Riding IN Leadville

In Leadville, you don’t have to take a ski lift or a shuttle van to get to the top. You’re already there. As the highest town in the United States, surrounded by 14ers, Leadville has some of the best and most unique cycling in the world. We have amazing mountain biking, the Colorado Trail, road riding, gravel grinding, and of course the famous Leadville 100 ultra-endurance mountain bike race.

*As we get settled in, we’ll be documenting some of the best roads, trails, and routes in the area on this site. This is just a start. But here are a couple of Leadville classics:

The Mineral Belt Loop • 12 Miles • Paved • Easy (But Fun!)

The Mineral Belt Trail loops around Leadville on a smooth paved track that passes great views, and interesting Leadville mining history. It’s a great ride for the whole family or even a quick training ride after work. The trail is mellow, with smooth pavement and easy grades. It’s a dedicated bike and pedestrian trail, so safe from auto traffic (although be careful at the road crossings). There are tons of access points, so you can get on and off any number of places, or bail out multiple ways. You can connect with the mountain bike trail system behind Colorado Mountain College. In the winter, the trail is groomed for cross country skiing or fat biking.

The views of Leadville are amazing, with Mount Elbert, Mount Massive and Turquoise Lake on display.

The trail loops together several defunct railways that carried ore from the nearby mines. The trail has lots of neat interpretive signs explaining the history of the area. There are also several shelters along the way to hide out from the sun or rain.

Check out the Mineral Belt Trail website for more info about the trail and the sights along the way.

Turquoise Lake Road Ride • 21 mi • Paved • Medium-Hard

It’s a mellow, but vigorous road ride in the summer. It’s fun either clockwise or counter-clockwise.

You can ride out from the shop, or park anywhere along the lake and close the loop with road 9c to save some time and miles. If you have a gravel or mountain bike and want to go further, you can connect to the spectacular Hagerman Pass, a rough road that crosses the Continental Divide.

Bikepacking The Colorado Trail • 528mi • Mostly Singletrack • Ridiculously Hard!

Life on the Colorado Trail is life stripped down to just the essentials for survival and the pure bliss of riding high in the Rocky Mountains. Just wake up, ride all day, push your bike up the steepest grades, eat a lot of food, filter water, sleep outside, and repeat.

I recommend every mountain biker put this on their bucket list.

Check out bikepacking.com for detailed information, including maps, guides, and information about gear. But if you’re planning to do the trail, seriously come by and talk to me. I can help get you set up.