Mount Crested Butte Trails

From GlobalMotion

Short single track loops near town. Entire combination loop with the optional trip to the overlook above Gothic can be done in under an hour, but you'll want to take longer to enjoy the scenery. When done in the indicated direction it's probably an intermediate ride but it's much harder if done in reverse due to the elevation profile.

This is set of three loops near the north end of Mt. Crested Butte. The combination of three loops makes it very flexible to do as much or little as you have the time and or energy for. The entire route is dog, horse, bike, and foot friendly. There are a few stream crossings but they have bypasses that allow you to keep your feet dry. A local operator offers horse rides on these loops so there is the occasional need to step around the poop, but the trade off is the horses shoes keep the surface of the trail nice and flat and relatively smooth (unlike predominately bike trails that tend to develop a 'V' shape.

On foot or horse you can do any of the loops either way. However, on a bike there is definitely a preferred direction for each of the loops as the grades make the opposite direction much more difficult.

The first part of the ride travels up the road a short distance to an old shack then diverts over some single track before meeting back up with the road for a trip up past a particularly nice meadow to an overlook with a great view of the town of Mt. Crested Butte and the Ski area. (This is where a number of the popular local posters were photographed from.) From the overlook you return back down the road one switchback to the meadow you passed on the way up. There you'll take the single track down to the trail that heads over to Washington Gulch. At the trail intersection turn left and continue back to the road to complete the first loop.

The second loop begins just up the road where a single track you passed earlier takes off to the right. In this direction this loop only has a few hundred yards of climbing (just past the stream crossing) and then is predominantly down hill exiting at the same shack we passed at the very beginning of the trip. As noted earlier, doing this loop in the "wrong" direction will mean that it's mostly uphill on the steeper single track sections with the downhill being the less steep, or rewarding, road.

The final loop is a short option that begins and ends at the top of the second loop and extends out to an overlook of the old town site of Gothic. On a a bike, the option will add perhaps 10-15 minutes to the overall trip, not counting the time spent enjoying the view. Part way up the trail it forks with the easier way being to right creating a counterclockwise loop returning on the left fork.

It's very common to see deer and grouse, and even the occasional porcupine, wood pecker, or owl on these relatively underutilized trails.

On foot or horse the direction you do the loops is less important. On a bike it's definitely much easier to do them in the order and direction indicated in the detailed description. Don't forget your camera. :)

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