Trip to Colorado complete...working up the words and courage to add to the CO state guide...but here's a few cell phone snaps from just outside Cortez, Colorado at The Phil's World Trail area.
We rode this trail system three days, and each day the parking lot had some nice vehicles in attendance...with a bevy of out of state plate visitors. We saw Alaska, Utah, Missouri, New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Nevada, New York, and of course, California.
Nice Gen 1 Tacoma with Colorado plates...
Gen 2 Tacoma with a sweet 4 bike Thule T2 hitch mount set up...
The parking area also featured a covered area complete with picnic table and workstation...fast becoming a standard at most well traveled trail heads...
Across the dirt road from the parking area was the offical TH:
Donation/rider fee box. $3.00 per rider/per day, or kick in $20 for an annual membership with the Kokopelli Bike Club. These trails were pristine, well maintained, AND crossed several parcels of private property (including the local gun club...cool), a fine example of what can be done with public/private lands and a commitment to stewardship.
The trails were just about perfect, short uphill technical sections followed by perfectly groomed singletrack...here my wife is exiting the infamous Rib Cage section...
The trails inside Phil's World were well marked at all trail intersections, and the best part was all trails were run "one way" to eliminate blind corner and uphill/downhill mishaps of direction...again, a very well planned riding area.
This made riding very comfortable from safety standpoint, no collison concerns if you pulled off to soak in a view or take a long slug of water...
Each day we rode about 2.5 hours (with stops for photos, etc.) and about 8-12 miles, although you could link all of the loops and complete a 26 mile epic if you chose. We saw riders of all fitness levels here, from guys/gals with 6 pack abs to guys more like your author who carry an 18 pack...of IPA...to the mid-section.
A few technical sections thrown in between the swooping and well bermed single track that kept you honest, and a couple of good sweat equity climbs that made your knees scream, but nothing terribly double black diamond/ER visit worthy.
There were generous doses of slickrock mixed into the buff singletrack as well...and evidence of some critter activity...
But the views...
Well worth the $3 price of admission.
We also took a side trip into Telluride, CO, and discovered a very vibrant bike culture in town, but I'm going to save most of those pics for my CO state report...just a little Surly teaser here...
In conclusion, I couldn't recommend a riding area very much more, as Phil's World delivered on all of our expectations.
Even riding at a lung expanding 6,200' each day wasn't terrible, with a 10,500 visit to Telluride thrown in for good measure.
Whether you are passing through with your MTB's, or plan for an extended visit to Cortez, CO., you will absolutely depart with sore legs and a huge smile on your face.