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Lake Pueblo State Park Tech Trails

Knock the rust off your bike handling skills in the spring on these gnarly descents.

Mountain Biking Severe

Distance
13 km
Ascent
266 m
Descent
266 m
Duration
1-2 hrs
Low Point
1.5 km
High Point
1.6 km
Gradient
Lake Pueblo State Park Tech Trails Map

Lake Pueblo State Park serves as an ultra-popular Front Range ride in the spring, winter, and fall (to a lesser extent). When most other places are wet, cold, or snowy, Pueblo somehow manages to stay relatively warm and dry.

Description

The trails at Lake Pueblo State Park, commonly referred to as “Pueblo Reservoir,” provide a tale of two different types of riding. The trails here provide either long, rolling cross country trails that are perfect for miles and miles of pedaling, or short, steep, ultra-technical drops perfect for honing your bike handling skills. There isn’t much in between. The route mapped here showcases the technical descents at the Reservoir.

Thanks to Pueblo’s unique climate, these steep, technical descents provide the perfect place to knock the rust off of your bike handling skills in the springtime. These technical trails run down the canyons on the eastern side of the network. The singletrack is dry and filled with rocks, ledge drops, rock gardens, and… more rocks. In places, wooden bridges have been built to provide steep rollers and to help set you up for a variety of optional features.

“Laps” is the name of the game on Pueblo’s tech trails. The runs are short and steep, requiring you to pedal back up the hill to try a different trail. The series of loops mapped here provides a recommended route to make a few runs through the system, but you can complete as many or as few as you’d like. The route mapped here strives to optimize the downhill tech, and ascend the climbing-friendly trails. Not every trail will be good for climbing back up the hillside… unless you happen to enjoy carrying your bike.

At the time of this writing, controversy is brewing around the trails in and around Lake Pueblo State Park. It’s possible that some of the trails here could be closed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, as they were never authorized in the first place. However, many of the trails here were indeed authorized and approved. Adding to the complexity is a groundswell of resistance from local trail users who are protesting the possible closure of the trails.

The upshot is that the exact network of trails in this area might change, but despite potential changes, you’ll still be able to enjoy a fun, technical ride at Pueblo Reservoir!

Sources: https://www.chieftain.com/news/20190504/group-objects-to-closing-trails-at-lake-pueblo

Difficulty

Severe

Widely variable, narrow trail tread with steeper grades and unavoidable obstacles of 15in/38cm tall or less. Obstacles may include unavoidable bridges 24in/61cm wide or less, large rocks, gravel, difficult root sections, and more. Ideal for advanced-level riders.

High Exposure

3 out of 4

Some trail sections have exposed ledges or steep ascents/descents where falling could cause serious injury.

Remoteness

1 out of 4

Close to help in case of emergency.

Best time to visit

all year round

Features

  • Technical
  • Singletrack
  • Drops
  • Jumps
  • Rock Rolls
  • Rock Slabs
  • Rock Gardens

Similar routes nearby

Guidebooks in this area