Description

While many of the mountain bike trails in Telluride are steep and arduous, there are a few mellow trails running through the valley floor that eschew the steep mountainsides in favor of easy, rolling singletrack.

The loop shown here provides a fantastic beginner-friendly ride beginning directly in Telluride. You can start this ride from anywhere in Telluride by riding down toward the river, picking up the gravel trail that runs along the river bank, and heading west.

Eventually, you'll head out of town and onto the loop as mapped. After about a mile of pedaling, the wide gravel path will begin to narrow down to a true singletrack trail.

Still, the trail is quite flat and smooth, rolling along the very bottom of the hillside.

At times, the trail passes through beautiful aspen groves and towering pine trees before popping back out into the open. The final stretch of the south side of the loop does get a bit rooty, which can be a challenge for new riders.

That said, if you persevere, you'll be rewarded by more smooth singletrack. The north side of the loop swoops through the wide-open valley floor on a smooth, narrow trail, providing spectacular views of the mountain peaks towering above.

The singletrack soon joins an old railroad grade, running through some aspens before taking a right across a bridge to rejoin the gravel river trail to complete the lollipop loop. For a mellow beginner-friendly mountain bike ride, it doesn't get much better than this!