Rocks by the River: 5 Best MTB Trails in Buena Vista, CO

From 2016-2019, the Buena Vista Singletrack Coalition (BVSC) built over 13 miles of new singletrack trails, in addition to legalizing old social trails and re-routing old trails onto new, sustainable alignments. This significant addition of top-quality, professionally-built singletrack has catapulted Buena Vista into the mix of top-tier Central Colorado mountain bike destinations. Once a mere footnote to the Salida mountain biking scene, the trail network in BV now stands confidently on its own two feet.

It’s about damn time, too. The terrain near Buena Vista is supremely suited to high-quality mountain bike trails. Just across the Arkansas River from downtown, foothills rise abruptly toward the towering Buffalo Peaks. In these foothills, you’ll find massive domes of exposed granite, slabs of bedrock, and gnarly fields of boulders. These imposing rock slabs provide the perfect playground for mountain bikers, with traction for days on the rough granite surface. While the nearby town of Salida has plenty of rock to play on, it can’t compete with the naturally-occurring slabs of rock found near BV!

On the opposite side of the valley, 14,000-foot mountain peaks soar into the sky. With most of the mountains locked away in Wilderness areas, there aren’t as many mountain biking opportunities in the Sawatch near BV as there are near Salida, but the Colorado Trail does run across the flanks of the mountains, with several of the segments remaining opening to mountain bikes.

For a truly epic mountain bike vacation, combine Buena Vista with its nearby sister city (or rival, depending on how you look at it) of Salida. Between these two towns, a small lifetime of mountain bike adventures awaits you!