Description

The Colorado Trail (COT) is widely regarded as one of the very best long distance mountain bike trails in the world.

Running for 535 miles between Denver and Durango, the trail crosses high alpine mountain passes and drops into beautiful valleys as it traverses the most beautiful portions of the state of Colorado.

The COT forms one third of the Triple Crown of Bikepacking, along with the Arizona Trail and the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. From the historic Camp Hale, the COT singletrack climbs toward the top of Tennessee Pass, roughly paralleling the highway.

Despite more-or-less following the highway, this section of singletrack is absolutely stunning! The trail is relatively smooth and ultra-flowy.

Of course, it’s better in the downhill direction, descending from Tennessee Pass to Camp Hale. Eventually the trail crosses the highway, running through an alpine meadow for a couple of miles.

It finishes the climb on doubletrack, arriving at the top of the pass.