Must-Do Rides in Durango Area?

[evdog]

I think technically the gentleman's loop skips alta lakes and sunshine trail? I'm no good with the nicknames. However I can't really recommend this ride anymore as an 'epic' since the forest service came in and rebuilt the alta lakes section now called 'magic meadows' used to be a backcountry route finding adventure with some steep ass options to take, now it's a 8.5 mile green trail snoozefest smack dab in the middle of your 'epic' pedal. Total buzzkill. There are still some cool additions to make your prospect loop more interesting but they would best be discussed over pm.

Bummer if they gave it the IMBA treatment, that was a fun descent on the backside. I'm sure it'll revert back. Most people probably ride the bike park-ish trails. Aside from the guys who offered to show us the bigger loop we saw no one else back there that day.

And yeah, Alta Lakes isn't on the Gentleman's loop nor is it on the loop we did. Alta Lakes is where we were headed initially. Still want to check that spot out.

[rip]

Bummer if they gave it the IMBA treatment, that was a fun descent on the backside. I'm sure it'll revert back. Most people probably ride the bike park-ish trails. Aside from the guys who offered to show us the bigger loop we saw no one else back there that day.

And yeah, Alta Lakes isn't on the Gentleman's loop nor is it on the loop we did. Alta Lakes is where we were headed initially. Still want to check that spot out.

Its still a pretty awesome ride, up the G to prospect to alta lakes(magic meadows) to sunshine (t35) back up the goose. Like 25 miles and some rad descents. I'm being a bit nitpicky, it just is a bummer they didn't look more at that ride as a whole when they rebuilt the middle section. The main driver were that the old trails crossed some private land. Its a trail we need in the area but it should be close to town not smack in the middle of your 'epic'

[smmokan]

A great short ride is to park at the bottom of Coal Creek on the N side of coal bank pass, up a couple easy miles on 550, then pass creek, right on EMT, down coal ck to your car. Like 90 minutes

And really, coal creek is in great shape.

OK cool, I was looking at that one too. I guess a 4th day ride is assuming I can even move by then, we'll be in Steamboat for a couple of days before Durango too.

[Tech Tonics]

Just finished Molas-Rolling-Graysill and I really can’t imagine a better ride.

[homemadesalsa]

Just finished Molas-Rolling-Graysill and I really can’t imagine a better ride.

That's the one you pointed us to last year. Fully agreed. In my top 10 overall ride list now.

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[Roxtar]

IMO, Horse Gulch gets overlooked due to ease of getting to it. Something for everyone. Hospital is a short but standout trail.

[ASmileyFace]

IMO, Horse Gulch gets overlooked due to ease of getting to it. Something for everyone. Hospital is a short but standout trail.

Fully agree. I managed to put down 30+ miles of riding in Horsegulch over the weekend while getting all my household errands down. With the monsoon finally returning to Four Corners the town trails have been excellent. I feel pretty lucky to have that kind of access right out my front door.

[Danno]

Horse Gulch is a fantastic trail system, especially for in-town. But it can get hotter than Satan's nutsack up there this time of year.

[NuMexJoe]

Tons of good info already. I'll only add that if Hermosa Tours is running the shuttle, it is totally worth whatever they're asking to have them shuttle you to Kennebec Pass vs doing it yourself. Otherwise, yeah, up Champion Venture and just skip the first descent. Another question for the locals: Last time I rode Hermosa (and that was at least a decade ago), the ATVs had started pushing in from the top (backside of Purgatory) and it was essentially 2-track along the creek for quite a ways until it pinched down. Still bad? Worse? Or post-fire is it singletrack again?

[evdog]

Not recent but on my last trip there in 2016 or 17 the uppermost part of Hermosa was basically a jeep trail, then it narrowed to ATV trail. I think they couldn't get across one of the bridges so it was down to moto trail at that point.


Planning out some options for my trip next week.... has anyone ever tried to ride around Kendall Mtn and surrounding peaks on the south side of Silverton? My Latitude40 map shows a bunch of trails in that area north of the wilderness boundary. They aren't very obvious on satellite. I see part of the area is WSA which sometimes means no bikes but the map doesn't list restrictions. I also see there's a plan proposed to add 30 miles of multi-use trails in that area. If anyone has been, is it worth trying to ride? Don't mind taking my bike for a walk....

[xyz]

Not recent but on my last trip there in 2016 or 17 the uppermost part of Hermosa was basically a jeep trail, then it narrowed to ATV trail. I think they couldn't get across one of the bridges so it was down to moto trail at that point.


Planning out some options for my trip next week.... has anyone ever tried to ride around Kendall Mtn and surrounding peaks on the south side of Silverton? My Latitude40 map shows a bunch of trails in that area north of the wilderness boundary. They aren't very obvious on satellite. I see part of the area is WSA which sometimes means no bikes but the map doesn't list restrictions. I also see there's a plan proposed to add 30 miles of multi-use trails in that area. If anyone has been, is it worth trying to ride? Don't mind taking my bike for a walk....

Hey Evan. I don’t know if you’re on Strava but you could follow payson mcelveen. He’s been putting in big alpine rides almost daily in the area. Might give you options.

[Tech Tonics]

Sooooooo how was your trip? What did you ride? You had perfect weather!


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[smmokan]

Sooooooo how was your trip? What did you ride? You had perfect weather!

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Nope, didn't end up going. Too much shit going on with my business, and I needed to be at home last week and now to deal with it. I went to Steamboat for a couple of days, but that was it. Hopefully I'll make it down there sometime soon though.

[evdog]

Hey Evan. I don’t know if you’re on Strava but you could follow payson mcelveen. He’s been putting in big alpine rides almost daily in the area. Might give you options.

Thanks Stu! Not on strava but maybe I can still see the routes on the site.

Had an awesome trip mostly in Silverton. TR will come at some point.

[BFD]

Any recommendations on where to rent in Durango? Looking to rent for about 2 weeks. Would be nice to find someone willing to work on price.

[Tech Tonics]

BFD: timing?

[Wes Mantooth]

Bumping this - tons of awesome info here but curious specifically for beta about rides and camp spots this time of year vs later in the summer. We're thinking of heading down from Carbondale next weekend (the 28th - 31st) and none of us have much knowledge of the area. I'm guessing a lot of the more epic high alpine stuff mentioned earlier in the thread will still be snowed in?

We will be a small and mobile group so we can easily camp at different spots each night if that'll give us access to more variety unless stuff fills up quickly and we need to stake our claim somewhere given it'll be a holiday weekend. We'll also have a couple doggos who we likely won't bring riding so a not too hot camp spot would be ideal for them. Happy with 20-30 mile rides or multiple shorter outings throughout a day and we may have shuttle capabilities but still TBD. I personally love very techy chunky stuff but we will have a few people who are more into flow, so a solid mix would be ideal. Overall none of us are too picky we just like riding bikes and looking at cool stuff. Any and all recs would be much appreciated!

[evdog]

Keep an eye on this site for trail conditions. https://www.durangotrails.org/trail-conditions/

Update from yesterday says there is still 5ft of snow on high country trails, so those will be awhile. Looks like some mid and most town trails are good to go.

[hick]

We did a nice loop up Jones, Pinkerton/Flag, down Dutch Cr and out Hermosa. Probably bone dry now as we did it over a week ago.

Dry Cr was good quite a ways out also. Probably get pretty high on it now.

Would love to go back when the alpine opens up!


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[Tech Tonics]

^^ glad to hear Jones pink flag Dutch is good to go. I figured it was dry, but wasn’t sure if had been cleared yet.

I’d suggest camping a night or two at lower hermosa. One day you could ride the above-mentioned loop, another do an out and back on Hermosa Ck. That loop is excellent.

A night or two closer to town at Junction Creek CG would also be good. Tons of options; looping the CT and dry fork or bigger days too. Also, Log Chutes straight back to camp would be pretty sweet.

Tons of great in town riding too. This time of the year, I think the best riding is right from city limits. Endless options.

[dfinn]

That Dutch loop felt a good bit harder than the stats say, maybe it was the elevation or the heat but it’s a bit of an ass kicker. Real fun though!



Corral is snow free but has maybe 10 trees down.



Great camp spots up around the top of Purgatory. Riding the bike park trails right from camp was a great way to start or end the day. Had a lone coyote try to come into camp and make friends with our pup.



Even got to catch joetron for a beer. Solid trip, endless trails there.

[joetron]

Yeah dude! Good to see you guys!
Good beta on Corral. Did you go up Stagecoach or Hotel Draw? How’d it look on top?


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[dfinn]

Up Hotel Draw. Little bit of snow at the very top but I bet it will be gone soon.

[smmokan]

Hey Durango guys, quick question.... looking at doing a PTP shuttle tomorrow morning, starting up Elbert Creek and riding down Pinkerton and Dutch Creek. Worth doing? We've done a couple rides up off the CT around Engineer, and we're looking to mix it up for 3-4 hours tomorrow.

[joetron]

Honestly, you’re probably better off just riding Jones/Pinkerton/Dutch/Hermosa from the lower Hermosa TH.
Elbert is a grind, and I’ve heard that section of Pinkerton is kinda meh. Decent descent into Dutch, but with running the shuttle, I’m not sure it’s worth it.


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