This TR will never do this trail justice. I wish I was a master of words, capable of describing the jaw-dropping nature of this ride. Around every corner, around every bend, this ride brings out exclamations of oohs and ahhs. As an anecdote, I took well over 200 photos on this ride- and very few of them were shot on continuous shooting mode. It’s that kind of ride. You’re very likely to see large herds of Elk, you’re not likely to see people (our tally, over the course of 10 hours- 1 thru-hiker, 2 horseback riders, 2 ATV’s near Carson Pass). We spent roughly 6 hours straight above treeline, traveling from one high basin to the next. The Cataract Ridge portion of the Colorado Trail contains its highest point, at 13,200′. I would honestly say that anyone within 10 hours of this trail is doing themselves a huge disservice by not riding this trail. Consider making an alpine weekend out of it by combining it with Snow Mesa-Miner’s Creek.
You might be asking yourself, “Why describe such an awesome ride, why not keep it to yourself?”. One answer is that this trail is far from everything- the closest towns are Lake City and Creede, neither of which is known for mountain biking, so the trailhead is a couple of hours away from any town with a bike culture- namely Gunnison and South Fork. The other, and more important answer, is that this trail is threatened by Wilderness designation, an absolute travesty in my mind given the fact that the area is heavily grazed by both cows and sheep, and will continue to be even after Wilderness designation. Ride this trail, and then scream bloody murder to your representatives. IMBA is (hopefully) on the case. Here’s the proposed Wilderness map:
I’d like to offer up some advice to anyone heading out this way. This trail takes you out there. You’ll be exposed to bad weather for a long time, there are very few escapes, and some of the escapes will take you to Silverton- a long way from the trailhead which is closer to Creede. In addition to whatever you usually bring, I’d add a water filter, lighter/matches, warm clothes, and even a headlamp. Also, keep in mind that the Cataract ridge trail is new as of 2009- this is something neither of our maps showed, nor did any of us know. We easily spent an hour completely confused by our outdated maps. Here’s a new map and website with more maps for more clarity:
On to the good stuff. The trailhead is located at the West end of the Rio Grande Reservoir, at the marked Lost Trail trailhead. The trail is currently under construction and marked “closed-impassable”, but a group of dirtbikers had just finished their ride and confirmed our suspicions that the trail was fine, and only impassable for ATV’s. Lost Trail climbs steeply and is a wide ATV trail, which made it easier to gain the 2,000′ or so to treeline.
You could see the last part of Lost Trail for a while, and it was every bit as steep as it looked:
At least this Eagle kept us company:
The hike-a-bike finished off our elevation gain to reach treeline, and we wouldn’t see trees again until the sun was going down. We made the turn onto the Colorado Trail (CT) and the quality instantly ramped up a few notches. Danny:
Sonya and I took the opportunity to ride this trail on a lovely weekday morning earlier this week. As we rode, I realized that, due to numerous reasons, I don’t think I’ve been on this trail since 2007. All the more reason to enjoy it. I’ll let the pictures do the talking….
The...
