Just south of Olathe is the Gunnison Gorge Recreation Area. We've ridden here before but mostly on the west side in the bentonite hills which is fun on its own. Our goal was to explore more of the trails heading in the direction of the Black Canyon where the character of the terrain changes considerably which isn't obvious from the "hills". At this point the mountains are snowed in so this semi arid area allows us to extend the riding season.


Looking towards the Black Canyon.

We found a ton of good riding in here albeit technical in spots. There is a myriad of single track in here too. A lot of which is insanely difficult. We came up on the Black Ridge via Eagle Road which is manageable. As a bonus, you can look down into the gorge and see parts of the Gunnison River. It's roaring waters can be heard too. I've been getting caught up on photos so I thought I'd post this ride.

Slide show HERE. (15 frames w/captions)

Beautiful scenery, but too cold for me.

Very nice!

There are roads and trails that finally end up at Rt 50 close to Gunnison. I'm thinking of what starts at Slumgullion Campground South of lake City and goes North...there are a number of things I've looked at in that area. Perhaps a full day's ride ride with the XTerra, then lunch in Lake City, and back home through Silverton (by Cinnamon Pass)...marking trails along the way to explore with the bikes. (Wager Gulch is a favorite of mine, a couple of miles from Cinnamon Pass)

Alexd

Nice scenery!

Alexd - Sounds like a plan to look forward to.

Deodom - Thanks. Got 4-6" of snow last night so it looks like those trails are a "no go" for a while.

Peejman - Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed the photos. Looking forward to going back and in deeper. Pretty neat back in there.