TR: Star-Lily and Lily Pond 7.4.18
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Ah, the Fourth of July in Crested Butte. It’s fun, but it’s also a madhouse and for that reason I prefer to ride my bike somewhere far away. My office was having a big party/fundraiser, however, so I needed to stay at least through the parade. Brittany was convinced that I would drink too many Bloody Marys, so she headed towards Taylor Park to ride Star-Lily and Lily Lake on her own. I kept it under control, however, so in the end I was only an hour behind her. We started at the intersection of Taylor Road (742) and 759, and then headed up the long grind towards Italian Mountain, thankfully with great views:
The ride to the top went fairly quickly, so we would recommend this route if you’re in the Taylor Park area looking to mountain bike. The views got even better as we reached treeline (I hadn’t caught up yet…) Italian Mountain:
American Flag Mountain still had just enough snow to ski, even in this drought year:
I started off on the Star Trail, but quickly made the turn onto virgin territory (for me) on the Star-Lily Trail. I’ll be riding it again, it’s a great one:
Near the bottom of the Star-Lily Trail, I reached the intersection of the Lily Pond trail. Again, I’d never been on this trail, which is a shame because it’s a fun one. It’s great in either direction, and is filled with rock features which are almost all rideable. Boulderers could probably even wander around this forest and find new routes- the rock actually looked like it was good for that. Both Brittany and I were riding this trail as an out and back, so that’s where I ran into Brittany. Here she is with one of the many Boulders:
The trail really does reach a lily pond (hard to see with so many lilies). Jenkins, a mountain we have skied and that is in our guidebook, is in the background:
Did I mention that the Lily Trail was fun?
Occasionally even fast:
Once we were back at the Star-Lily/ Lily intersection, we still had another mile or so of great trail before a gravel grind back to our cars. All in all mountain biking Star-Lily and Lily pond is a great route and I would recommend it. It’s hard to get to unless you’re in Taylor Park, but it really is a worthwhile route, so check it out, even if you aren’t playing Trailquest like we are. Here’s our route:
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