MTB: Tunnel Lake Trail to Tincup 8.20.16

(Last Updated On: September 9, 2016)

After riding the road to the Alpine Tunnel with Brittany and her family, it was time for me to head off on a solo finish for the day. We rode this section of the Continental Divide Trail fairly recently, but in this case I had the benefit of a shuttle vehicle, so I wasn’t confined to a loop. If you love alpine riding, put this section of the CDT on your list. It’s probably most often done from St Elmo on the East side of the divide, but it’s very doable from the West side, with the added benefit of the Alpine Tunnel history lesson.

Off I went, with the tunnel behind me:
mountain biking the Tunnel Lakes trail from the Alpine tunnel

The trail starts off steeply, and it’s a bit overgrown with willows, so expect a little hike-a-bike. Looking back at the Tunnel infrastructure:
Alpine tunnel


Tunnel Lake:
tunnel lake

My goal, Tincup Pass, can be seen in the distance:
Tincup Pass from Continental Divide trail

Seriously great singletrack:
continental divide trail colorado mtb

tunnel lake trail mountain biking

After a great downhill to the Tincup Pass road, I had a good sized climb ahead of me back to the continental divide. Mountain biking in this area is always a trip compared to Crested Butte. In Crested Butte, everyone expects mountain bikers. Around here, people are mostly on their ATV’s, and they look at me like I just successfully landed on the moon. I had never been down the other side of Tincup pass- and it’s much harder than the East side. I was glad I was going downhill:
loose rocks on tincup pass

Tough riding got me to the beautiful shores of Mirror Lake:
mirror lake, colorado

From there, it was on to downtown Tincup:
Tincup, co

I ended up having perfect timing with Brittany and her family- who had just been seated at Frenchie’s:
frenchie's tincup co

All in all, it was another great tour with a bit of new terrain. Check it out sometime, and support 14erskiers with a new jersey:

Frank Konsella

Frank loves snow more than anything... except his wife.  He ensures his food is digested properly by chewing it 32 times before swallowing.He is a full-time real estate agent serving Crested Butte and Gunnison and would be honored to send you his monthly newsletter.

Latest posts by Frank Konsella (see all)

Summary
Article Name
MTB: Tunnel Lake Trail to Tincup 8.20.16
Description
Mountain Biking the Tunnel Lake section of the Continental Divide Trail between the Alpine Tunnel and Tincup, CO
Author
14erskiers

Frank Konsella

Frank loves snow more than anything... except his wife.    He ensures his food is digested properly by chewing it 32 times before swallowing. He is a full-time real estate agent serving Crested Butte and Gunnison and would be honored to send you his monthly newsletter.

Got something to say? We love your comments!