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Durango CO - 14 hr drive from Austin


circuitbreaker
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I will be spending the month of August in Durango and plan on doing a ton of riding. Any pertinent information would be helpful. 

I don't know much at this time, but here is what i have gathered from Trailforks. Will provide trail reports/updates during my trip.

 

In Town:

Horse Gulch Trail Area

Overend Trail Area

Twin Buttes Trail Area

Animas City Mountain Trail Area

 

Near Town:

Colorado Trail

Hermosa Creek

Purgatory Mountain Resort

 

Out of Town:

Phil's World (53 minutes West)

Alien Run (44 min South)

 

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I've been to Durango 12x's.  I've been so much I almost feel like a local regarding some of the trail systems.  But I'm leaving on a family vacation Sunday for about 10 days.  We should hook up when I get back.  I've got a few maps and such that could be helpful.  I'd strongly urge you to call Mountain Bike Specialist (bike shop) and ask about how the MAJOR fire(s) from last year has affected the riding in those areas.  The big fire burned through the Hermosa Creek area.  That general area contains: Corral Draw, Jones Creek, Pinkerton-Flagstaff, Dutch Creek.  Knowing the answer to the fire question would have a big affect on ride recommendations.

Later, -CJB

PS- if you have them on the phone and they are willing (and its reasonably priced)to ship, you should order a Latitude 40 trail map.  IMHO they are invaluable (but then again, I'm not a big GPS kinda guy)

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We did the Engineer Mountain Trail years ago after a local suggested it was sufficiently burly.   High alpine fun!  We were there in August and there was a lot of lightning danger with afternoon thunderstorms.  I think we started at little Molas Lake, followed the Colorado Trail for a ways, and then dropped a ton of elevation.  

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13 minutes ago, hurronnicane said:

We did the Engineer Mountain Trail years ago after a local suggested it was sufficiently burly.   High alpine fun!  We were there in August and there was a lot of lightning danger with afternoon thunderstorms.  I think we started at little Molas Lake, followed the Colorado Trail for a ways, and then dropped a ton of elevation.  

Did a loop backpack awhile back that involved climbing Engineer Mtn.  There's a slot that you climb out of to get to the ridge leading to the peak.  There were various people climbing that day, and just after we'd climbed out of the slot onto the  exposed ridge leading to the peak, some people pointed out the static electricity  crackling underfoot, on our clothes, and in our hair.  We all backtracked STAT and sheltered down in the slot until the danger had passed.  There were dark clouds to the north, but nothing particularly ominous overhead and it wasn't raining, but the danger of a lightning strike was still high.  

So yeah, just pay close attention to your exposure to lightning anytime after noon during July and most of August. 

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  • 1 year later...
Any more input about Durango? It's going to be a stop for us next week. Is there anything you can ride to from in town?

Horse gulch trails start in SE corner of town. It’s the trails almost everyone rides first trip. There’s also Overend Mountain (aka test track) that’s on the west side of town. Both start in town and are well marked, listed on trailforks / mtb project.


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14 hours ago, The Tip said:

Any more input about Durango? It's going to be a stop for us next week. Is there anything you can ride to from in town?

Can't go wrong with any of these trail systems. all trails are very well marked. all can be ridden from downtown.

Horse Gulch, is the most accessible, has a ton of variety and the most miles available, will require some exploring

https://www.trailforks.com/trails/horse-gulch/

Twin Buttes has the most straightforward route, just go up and around counter clockwise, fun hour and a half

https://www.trailforks.com/region/twin-buttes-19235/

Overend has a lot of trail, its the original trail system. Star Wars is a local favorite, and  you can head up Hogsback if you want to some real exposure

https://www.trailforks.com/region/overend-mountain-park-19234/

 

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On 6/6/2021 at 8:19 AM, The Tip said:

Any more input about Durango? It's going to be a stop for us next week. Is there anything you can ride to from in town?

I might be late to this thread. But IMO Durango proper has some of the least interesting trails I've seen in Colorado. You're way better off driving to Phil's World or north to Hermosa. Still, it's a great town. And I did a reasonably fun ride there from the hotel. 

https://strava.app.link/ZeBkAAaK3gb

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The best basic near-town ride is to start at CO Trail head and go up to Gudy's rest, then over to Hoffeins to Dry Fork and back to Gudy's along CO trail.  Locals know it as the Hoffiens- Dry Fork Loop.  Could be ridden from town too (with about 3 mi of road pedaling each way  [up there; down back]).  

I had 2hrs of steady pedaling.  This is always my first initial ride when I get into town
https://www.strava.com/activities/4084828259

Later,
CJB

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On 6/14/2021 at 11:53 AM, CBaron said:

The best basic near-town ride is to start at CO Trail head and go up to Gudy's rest, then over to Hoffeins to Dry Fork and back to Gudy's along CO trail.  Locals know it as the Hoffiens- Dry Fork Loop.  Could be ridden from town too (with about 3 mi of road pedaling each way  [up there; down back]).  

I had 2hrs of steady pedaling.  This is always my first initial ride when I get into town
https://www.strava.com/activities/4084828259

Later,
CJB

here it is from downtown. it's a great ride. and awesome to get a taste of the CT:

https://www.strava.com/activities/2645109049

 

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On 6/13/2021 at 11:19 AM, Barry said:

I might be late to this thread. But IMO Durango proper has some of the least interesting trails I've seen in Colorado. You're way better off driving to Phil's World or north to Hermosa. Still, it's a great town. And I did a reasonably fun ride there from the hotel. 

https://strava.app.link/ZeBkAAaK3gb

https://www.strava.com/activities/5490832127

I didn't have a big ride, but I agree with Barry. I was disappointed in this ride. Lots of climbing with no payoff. I kept thinking at points in the ride, "the trail builder wasted this resource." 

I mean, it's riding, which is good of course. And I rode from our hotel, so that was great. 

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