Winter Mountain Biking in Colorado...

We have been very fortunate this year to have had so many mountain bike-able days here in Colorado! Not only have we been able to ride from home, we've had 60 degree + sunny days in Pueblo and Fruita, CO.

Here's a recap of the best places to go mountain biking during the Colorado winter...Let us know if you have any favorites we can add to this list!

Fruita, Colorado:

We headed out to Fruita in January, for a sunny stretch of 3 days, following some heavy snow. We went straight out to 18 Road, and promptly accumulated enough mud to last me the season. We didn't even bother to get the bikes off the camper, since our shoes were so coated in thick, gooey mud that we could barely lift our feet.
Apparently, 18 Road is good only when it has been dry out for a LONG time...We will revisit in the late spring...

So, we went back into town and set up camp at the wonderful James M. Robb State Park campground, right off the interstate in downtown Fruita. You can drive, if you are sane, or ride, like us, from town to the Kokopelli Trailhead. It was about an extra 45 minutes of riding each way, but we didn't have to take the truck and camper apart. From the trailhead, you can hit a variety of awesome loops (called "Mary's Loops"), rated beginner to insanely unrideable. These trails were completely dry, much warmer, and tons of fun!

Kokopelli Trailhead

On Rustler's Loop (beginner loop, but fun for anyone!)

Of course, it's not all about the bike. What would true camping be without a little bit of R & R...?!

Getting his daily Vitamin D dose...

 Lake Pueblo State Park, Pueblo, CO:

Probably our newest and most exciting place to ride is down in Pueblo, at Lake Pueblo State Park. It seems that few people have caught on to the awesome riding down here, maybe because it's Pueblo, and maybe because it's the devil's furnace come summer...
No shade, completely exposed - totally perfect for winter riding!

We recommend camping at the state park, because then the trails start literally from your campsite!

Home sweet home...

There is something here for everyone, including crazy log drops, homemade scary bridges, flowing singletrack, you name it! Perfect place to work on skills and get in some hours.

Straight shot to Pikes Peak!

There's also a cool dam that we walked out to. Note, it took almost 2 hours to reach the dam from camp, definitely not what we were looking for in our "recovery walk"...

Needed to sit down after all that walking...



Wouldn't have believed us if we didn't have photographic proof! A bent piece of driftwood sitting in exactly this position below the dam!
 

And of course, we wouldn't be camping if Hal didn't do this...



 

Hi Delta!

That's our brief list. We are heading soon to Rabbit Valley, just west of Fruita, to ride the trails over there. The Western Rim Trail was great fun when we did it last year, hoping it's as awesome on the second go-around.

Thanks for reading and let us know if you have any hidden winter mountain biking gems that you want to share!