Monday, May 10, 2010

Cortez/Durango Biking



Who says Grand Junction/Fruita is the only place for good biking on the Western side of the state? I found out this weekend that Cortez and Durango have some awesome bike trails to offer up as well.

On Friday we drove down from our campsite at McPhee Reservoir to Cortez, stopping in Dolores at the Depot for some mighty good breakfast burritos. Yum! Phil's World is just east of town on 160. You'll see the fairgrounds on the right and directly across from that, just past the shooting range, a red road sign that says 30.1. Turn here. You'll see a sign directing you to a dirt parking area .1 mile down the road. The parking lot is on the right and the "start" of Phil's World is across the dirt road from the parking lot.



The cool thing about Phil's World is that you don't even really need a map. You go through a gate and a well-marked path says "start." At every intersection there is a laminated map telling you where you are and where to go. There are also wooden signs labeling every trail. However, if you want a map (and it's always a good idea to have one) they are available in town at the Kokopelli bike shop.

The trail(s) are mostly rolling single track with a few uphill sections. Nothing brutal though. While they aren't the most technically challenging trails, there are a few spots where you get to drop and make your way around rocky outcroppings. Still, it's fun to just pedal and enjoy the downhill and the views!


We did the 8 mile loop which has you heading back to the trail head after Bob's Trail (I think). At the intersection with Adobo you'll head back. The whoop de whoos are unbelievable! SO fast and SO steep, but awesome fun!



On Saturday we headed to the Telegraph Trails in Durango after stopping by the friendly Durango Cyclery shop for some advice. We parked at the Horse Gulch trail head right off of 3rd Ave behind the Sonic. We started biking up the jeep road (a little steering is required) to the Meadow Loop trailhead. From here we headed out the Telegraph Trail, then turned onto Stacy's Loop, followed by Mike's Loop (which has some significant but short lived climbing). After that we headed downhill on a trail that started with a C...so much fun fast downhill I was grinning ear to ear!
The picture at the top is from this set of trails and I must say I'll be back to check those out when the temps hit 100 here!