A short but sweet sampling of Penitente mountain biking.

Statistics

0 - 1

hrs

106

m

106

m

5

max°

Difficulty

FATMAP difficulty grade

Difficult

Description

Penitente Canyon is best-known as a sport climbing hotspot.

With routes ranging from easy to difficult, the rock climbing access here is easy and the canyon is simply stunning.

However, Penitente is quickly becoming known for a totally different aspect: it’s trail system.

While mountain bikers aren’t allowed to ride through the bottom of Penitente Canyon (except during the annual 12 Hours of Penitence race), the trail network spreads out around the canyon proper, running through smaller canyons and making excellent use of the unique geology of the area. Most of the trails range from upper intermediate to advanced difficulty… if you stick to the main trail tread.

Thanks to the multitude of bedrock protrusions jutting out from the meager film of dirt spread over the earth’s surface, alternate lines and much more challenging rock features abound in this area.

Add in a jaunt up onto a knife-edge rock, or drop into a near-vertical rock roll feature. The environment here is unequivocally high desert, meaning it offers superb weather and plenty of sunshine in the spring and fall.

During the winter, the San Luis Valley actually gets bitter-cold due to inversion from the towering mountains, so during mid-winter Penitente isn’t a great choice.

Similarly, the summer is blazing-hot, with temperatures often breaking 100 degrees. The Blue Sky Loop, mapped here, is a short-but-sweet sampling of the type of mountain biking that Penitente has on offer.

Overall, the Blue Sky Loop trends slightly more toward the intermediate trail spectrum than the other more advanced trails in the area. Blue Sky still offers up plenty of entertaining rock features, beautiful views of the rocky landscape and distant mountain ranges, and downright fun singletrack riding! Add this loop in to the end of a longer ride, try this first if you’re not very confident on the bike just yet, or throw this in after a long day of rock climbing.

Either way, the singletrack here will reward!