Winter Biking in Salida Colorado

The middle of the winter might be an odd time to post about biking, but before the big storm last week skiing conditions at Crested Butte Mountain Resort were pretty rough. Since December we have lacked a big storm which has really made the skiing downright scary. So why not change it up a bit and head over to Salida, Colorado.  Ryan Harter and myself headed across Monarch Pass on January 23rd, and not only were the Salida trails super dry, it also reached 60* and the riding was fantastic. It was our first time riding singletrack since December 5th, so I had to brush off the cobwebs.


I have only been to the Arkansas Hills Trail System twice, both were quick rides. So this time I wanted to explore everything the trail system had to offer, and we did. We started the first lap with Unkle Nazty (nasty). It's a super technical, tight, and rocky section which I would consider the hardest trail in the whole trail system. From there we went down Prospector and up Backbone. From Backbone we climbed the main road back up, this time down Sand Dunes which is an awesome trail, technical but not nearly as difficult as Unkle Nazty. Sand Dunes ran all the way down to the bottom of the trail system. Once at the bottom we hopped on the Front Side Trail to Little Rattler back up the main road to Sand Dunes again. It felt so good to get back on the bike again even with only 13 miles on the day it was well worth it!

If your interested in current conditions call up Absolute Bikes. Also check out Salida Mountain Trails website for maps and other info. I'm sure to be back at least a few more times before winter ends. For detailed maps of the area check out 2pedal.com Its worth you while.

Here is a quick video I made that shows how great the conditions were!