What a surprising weekend this turned out to be! The weather forecast for our area when the weekend began was for snow and cold temperatures. Fortunately for us, the weather forecasters were wrong; turns out Sunday afternoon was bright, sunny and close to fifty degrees. When my buddy Kyler texted me Sunday morning to see if I wanted to go to the Bijou at about one o’clock to ride, I jumped all over it. I sent out another text to see who else wanted to go, and four other people showed up besides Kyler and me. In the group were myself, my brother Brad, buddy Mark, buddy Jason and his son Jaxon - all on dirt bikes; Kyler was the lone ATV rider. A good time was had by all on this surprisingly mild January day.

Loading Up

After a quick trip to the gas station to fill one of my five gallon gas cans with 91 octane fuel for the Big Red Pig, I went to the motorcycle garage to arouse the bike from its winter’s nap. I turned on the fuel valve, opened the choke and gave the kick starter a few tries. It did not start, as it has been pretty cold in that garage for the past couple of months. In order to help it warm up, I decided to simply set it in the sun for a few minutes while I did some other chores. After about ten minutes of lounging in the driveway, soaking up the bright sunny January day, it started right up! Now that I knew the pig was going to run, it was time to get loaded.

While the bike was idling, I put my gear bag with my motorcycle helmet, boots and other protective riding apparel into the back of the pickup truck. I also loaded the aforementioned gas can, a few tools and a lawn chair. This day, I was traveling light, since the Bijou is only about four miles from home. I didn’t take the usual extra tubes, air compressor and tire irons to the Bijou; if I have problems, I would usually just head home to make necessary repairs. However, as it turned out later, I would have the need for my tire tools.

The Ride

I was the first to arrive at the riding spot; I wanted to be there a little early since because I wear knee braces, it takes me a little longer to dress for the ride. By the time the others began to arrive, I was dressed and had the Big Red Pig unloaded. While the other guys were getting ready, I got the motor started. Then Jason came to me and asked if I had my air compressor because Jaxon had a flat front motorcycle tire. I told him I did not have the compressor along; however, I did have some CO2 cartridges in my pack that we could use to pressurize the low tire. That seemed do the trick, and it made it through the afternoon.

We never went on one large group ride; we paired off and went for short rides instead. The Bijou is a smaller, private riding area; most of the area can be seen from the parking zone. So what everyone would do is make a loop through the sand, over the whoops, up the hills and down the ravines. Then we would all convene back at camp to talk about the trail conditions and how much fun we were having. I remember the comment that I made most often was how happy I was to be out in the warm winter sun. After the first couple of loops, guys started to leave for one reason or another; Kyler and I were the last ones to leave just before sundown. We were the two that brought everyone together on this day, so it was only fitting that we be the last ones to leave.

The Bijou is a somewhat sandy riding spot; it has some nice loamy dirt on the hills and in the ravines. The conditions on this day were excellent, since there was still  moisture leftover in the ground from some pre-Christmas snow. The moisture provided for excellent grip in the corners - I really never felt the rear tire sliding. The only problem with grip that I had was on one very sandy trail; at times during the year this trail is actually a river. My motorcycle tires were just not right for the sand; they are made for intermediate to rocky terrain. I just did not have any control on this particular trail; I am not complaining, but the bike is just not set up for the sand.

Conclusion

What a great day! I know I can speak for myself and possibly the others who were there on this day; we all had a good time. Most would think that January in Colorado would not be a good time or place to ride OHVS; however, we live in a part of Colorado which does not get as much snow as the mountains. Days like this are not at all unusual; every winter we can usually get in a few weekend days of riding. Though we do still have many winter days in front of us, it is nice to sneak in some riding here and there over the long winter months. This day gave us a little taste of what’s to come in the warmer months. We may only be a couple of months away from loading up the camper and the motorcycle trailer to hit the mountain or desert trails for some epic riding. I can’t wait!

James Parker

Found a video that gives a great tour of the Taylor Park, CO area. Since we’ve talked about it a lot in previous posts, we thought our readers might enjoy:

(borrowed from Scott’s ATV Trail Pics)

I am continuing my trend of telling Taylor Park stories in reverse; the story I told two weeks ago was actually the final day of the trip, last week’s story was about the second day of our trip, so I decided to use this week’s space to talk about our “warm-up” ride on the first day. As I mentioned in the post about altitude sickness, we like to get ourselves acclimated to the high elevation before taking on a long, hard ride. We arrived at camp the first day around 11:00, and after all the unloading was done, we had a leisurely lunch and a rest period to get our bodies used to the altitude. After our break we checked our motorcycle and ATV tire pressures (changes in altitude affect tire pressure) and then we were off on our first adventure.

This first ride occurred about three hours after our arrival in Taylor Park; it was a motorcycle ride involving Mike and myself. Our third partner in crime, Dave, had not yet arrived and we were way too excited to wait. Imagine trying to keep my son Joey off the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. That is what it would be like to try to keep the two of us off the epic single track trails of Taylor Park, Colorado!

Since I have been to the area more than Mike, I took the lead in this first ride; I decided to go to Dinner Station Campground and take the trail that runs to the south in front of the campground. This trail leads down to a bridge that crosses the Taylor River. Once across the river, the plan was to take a trail that runs upstream and eventually connects with Road 748. Well, that idea was squashed as soon as we crossed the bridge; the trail head for the route was blocked with a trail closed sign. This was a bit disheartening since that connector trail has always been high on my list.  So at that point, we had only one option; straight up the mountain on a rugged, steep single track trail we went. This is an awesome trail - I always feel as though I am railing around corners and over rocks.

As we began this section of the Gunnison Spur, I throttled up, hit the small stream crossing, and rocketed up the mountain. I knew Mike was behind me for the buzzing of his two-stroke KX 250. We hit a few switchbacks, and I just kept pinning the throttle; what an awesome feeling, this energy had been pent up in my body for months. This area of Colorado had an extremely harsh winter; the remnants of that remained as we encountered the first of many fallen trees. I was so amped up it didn’t matter; I dropped the clutch, throttled up and lifted my front wheel right over the trees.  Later, Cowboy commented on how it seemed the trees didn’t faze me in the least and he had a hard time keeping up with me. I think he was just stroking my ego; but I allowed it, especially since he was saying it in front of my wife Jennifer! 

After a few more rocks, switchbacks and fallen trees we reached the first of two fire roads, which gave us a breather.  I stopped and told Mike that was our warm-up ride; we both laughed, got a drink of water from our hydration systems and decided to head down the fire road to the continuation of the Gunnison Spur.

The fire road actually turned into the next single track section of the Gunnison Spur; I didn’t feel as though this section was as difficult as the first section. To me, it was a more leisurely trail; it didn’t have the hard, steep climbs. There were some rocky sections and a few mud holes to traverse; this made The Big Red Pig muddy on the very first ride of the trip, which I don’t mind at all. This section was only a few miles long. As I wound my way through the forest, I imagined that I was racing the GNCC series; oh well, just a fantasy.  We came to another fire road, this is where the next section of the spur takes off; I told Mike we should save that for tomorrow, as it is a very difficult section with steep, rocky and tight switchbacks. It is not a trail for a warmup ride at all. 

It was getting close to dinner time, and Dave was expected at camp anytime, so we decided to take a shortcut back. This excursion covered about twenty miles of very beautiful scenery - forests, streams, high mountain ponds and wildlife. 

Although this was a short ride, it was a taste of what was to come in the next few days; we were in store for some epic single-track, my first taste of extended four-wheeler riding and creating life long memories with some really good friends.  We are now a couple of weeks past this trip and when I think back to the dirt biking, ATVing and friendships that these activities have cultivated, it makes me smile.  I have found that offroading is not only a good activity for a family, but it is also a way to create some really strong bonds with friends.

James Parker

Once again, I have had a new experience! While on my fortieth birthday trip to Taylor Park, Colorado, I had my first extended trail ride aboard our new four wheeler. Being a lifelong dirt biker, it was a great experience for me to be riding a different vehicle on one of my favorite trails—The Tellurium Creek Trail.

The impromptu ride began when I asked the question of whether anyone in the group had ever been up the Tellurium Creek Trail.  I did not know about Tellurium until about my fourth or fifth trip to the area after a friend told me about it, so w hen the answer all around the circle was no, I suggested we go now. 

The late afternoon ride up Tellurium started out as being a combination ATV/motorcycle tour with Dave and I riding our dirt bikes along with some other fellows who were on ATVs. When we realized that neither of our family’s four wheelers were not being ridden, though, we decided to make it an all-ATV tour.  I had been riding hard all day on my bike and thought a nice leisurely four wheeler ride may be a little more relaxing anyway.

 Tellurium Creek is an ATV or Jeep trail, and one of the lesser known trails at Taylor Park, since it is at the northern end of Taylor Road (742) before the road comes to Taylor Pass. From our camp, we had to travel about seven miles of Taylor Road, which is much like any groomed, gravel county road. This is a straight stretch of road and not at all exciting. Once we got to the trail head near Dorchester Campground, we stopped, regrouped and picked a leader for the trail. I drew the short straw and had to be the leader.

As we started up the trail, it immediately became rocky and steep; and being new to the four wheeler, I knew that I would be in for a learning experience on this excursion.  I found that the large balloon ATV tires were excellent at absorbing the beach ball size rocks. After several steep rocky sections, we came to a stretch where the trail was actually in a creek for about one hundred yards; it wasn’t as deep as it was a few years ago, which was surprising after the wet spring and summer this year in Colorado. We went around a few corners and came to some stream crossings, which we all blasted through with no problems at all. After a couple of stops to take in the views, we made it to the top of the trail to the most gorgeous mountain valley I have ever seen.

This is one of the most beautiful places I have ever laid my eyes on; it is worth the ride to see this gorgeous green valley surrounded by high mountain peaks.  Upon entering the meadow, the trail comes to a fork; it doesn’t matter whether a rider takes the left or right fork because the trail makes a loop through the valley. We chose the trail to left which is the hardest section of the loop; it is a side hill trail which climbs up a rocky slope with sharp drop offs. This section is not for the faint of heart - one slip could send a rider tumbling for hundreds of feet, so I’m glad my ATV tires had good grip! Once we reached the summit, we began to descend, going from switch back to switch back until we got back to the green shrubbery. We came to a water crossing which was fed by a spectacular waterfall. This seemed to be the apex of the loop, because afterward, we were headed back to the fork in the trail. On the way back, we came to some ponds that were teeming with water; in fact, the water was spilling onto the trail, creating a creek in itself.  A few more bends and we were back to the fork.  It was getting to be late in the afternoon and we all decided to make our way back to camp for supper. 

What a ride! This thirty mile round trip from camp turned out to be the longest ATV ride I had been on up to this point and I found it to be quite enjoyable. The loop at the top of Tellurium Creek was just as beautiful as I remember it being a few years ago when I rode my motorcycle to the top. The guys were all talking about the trip around the campfire that evening. All were in agreement that this was one of the most beautiful spots many of us had ever seen. In fact, at least two of the riders from the original group went back up the creek the next day; I guess that I must be a good tour guide! When in Taylor, make sure to ride the Tellurium Creek Trail!

What are my thoughts on my longest ATV ride thus far? It was great; I used to make fun of people on ATVs thinking they may as well stay at home on the couch.  My opinion is now quite the contrary; I see the advantages of four wheels and see how it expands offroading to a greater population who may not want the challenge of riding a motorcycle across these rough trails. There will be a day when I will be on a four wheeler full time.

James Parker

We have returned from our trip to Taylor Park, Colorado; this four day trip was my 40^th birthday present. My birthday occurred on the third day of the trip and it was the best ride day of the four, because it was a day of epic single-track, with some ATV trails thrown in the mix. The previous couple of days I just did some easier motorcycle rides and rode about fifty miles on the four wheeler. This was to be the hardcore single track day with only advanced riders. This was my day; and I shared it with my friends Mike and Dave. 

Ride at First Light

Dave was unable to attend the first ride of the day, so Mike and I had decided to take off at dawn on Sunday morning. We wanted to repeat a section of the Timberline Trail that we rode the day before to see how fast we could cover it the second time.  We picked up this trail at the Red Mountain stage coach stop. Right off the bat at 7 am and forty-some degree temperatures, we had a water crossing. What a way to wake up! This water crossing requires you to make a turn in the middle; well, I missed the turn and had to stop and put my foot down, which filled my boot full of icy water. Oh well, I knew my socks would dry out, and that I was in for one of the best riding days of my life.

Once out of the water crossing, the trail climbed up the mountain following a rocky trail and around some gorgeous ponds. This is a forest service trail 414, which is suitable for motorcycles or ATVs. I was on the Honda XR650R (the Big Red Pig) and Mike was on his Kawasaki KX 250. Since Mike has a two stroke machine, I always knew that he was behind me, as I could hear his motor buzzing like a swarm of bees. After several hard, rocky climbs and descents, we arrived at Pie Plant Mill, the site of an old mine where we would pick up the single track section of the Timberline Trail.

The next section of trail was extremely challenging. When we made our initial ascent out of the Pie Plant site on the four wheel drive trail, I remember thinking this isn’t so bad. The first mile or so was a gentle climb with some loose rocks. This trail would be harder for less experienced riders, but I had been on tougher trails. But once past this beginning section, it got much harder. After a short while, we reached a closed gate, looked to our right and saw something that resembled a single track motorcycle trail. It was very rocky and steep; in some sections it resembled a staircase - except that each of the steps was two feet tall!

We seemed to climb for quite some time before the rocky trail dropped into what I thought would be a nice peaceful meadow. It was, too, for about 100 yards until we began a very steep climb over large boulders unlike any trail I had ever been on. I was leading Mike up the mountain when I lost track of where the trail was and stalled my bike, getting my motorcycle tires stuck in the process. We decided that maybe this trail should be placed on our bucket list for another time. After we got my bike unstuck, we carried it backwards down the hill. Once off the mountain we backtracked to the Pie Plant Mill site and took a four wheel drive trail back down to camp for a much-needed breakfast.

Read More

Colorado has some world class offroad trail riding. A trip to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado is an experience that will create memories for a lifetime.  There are many places for a family to set up camp and stay for a week, exploring an entire trail system.  In this post, I will share some of my family’s favorite spots.

Taylor Park

Taylor Park is a vast, high mountain park in the central part of the state; it is inside a triangle that would be made if you drew a line on a map from Buena Vista to Gunnison to Aspen.  The park is near the top of the Rockies at an elevation of 9,400 feet and is an awesome place to get away from it all; there is absolutely no cell phone service.  When I am in this area, I forget about everything else in life; which is just as well, because if I knew what was going on, I couldn’t do anything about it anyway.

When thinking about coming to Taylor, make sure to have adequate motorcycle or ATV tires, extra tire tubes and tools to make repairs to your machines.  Once in camp, it is an hour and a half drive to Gunnison or Buena Vista. 

The route to Aspen takes you over Taylor Pass, which is an ATV trail. The area is home to some famous trails like Star Trail, Timberline Trail and the Gunnison Spur.  My favorite is the Tellurium Creek Trail.  This is one that a friend suggested to me and after several trips to Taylor I finally took it.  The name is completely true, it is literally a creek.  Several miles into the trail, the creek opens into the most gorgeous valley I have ever seen.  My first time in the valley, I felt as though I were the first person to ever see it.  It gave me a sense of what early American explorers must have felt like.  The trail makes a loop through the valley, and I use the term “trail” loosely in this context.  Parts of the path are merely a few loose rocks hanging onto the side of a cliff.  Tellurium Creek is a must-see as far as I am concerned.

Another very popular trail in the Taylor Park system is Italian Creek; this is popular because it leads to the top of American Flag Mountain.  Yes, to answer the question, there is an American Flag at the top.  It is an awe-inspiring sight and will make any American proud at the grandeur of the view.

Camping in the park is plentiful; there is developed camping at the forest service campgrounds of Dorchester, Dinner Station and River’s End.  It is also common for many to disperse camp - folks will find a spot off the road to set up camp.

To me, Taylor is the quintessential Colorado; if you are traveling from far away for a Colorado offroad vacation, Taylor Park should be at the top of the list.

Rampart Range

South of Denver, near the town of Sedalia, lies the Rampart Range Recreation Area.  The area extends down to Woodland Park, which is just to the northwest of Colorado Springs.  This is a popular day trip for the Denver and Colorado Springs locals, as it can be accessed from and has camping at either end. 

A couple of years ago, I took the family to the Woodland Park end and found a dispersed camping spot at North Rainbow Falls.  This is a great family spot, because there is a beginners trail at the entrance to the area.  At the time, my son still had training wheels on his motorcycle, and he was able to ride most of this trail unassisted.  The training wheels actually made it harder for him to ride over some of the obstacles, because one of them would go over a high spot and cause the drive wheel of the bike to be off the ground, spinning in the air.  We are far less limited now that he can ride on two wheels or on the back of our ATV.

The North Rainbow Falls camp is about thirty minutes from Woodland Park; on the Denver end, the entrance is about thirty minutes from Sedalia.  ATV supplies are available in both Woodland Park and Sedalia.  If you forget to bring your motorcycle helmet, you can also pick up a new one in these towns.

Camp Hale

Camp Hale is a very interesting and historical place that is nice to visit with a four wheeler.  The camp, during World War II, was home to the 10^th Mountain Division of the United States Army.  These soldiers were trained for winter combat in the European Theatre.  Many of the soldiers went on to found many of the large ski areas of Colorado following the war.

Found along Highway 24, between Minturn and Leadville, the camp is in a large valley along the east side of the road.  We found a spot that backs up to a creek and enjoyed it very much, because listening to the water flow by gives you such a feeling of peace when you are simply sitting around at camp.

Many of the ruins from the army base are still visible; the camping spot we found is near the train depot where freshly trained troops would depart for deployment in Europe.   A person could spend days exploring these ruins, reading the informational signs and reflecting on what the men who once occupied the area were set to face.  But be careful in this area; there may still be unexploded bombs lodged in the ground.  If explosives are found, the county sheriff has a standing request that he be contacted.

From the camp in the valley, it is an easy gravel road up to the top of Ptarmigan Pass; in fact, I have seen four door sedans at the top.  However, dropping down the other side of the pass is a different story - it becomes a jeep trail with many rocks and water crossings along Trail #747.  This trail will hooks with the McAllister Gulch trail, which first takes you up a hill climb that seems to last for miles and miles.  But all of a sudden, the trail climbs out of the trees into a high meadow above the timberline onto a long straight stretch with green tundra grasses on both sides.  The trail winds around the top of the mountain for awhile and then snakes through the trees for a few miles until eventually the trail drops back into Camp Hale.  Keep a lookout for views of the Mount of the Holy Cross along this loop.  Make sure to have a good helmet, boots and protective gear, as this trail is steep and rocky in sections.

Camp Hale is an inspiring place to visit. It makes a person think of the sacrifices that our service men and women have made.

Conclusion

This is only a small sampling of some of the places to offroad in Colorado.  There are many other spectacular spots to visit, like the San Juans around Telluride, Pagosa Springs and Ouray.  There is desert riding near Grand Junction and Montrose, and sand riding in the Walden area.  Along the front range and eastern plains there are many motocross tracks which host a very strong local circuit.  Colorado has many diverse riding areas to suit almost anyone.  Everyone is welcome to come and visit - Colorado is very friendly to OHVs.

James Parker, “Rock Slayer”