High Alpine Fat Biking near Buena Vista and Salida, CO

Pedal to the Continental Divide in the dead of winter on these epic fat bike rides!

Greg Heil

Images

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Fat biking Cottonwood Pass. Rider: Greg Heil

by Greg Heil

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Fat biking Cottonwood Pass. Rider: Greg Heil

by Greg Heil

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Fat biking Marshall Pass. Rider: Greg Heil

by Greg Heil

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View of the Sangre De Cristo range from Marshall Pass

by Greg Heil

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Fall colors on Marshall Pass

by Greg Heil

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Fall colors on Marshall Pass

by Greg Heil

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Packed snow riding on Marshall Pass

by Greg Heil

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Fall colors on Marshall Pass

by Greg Heil

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Packed snow riding on Marshall Pass

by Greg Heil

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Fall colors on Marshall Pass

by Greg Heil

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View of O'Haver Lake from Marshall Pass

by Greg Heil

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Descending in the shade with sunny mountain views.

by Scott Anderson

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The turn around point.

by Scott Anderson

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Approaching the turn around, just past the bridge.

by Scott Anderson

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Still some fresh groomed trail.

by Scott Anderson

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This mine structure looks a bit precarious.

by Scott Anderson

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The aspen glow in the setting sun.

by Scott Anderson

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Description

A couple of Colorado’s mountain towns boast some of the best fat biking in the United States, if not the world! Leadville and Crested Butte have led the charge, pioneering fat biking grooming techniques, legal access, events, marketing, and more. Buena Vista and Salida in the Arkansas Valley, on the other hand, are not on that list.

While the Arkansas Valley is nowhere close to a fat biking mecca, with some of the tallest mountains in the nation and ample snowfall, you can bet there are still some epic places to roll a fatty! This guidebook rounds up 5 of the best routes, ranging in length from bite-sized to epic.

All of these fat bike rides take place on dirt forest service roads that aren’t plowed during the wintertime. Instead, in the winter they transition to over snow travel for cross country skiers, backcountry skiers, snowshoers, fat bikers… and most notably, snowmobilers. The snowmobilers are arguably the most important user group on these routes, in part because the large machines pack in the snow, making the routes rideable for fat bikers. But most importantly, in many places the snowmobile clubs invest money in grooming these mountain passes for optimal over snow travel.

The best grooming in the valley takes place on Cottonwood Pass, thanks to a snowcat parked at the bottom of the pass and a regular grooming schedule. While the local snowmobile club spearheads the grooming, in recent years, local fat bikers have gotten involved, lending a hand in the labor-intensive process.

Marshall Pass also gets groomed frequently, but the grooming doesn’t usually start until later in the season, due to access issues on the dirt road and a slightly lower snowpack. Both the Hancock route and Tincup Pass in St. Elmo get groomed occaisonally… but that’s hit or miss. Finally, Old Monarch Pass never gets groomed, but it sees so much traffic that the lack of grooming isn’t a problem for fat bikers.

While you can’t expect to find groomed fattrack in the Arkansas Valley, pedaling up over 12,000 feet in the dead of winter is a truly surreal experience!

Adventures

Tincup Pass

Ride a groomed trail from St. Elmo, a ghost town at 10,000'.

Marshall Pass Road

A moderate gravel road providing a great climbing route to access singletrack, an easy bailout off the Monarch Crest, and a portion of the Tour Divide route.

Old Monarch Pass

A short pedal leads to incredible views from the Continental Divide.