Crested Butte Recap

I just got back from spending a week riding my mountain bike in Crested Butte. I've gone there several times in the past, so I know which trails to ride. I took four friends along, and we had a great time. Here's a recount of which trails we rode and what we thought of them.

Sept. 5 - Walrod Gulch
This is my traditional first day ride in Crested Butte. It's only around 7 miles long and starts from the condo we stayed at, so it's convenient for the first day. It's by no means an easy ride, though. It climbs over 1000 feet up some incredibly steep trails, then drops back down even faster. Great short ride!

Sept. 6 - Trail 401
This is a truly classic trail. You park above Gothic at a parking area, then climb up the road to Schofield pass for several miles. Once you hit the pass, you take singletrack to the right that climbs you the rest of the way up to 11,300 feet. Once there, you start on a multi-mile descent over some great trails. The bottom part has some ups and downs, but all-in-all this a great ride.

Sept. 7 - Upper Loop/Upper Upper Loop
This is one of the classic from-town rides in Crested Butte. You go up the recreation path to the lower part of the mountain village, then head down a driveway that connects to the singletrack. It takes you across the mountain on the Upper Loop. This is some nice trail. The Upper Loop T's into the Upper Upper Loop and Whetstone. We went on Upper Upper Loop, but it's very rocky and not as much fun. It's rideable, but it's a real pain in the butt. I'd recommend taking the Whetstone trail instead. I've never ridden it, but it HAS to be more enjoyable. Still, this is a good option for a quick ride from town.

Sept. 7 - Lower Loop
This is another classic from-town ride. It's not very technical, which makes it a good ride for less experienced riders. Still, it's a good trail and enjoyable.

Sept. 8 - Teocalli Ridge
This used to be one of the signature rides in Crested Butte. Now, it sucks big time. In no way can I recommend this ride. The climbs are a pain, but all the rides around here have that. The problem comes when the descents start. They are simply too washed-out and loose to be enjoyable. You're either walking around downhill washouts and dropoffs that aren't rideable, or tripoding (riding with one foot off the pedals) down loose ruts. Don't do this ride. Do Doctor Park instead. Doctor Park is what this ride should be.

Sept. 8 - Deer Creek
I didn't ride this trail this year, but I have in the past. The rest of the group rode it. It has a really steep climb for about the first mile or so of singletrack, but after that it's fun trail along the valley for a long way. Highly recommended.

Sept. 9 - Trail 401 descent
For our second ride on Trail 401, we left a car at the cutoff and ferried our bikes to the top. We did the short (1 mile) climb to the top of the mountain, then enjoyed the long downhill back to the car. This is definitely the way to do this trail if you're limited on time. The descent is simply awesome!

Sept. 10 - Doctor Park
For my money, this is the best trail in the area. It starts off with a long, but not too steep, climb up Spring Creek Road, then through pastures, until it hits the forest. You ride on some forest singletrack before coming to the downhill section. Wow! This is some of the best downhill ever. It has several miles of nicely bermed singletrack running through aspen groves and along creeks that are simply incredible. You finish off with some steep and technical switchbacks that put you back near where you parked. You have to do this ride if you're in the area.

Sept. 11 - Reno/Flag/Bear/Deadman's
This is a truly classic ride. You start off doing the long fire-road climb up to Reno Divide, then blast down many miles of singletrack on the Flag Creek trail. Then you do another climb and another great long descent on the Bear Creek trail. You finish up by climbing up the Deadmand's Gulch trail to the ridge, then going down through 30 switchbacks on a cool trail that puts you back at the car. Another must-ride trail.

All-in-all, Crested Butte is a great place to ride mountain bikes. There's enough trail in the surrounding area that you can easily ride for a week and not see the same trail twice (if you don't want to). I doubt I'll ever have a chance to ride all the trails there.