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MoabBikeTrips.com
Kokopelli
Trail
A trip that will show you 140 miles of gorgeous
Utah and Colorado scenery
Views of Canyonlands and Arches National Park
Most commonly a four or five day trip
The trip ends in beautiful Moab, Utah!
Kokopelli’s Trail is one of the finest of
several point-to-point trips that finishes in Moab.
The other two are Telluride to Moab and Durango
to Moab.The rugged desert terrain of Kokopelli’s
Trail combines challenging ascents (over a variety
of trail surfaces), screaming descents for those
who dare, and scenery that will exhilarate you.
With its awe-inspiring geology, mountain biking
in Canyon Country is an experience second to none.
The forefathers of mountain biking in the Grand
Valley had a vision – a continuous off-road
trail from Fruita, Colorado to Moab, Utah. This
vision founded one of Western Colorado's first mountain
bike organizations, “COPMOBA.” COPMOBA
established a partnership with the BLM that led
to the successful completion of this trail system
in the early 1990’s. Kokopelli’s Trail
stands as a tribute to all those early visionaries
who invested their time and energy to make a trail
of such magnitude.
“Kokopelli” is a legendary fertility
figure, venerated by Native American groups throughout
the the Southwest. The image of this humpbacked,
flute-playing nomad is found in Native American
art from many tribes and regions. He's a fine figure
for a trail that serves the day rider and the adventurer
alike.
Most commonly done as a four or five day trip,
the total distance of the route is around 140 miles.
Over those miles you climb well over 5,000 feet
and reach elevations of 8,000 feet in the La Sal
Mountains. It can be tricky to pick the best time
to go, because you must wait until the snow melts
at the upper elevations, but head out before the
temperatures in the low-elevation desert become
unbearable. Most riders choose to ride in April/May
or September/October, but early June, or early November
could both be done in certain years.
Western Spirit Cycling offers the trip as a five-day,
four-night camping trip. Riders begin on Fruita
singletrack riding such famous trails as Mary’s,
Lion’s and Troybuilt loops and spend the first
night camping at Knowles Canyon Overlook in Rabbit
Valley – not far from the CO/UT border.
Day two brings us close to Westwater Canyon and
into Utah on mostly rolling doubletrack. We cross
the Colorado River on Dewey Bridge, an engineering
feat for it’s time, now closed to vehicles
where a final bit of climbing takes us to our camp.
The third day starts off with some serious climbing
up to Sevenmile Mesa rewarding us with great views
of the Uncompahgre Plateau and the Dolores River
canyon. After some fun miles and a challenging descent
of Rose Garden Hill into Fisher Valley, we end up
at our camp for the night. Called the Hideout, it’s
rumored to have been a favorite of Butch Cassidy
and his pals.
If you enjoy the climbing of day three, then you’ll
love day four’s climbing in the La Sals. If
not, well, it will be a long day – but an
incredibly beautiful one. We top out at 8,400 feet
above sea level at the Castle Valley Overlook then
ride down to our final camp overlooking the magnificent
Porcupine Rim.
The final 4,000 feet of downhill into Moab on our
final day makes all the climbing worth it. The sun
is at our back as we descend Sand Flats road, and
ights the finned rock and red-walled cliffs of the
Moab Rim. Our views reach as far as Canyonlands
and Arches National Parks. It's a payback that will
keep you smiling for the rest of your day and perhaps,
for a long time after.
Let's
Go Cycling!
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