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Pave your way with gravel cycling. 

The Trinidad – Las Animas County region has emerged as Colorado’s premier gravel bike destination. With a network of more than 1,600 miles of gravel roads, it fuses Old West history with a rural cycling experience.

What’s Gravel Cycling?

It’s the best of both worlds! Gravel cycling combines the speed and efficiency of road biking with the versatility and off-roading fun of mountain biking.

Gravel bikes have an aerodynamic riding position similar to road bikes but with wider tires. This allows you to reach higher speeds on smoother, hard-packed surfaces like gravel and dirt. And with more rolling resistance than mountain bikes, gravel bikes let riders take on longer distances and handle rougher conditions – like road detours and muddy spots – with ease.

Trinidad is quickly becoming a hotspot for gravel cyclists with Eastern Plains, western mountains, and a deep culture and history you can ride alongside. Join in and carve out your path!

Gravel Cycling, Trinidad, CO

Gravel Cycling Routes

Check out these trails from the Gravel Adventure Field Guide, ordered from shortest to longest distance.

This short, sub-25-mile route starts and ends in Trinidad, taking you past a mix of abandoned and working ranches, along with traditional irrigation systems still crucial to the region’s agriculture and cattle operations.

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This 36-mile route features sweeping views of the Spanish Peaks and Fishers Peak and encircles a small rural airport that was once a WWII training field and weather observation post.

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The mafia gangster Al Capone often retreated to Trinidad and Aguilar to lay low. Today, sneak off on this 59-mile loop ride highlighting the remote sparseness of southeastern Colorado.

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Fertile lands along the Purtagoire River drew Native Americans to the area, and later, traders and miners. Discover the overland Santa Fe Trail experience on this 71-mile ride.

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On this 81-mile ride, pedal by ghost towns like Berwind, Chicosa, Majestic, and Tabasco – all remnants of a bygone mining era.

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The Comanche first referred to the Spanish Peaks as “huajatolla,” meaning double mountain. Take on this 102-mile ride through shaded pine forest-lined roads that tops out at 11,238’ Cordova Pass and descends through the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Area.

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This short, 23-mile loop takes you west and wraps around the former mining towns of Cokedale and Sopris – the latter now submerged beneath Trinidad Lake. Starting at Longs Canyon, it finishes on a fun stretch of dirt and double-track road.

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Follow the contours of Fishers Peak Mesa on this 38-mile trip. The route also passes cattle ranches and the village named for Casimiro Barela, a bilingual education advocate and Colorado legislator known as the “Father of the Senate.”

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This 63-mile loop features a little bit of everything Trinidad/Las Animas County gravel has to offer, from the Front Range to views of Fishers Peak to clues into the region’s ranching and mining past.

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Like the tale of Townes Van Zandt’s song “Pancho and Lefty” – penned in Trinidad – this 71-mile route skirts the former borderlands between Mexico and the U.S.

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Experience 89 miles of dirt roads utilized by the Black Hand (Cosa Nostra) in its quest to expand Italian mafia operations along the southern Colorado Front Range.

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Gravel Cycling Events

Take on gravel cycling challenges! Life Time established Trinidad as a top gravel cycling destination with its Rad Dirt Fest. Plus, the Pony Xpress Gravel 160 lets you follow the remote routes of the original Pony Express riders.

The Rad Dirt Fest typically occurs annually in late September, and the Pony Xpress Gravel 160 runs in May, bookending the gravel season.