass for each, so maybe that sampler is the best.

How long are you there?

**rideit** · 07-18-2018, 02:03 PM

14 hours or so...gonna do Snooze for breakfast on Sunday.

**tellybele** · 07-18-2018, 02:56 PM

Coo, I just read adrenalated and his Mill creek/Towers comments jogged my memory and he is right about that. Towers is a steepy road and good like that. Maybe customize your loop to include Wathen/ Sawmill and Towers?? If you get up near the Horsetooth rock, do that Audra trail, nice tech fest going south to north and you get a great view up there. I was pleasantly surprised with Horsetooth/Lory after having lived in MSO. There are more rocks in the first 1/4 mile of the Wathen then all of the local MSO trails combined! MSO=Golf cart paths in comparison

**rideit** · 07-18-2018, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by adrenalated

I've only ridden there once so take this with a huge grain of salt. The loop you linked, the first part is good (down Wathen) but from there I would go up Towers (we went up Spring Creek and it was mostly walking unless you're very fit, next time I'd go up Towers which is a dirt road). Then go down Mill Creek from the top instead of coming into it in the middle.

I have a coworker that rides there all the time and Sawmill is one of his favorite descents.

So you would take Harrington to Towers?

**rideit** · 07-18-2018, 03:19 PM

Originally Posted by tellybele

. There are more rocks in the first 1/4 mile of the Wathen then all of the local MSO trails combined! MSO=Golf cart paths in comparison

Yeah, tech/chunk is one thing we lack in most of the Tetons as well.

**smmokan** · 07-18-2018, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by rideit

So you would take Harrington to Towers?

Yes. And if you want to do a little bit more with another fun descent, go over and do the Timber-Kimmons loop at the north end.

**iamTRuTH** · 07-18-2018, 04:29 PM

Powerline to Ginny trail is a fun one. It’s just on the other side of Horsetooth.

I’m camping this weekend otherwise I’d meet you.

**rideit** · 07-18-2018, 04:36 PM

Looks like it is going to be 93-95 degrees Sat evening, I think we are going to ride at 6:00 am Sunday morning...anyone wanna join? ;-)

**rideit** · 07-18-2018, 09:52 PM

Any suggestions on a mellower, 12-15 mile ride with, say, 1200 feet of climbing for wifey?

**smmokan** · 07-18-2018, 10:36 PM

If you park at the Soderberg TH, she can ride the valley trails out to the Timber-Kimmons Loop I mentioned above. I think the trails on the west side along the foothills are more interesting, fwiw.

**adrenalated** · 07-19-2018, 09:02 AM

Another option for her would be Blue Sky
https://www.mtbproject.com/trail/340...-indian-summer

**jm2e** · 07-19-2018, 09:36 AM

My current local trails, so let me give you my own take on your day here.

1. I would definitely NOT do that Sampler ride if your primary goal is to enjoy riding fun trails downhill. I personally think of each ride in terms of whether it has what I think would be good enduro stages. In other words, I have way more fun riding downhill for 2-5 minutes than I do riding downhill for 30 seconds, then climbing, then doing flat technical, then down for a few more seconds, and on and on.

2. The best ratio of up to down in one ride in Horsetooth:
a) Start at Sodderberg parking and ride back through the campground/marina. When you get to the fire station, rather than heading toward the Blue Sky lot, hop onto the pavement, quickly turn right and ride the 1/4-1/2 mile up to the upper parking lot for Horsetooth Mountain Park. From there you only have one option, riding up SouthRidge to the top. The grade is pretty mellow in most places.
b) If you don't mind some tedious technical up down up down hiking trail, you can get on the Audra Culver Trail near the top for 0.8mi. It does get you to a super fun bonus section riding down chunky rock slabs to the intersection with Wathen, but it comes at a price. Last time I did it, I was off the bike 11 times in 0.8 miles with about 200 feet of hike-a-bike. I almost always skip Audra Culver and just continue up the road to do Wathen.
c) Regardless, your first downhill will be Wathen which is a ton of fun. Definitely one of the highest quality stages in NorCo.
d) At the end of Wathen, head left on Spring Creek Trail, but then soon after you can head right an up Harrington to the intersection with Stout. Heading right up to Stout gets you another great, rocky, loose, blown out downhill with a short punchy 20sec climb in the middle. Try to remember this one bit of trail beta before heading down Stout: When you get to the only intersection (you will see a house under construction), head to the left. You are welcome to stop here and check your directions, but if you remember in advance that you need to turn LEFT, you extend the continuous downhill a bit. Makes for a longer feeling "stage".
e) There is some unavoidable climbing and meandering with a couple short downhills as you ride from Stout to Towers. This is why we often skip stout, because mrsjm2e hates climbing. I think it's fun trail though. Regardless, you'll eventually get to Towers, head left and start climbing again. Climb PAST Loggers. There is nothing to be gained by riding down Loggers. Climb Past both Harrington trails. You can actually skip the enture Stout section of this ride by just keeping left on Harrington at the intersection. It spits you back onto Towers after a few minutes.
f) When you get to Carey Spring, this is your best opportunity to cut the day short and still have fun.
g) For one more classic Horsetooth DH, continue past Carey Spring and all the way up to the intersections with Mill Creek and Spring Creek. Be warned; there are two short steep sections of Towers along the way. They are soul crushing but very short. Rest at the bench and then head down Spring Creek. You might hear more hype about Mill Creek, but Spring Creek is a way more continuous downhill and it works better with linking other trails. Mill Creek is fun, but Mill Creek is something you do by itself.
h) After Spring Creek starts to flatten out a bit, but stays fast, you'll get to an unmarked blown out jeep trail heading uphill to the left. It's super obvious. Trailforks shows it as Spring Creek Connect. Take that up for a minute or two of climbing back up to Towers. Turn left on Towers and go a couple minutes with minimal climbing until you get back to Carey Spring.
i) Head down Carey Spring. It's short, but not too short. and super fun. After a tiny, easy but annoying climb, it spits you out onto a roadbed. This is Loggers. I'd say go right, but it naturally puts you in the right direction.
j) After about 1/4 miles on Loggers you'll get to Sawmill on the left. Head down and enjoy. It's fun. Just good clean fun. And chunky in spots. There's a little "alternate" finish that's easy to blow past at the very end. If you see it, it's kind of fun and takes you through a chunky rock garden.
k) The easiest/best way to get back to the car is just take all right turns until you get to Towers again. Then back to the car.
Five Good Stages

edit: GPS says that's 17miles and 3000' of elevation. Climbing at a snails pace with mrs jm2e, it's 2 1/2 hours not including breaks.

**rideit** · 07-19-2018, 09:43 AM

Thanks, guys.

**jm2e** · 07-19-2018, 09:55 AM

3. If your wife likes to do some downhill:
a) Sodderberg to Towers. Towers up to Carey Spring.
b) Carey Spring down to Loggers. Loggers to Sawmill.
c) Sawmill down to bottom.
d) Head back to the car from there and it's 1200' of climbing, 6 1/2 miles and takes a little over an hour.
e) If she wants more mileage, when she gets to the bottom of Sawmill, she can head left. The South Valley Loop, West Valley Trail and East Valley Trails are all really fun cruisy singletrack. 29er heaven.

4. If your wife isn't as much into the chunky downhill:
a) From Sodderberg lot, head out on Shoreline Trail and either way on South Valley Trail.
b) Keep heading north into Lory State Park on East Valley Trail.
c) At the Northern End of Lory, she can climb up the first part of Timber Trail. It goes up about 550' in a couple miles, super mellow climbing.
d) Head down Kimmons Trail. It's a super fun, flowy continuous downhill with 2 or 3 little chuky bits.
e) At the bottom of Kimmons, head right and pretty much just follow your nose back to the Sodderberg lot. If the mountains are on her right and the reservoir is on her left, she can't get lost.

**rideit** · 07-22-2018, 01:45 PM

Well, that was outrageously fun. Climb wasn't bad (the top section was a grunt, but I just barely cleaned it). Watham was my favorite, happened to get on a fast guys wheel who showed me the good lines. Much faster in a train. Kinda ran out of time, so just toon sawmill to Nomad. About an hour and a half, was back at the car by 8:30. Now it's 92 or something in Denver...

**jm2e** · 07-22-2018, 05:04 PM

Glad you got out there. Glad the weather cooperated this morning. Come back and ride in a couple months when the weather cools down.

Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

**rideit** · 07-22-2018, 11:57 PM

Thanks for the ride suggestions! I could totally see coming back down and doing a 4hr + 'big day' there, I feel like I literally just scratched the surface.
Town was mad hoppin' on Sat. Night, it's obvious the economy is doing well in CO...even down to the panhandling factor.

**Rideski** · 08-08-2019, 02:16 AM

One year bump. Headed to unannounced client meeting tomorrow throwing the bike in. Read most of the above but late and tired. Recs on a good spot to park the truck and sleep (no tent) campground isn’t the end of the world but prefer bushwack camping.