Colorado Trail 2026: The Route (and all its changes)

   I had a draft of the route all written up and was about to hit publish when I ran across some inconsistencies in distances around day 2 and 3. I was watching this video and noticed his ride-around of the Lost Creek Wilderness area was 70 miles, while mine was 24 miles. That's why you do the research. 

First off, there isn't a ton of route variation you get to choose from when you're riding this trail. What you do get to choose is how far to ride each day. For our trip, we're shooting for a 4 day ride. Initially, we were going to ride from the official start at Waterton Canyon to Copper Mountain like this:

Days one through four

Here's the old breakdown, notably the miles and elev:

Day 1: Waterton Canyon to Buffalo Campground, 33 miles, 4800 elev

Day 2: Buffalo Campground to Rock Creek South Trail head, 32 miles, 5400 elev

Day 3: Rock Creek South Trail head to Breckenridge, 36 miles, 5600 elev

Day 4: Breckenridge to Copper Mountain, 13 miles, 3700 elev

Looking at those numbers, day 2 and 3 were going to be pretty intense. Once I realized my error, an additional 50 miles made it near impossible. This became a great opportunity to shorten our ride and make everything more reasonable. Sure, we weren't going to be able to ride the whole section between Denver and Copper, but we could still have an epic outing. Here is the new route:

New Days one through four

Here's the old breakdown, notably the miles and elev:

Day 1: Buffalo Creek to Tarryall Reservoir area*, 50 miles, 5800 elev

Day 2: Tarryall Res to Jefferson Creek / Aspen Campground, 30 miles, 3500 elev

Day 3: Jefferson Creek / Aspen Campground to Breckenridge, 35 miles, 4100 elev

Day 4: Breckenridge to Copper Mountain. 19 miles, 3700 elev

*on day one, we ride as far as we can.

This new route is a little shorter, a little less climbing:

Day one looks a lot harder, because it is the Lost Creek Wilderness ride around, and it is a combination of gravel and paved road. We should be able to pile on the miles that day.

I'm planning to break down each day further as the date gets closer, and cover some interesting points and challenges they present.

Series Kickoff: Colorado Trail 2026

 Hey Team, This summer I'm attempting something I swore to Natalie I was never going to do again: The Colorado Trail. Back in the August of 2011, Geoff, Isaac, and I bikes from Copper Mountain to Silverton over seven days. I came back from that trip and was decidedly not excited about any more biking trips. The beauty of the ride was matched only by the challenging terrain. 

A very optimistic crew just outside Copper Mountain

That's more like it. 

Can't beat the views

In 2020, deep in Covid, Jesse, Isaac. and I tried a new way of bike packing: The credit card trip. We started a now 6 year tradition of riding gravel roads between warm beds at hotels. But enough with the easy life! It's time to get back to nature. This August, I'm going to ride from Denver to Copper Mountain, completing the first third of the trail. 

The full route

A ride like this wouldn't be complete without some intense route planning, considerable gear considerations, and much second guessing. And through all that I'll be updating this page. We're going to cover:

• Route selection and daily miles
• Bike selection
• Bag and gear selection
• How to cry quietly in your tent so no one hears 

So, here's to another great adventure!

Bikepacking Trip 2025 Report - Day 4

 With days 1 and 2 still fresh in our minds, the thought of an 80 mile, 8000' day was not appealing to anyone. We looked for other options and there was an interesting one that took us over Vail pass into Copper. The problem was that the cars were not in Copper, they were still in Leadville. 

Original hellish route

Updated with fewer opportunities for suffering

Updated elevation profile

This meant that we had to do some advanced route planning: Isaac and Geoff were going to hop on the bus in Vail and ride it to Leadville while the rest of us rode over Vail Pass to Copper and all meet there for margaritas. 

Heading out of Eagle for some more bike path

Geoff coming into Avon, probably

This early route was pretty easy and a great way to start day 4. A 35 mile ride to the Vail Transit Center and we said farewell to Geoff and Isaac as they boarded the bus. 

About halfway to Vail I suffered the only flat of the trip, and I kept dealing with that for the rest of the ride! Ended up putting in a plug and then replacing it and limping to Copper. 

Later dudes

Jesse, Aaron, and I continued the last 20 miles to Copper Mountain. I'd never ridden Vail pass from this side, and it was really nice. Some short punchy climbs, and some beautiful views. They're even building a new rest stop at the top.

The frontage road leading to the bike path over the pass

looking back West into the Vail Valley

Victory margs

The last day of a ride is always bittersweet. This was a really challenging route, and luckily we were able to adjust the route as we went to avoid any additional abuse! Reflecting on the harder of the days, that is what we were in for, and it wouldn't have been an epic ride without doing some epic shit. 

Bikepacking Trip 2025 Report - Day 3

After a punishing day 2, we were slow to start and eager for a break. Today's original route took us from Basalt to Glenwood Springs, then up on top of the flat tops North of Glenwood and back down near Dotsero. This was an ambitious route that had a really intense climb in the middle. 

Outlined Route

Outlined Elevation

In universal agreement, we decided to skip the climb and enjoy the Glenwood Canyon bike path instead. It meant a slightly shorter day, but no one was complaining. 

We started off riding down the Rio Grande Trail from Basalt to Glenwood Springs. There was a fire going on near Rifle, do we were also contending with some poor air quality. 

The Rio Grande bike path

Isaac's wonderful wife left him a change of clothes and some tea in a drop car, and we enjoyed a morning cheers to help our ragged throats from the smoke. 

A more adult, refined cheers

Once we passed through Carbondale, we took a short elevator ride to the bridge over the Colorado and we were in the canyon!

No reason to climb the stairs

I hadn't ridden in Glenwood Canyon in a long time, and it was really amazing. It's a combination of looking at the towering canyon walls and the engineering feat of the highway.

Along the Colorado River

After that, it was into some bike path along the I-70 frontage road. We'd ridden some of this road a couple years ago, and it is an interesting way to experience I-70.

Picked up a guy riding from Steamboat

In a departure from the previous day's death March, we took the opportunity to stop at the Eagle River Brewing Company for pizza and beer. This got us thinking and talking - do we like really remote sections, or do we like a little Euro tour with amenities? Hard to beat pizza and beer.

Delicious beer on a hot day

Due to the shortened day, we rolled into Eagle about 4 with plenty of time to hit the shower, don the cutoffs, and check out the local scene. It was a lot of fun to have some beers and dinner when the sun was up!

Checking in to the Best of Westerns

Headed to dinner

We ate at this awesome place in downtown Eagle that served us some excellent Coors and burgers. I actually ate here a few years ago when I was in Eagle for the Enduro race series, and it was just as good. 

The Brush Creek Saloon

All in all, we made the right decision - shorter day with a lot less climbing and a fun last evening in Eagle. 

Bikepacking Trip 2025 Report - Day 2

Day two saw us starting out early from Mt Princeton Hot Springs and heading west toward Aspen! We left early this day, as it was going to be a lot of climbing. 

Outlined Route

Outlined Elevation

We started out a beautiful canyon up Chalk Creek Drive, named for the white cliffs to the North. 

A paved start is always welcome

We rolled into the town of St Elmo and the general store after the paved canyon ride. This awesome little town had some cool stuff, but no food or snacks.

Ready to go up Tincup Pass

We were barely outside St Elmo when the suffering began in earnest. The trail went from reasonable gravel to horrible, steep rocks immediately. 

A welcomed rideable part of the Tincup climb

This part of the ride was beautiful, and it was hard. We ended up hiking for a lot of it, and riding some intensely technical sections. Once above treeline you could see all the way back to Buena Vista where we passed through the day before. 

The valley approaching Tincup pass

The top of the pass had this great sign indicating that runoff would go to two different oceans!

East and West coasts

The ride down was equally rough, but at least gravity was working with us. There was even a lady in a jeep that cheered for us wildly, which was greatly appreciated. 

One of a few water crossings

We rolled into Toncup and then pressed on to Taylor Park and the Nuggett Cafe. This was lunch. We were initially concerned about it not opening until 9 - boy that was a mistake as we didn't get there until 230. This was an early indicator that the day was going to be long. 

Line 'em up

The next few miles and hours were totally different and totally challenging. The road we were on was sandy, which meant it became a game of 'find the packed part' and 'avoid the sand'. Also, headwind. This is a prime example of how I would rather ride uphill than deal with a headwind. 

Charging into the wind

Once we got to the bottom of Taylor Pass, it was like deja' vu. More hiking, more rocks, and more water. At this point in the ride I remember all the Colorado Trail Race, Continental Divide Race, and other various suffering I'd envied through my computer. I was living my supposed dream, and after a brief pep talk from Jesse, I had a great change of attitude and really started leaning into the suffering. It became a lot more fun when I considered I could be sitting at my desk or whatever. 

A walk in the woods

We had some water crossing, some hiking, some reflecting, some more climbing and then finally the top! it was great to see the top of the last climb in the light.

A great chance to clean the tires off

Not even a little beleaguered

This climb was followed by a wild descent. As tends to happen when you're holding on for dear life, no one captured pictures of the ride. If you took and mapped the pictures taken and then the progression of miles, you'd really see how things get hard = pictures get fewer.

A merciful paved road down the highway to Aspen

Eating quickly in Aspen (9pm)

We rolled into Basalt at about 11pm, and immediately hit the sack. The topic of conversation became, "Let's take the shorter option tomorrow." While this was an awesome, adventure of a day, it is not something I'd want to repeat very often. 

Bikepacking Trip 2025 Report - Day 1

 This year, for the Big Bikepacking Loop™ we went hard, we went harder, and we went long! I'm going to go through each day with a new post and share the victories and defeats of this amazing ride. 

This year's route started in Leadville, took us through Buena Vista, Aspen, Glenwood Springs, and Eagle. It was a combination of ambitious, leisurely, remote, and urban. Here is a look at the planned route:

And this is what we ended up doing:

Some slight modification on day 3 and 4 took place due to a horrific day 2 and some smokey air. Let's get into day 1!

Outlined Route

Outlined Elevation

We started by getting some traditional Safeway breakfast burritos in Leadville and then hit the road from at the tubing hill.

All Smiles at the Start

We started on pavement heading down HWY 24 for a few miles until we hit our first gravel and rode over Weston Pass. This gentle pass climbed up a nice valley with lots of dispersed camping to the top of Weston Pass

Riding up Weston Pass

The views at the pass were amazing! We passed the Weston Pass huts and treeline a bit before the top.

Geoff near the top of Weston Pass

Some top-of-the-pass whiskey, thanks to Aaron. We did this at several passes and it was great, even when the pass was not great.

Isaac Enjoys some Pass Whiskey

Next we took a reasonable descent through the valley to hook up with Highway 285, which was a miserable, windy experience. But it got us back on some fun dirt roads to take us into Buena Vista. THese roads were mostly rideable, but several sandy spots got the best of us and ended up walking a bit. 

Dirt Roads into Buena Vista

In BV we grabbed food at a food truck, had a beer, and saw a couple cool dogs, 

Food Trucks and the Buena Viking

Forklift Certified Collie

Suspicious Great Pyrenees

Last thing in BV was to stop at Safeway to restock on food, and get talked at by a nice, strange lady. 

We rolled the last 10 paved miles to Mt Princeton Hot Springs where we soaked in the pool, and then chilled in the creek. Cold water provided some great therapy to prepare for day 2.

Negotiating how cold we wanted to get

Details of the ride:

Map

Elevation Profile

Strava Activity

Total Miles: 75.04 mi

Total climbing: 6,384 ft

Moving Time: 7:43:05