Description

The snowmobile trails off of Molas Pass provide hands-down the most beautiful location to ride a fat bike between Durango and Silverton.

As the route flirts with the treeline, ducking into the pines and out into the meadows, you'll enjoy jaw-dropping views of the towering San Juans all around you! The loop shown here is a short jaunt from the top of Molas Pass to Little Molas Lake and then back around to the pass via a short connection on the highway.

If you're looking to dip your toes into fat biking in this area, this short loop is a great way to get started. Despite being quite short, this loop still holds some punchy climbs and fast descents.

The ride begins with a zippy descent down along the highway to a crossing and then follows it up with a fairly steep climb through the trees to reach Little Molas Lake.

After reaching the lake, the ride mellows out a fair bit. As you ride along, you'll notice that off of this loop there are several optional spurs that you can add in for extra mileage.

If you're feeling good, feel free to add those in! The climb through the trees can be tough, especially if the snow is at all soft.

Unfortunately, due to the heavy snowmobile use in this area, the trail is often churned up.

Yes, they do groom these trails, but it doesn't take too many snowmobiles to churn up the surface into a barely rideable mess.

Also, since this area receives *so much* snow, it's rare to find enough time between storms for the surface to compact into a good fat biking surface. Consider yourself duly warned! However, if you nail this route when the conditions are good, it's to die for.