Gravel CYCLING

The Trinidad Lake Loop is a great short loop that takes you west out of town. Utilizing the wide shoulder on Highway 12, the ride finishes strong on a fun stretch of dirt and double-track road starting at Longs Canyon. There’s a good chance you’ll even see wildlife, including elk, turkey, bears, and mountain lions. While riding along the south shore of the lake, imagine what life was like in Sopris, a former mining community that is submerged beneath the lake today.

On the dirt roads northeast of Trinidad lies a small rural airport with a cool story. It started in 1936 as a WPA project, and then served as a WWII training field, weather observation post, and commercial airport. In 1944, aviator Perry Stokes arrived and began to coordinate the first DC-3 commercial flights between Denver and Albuquerque from 1949 to 1957. A terminal was built in 1951. Looping the airport provides fantastic handlebar sweeping views of the Spanish Peaks, Fishers Peak and Mesa, and a glimpse into Trinidad/Las Animas County’s aviation history.

Corrido is Spanish for “to run”. Corrido also doubles as a storytelling ballad, and this one is named for Casimiro Barela. He served both in the Colorado Territory and State legislature, and after 40 years became known as the “Father of the Senate”. Senator Barela advocated for bilingual education and preservation of Hispanic culture in southern Colorado. This route follows the contours of Fishers Peak Mesa and passes a number of cattle ranches and the village that bears the Barela name.

Al Capone is a notable 20th century personality who cast his shadow onto the history of Trinidad and Aguilar. Each community had considerable Italian immigrant populations. Mr. Capone soon realized it was a great place for either himself, or those that worked for him, to retreat to when things were too chaotic for them in Chicago. County Road 75.0 represents the escape into the remote sparseness of southeast Colorado, a place where even mafia gangsters could hide out.

The Dirty Trinidad Revival grinder is a route that symbolizes the power of a bicycle to inspire exploration and create positive social change in a community. With over 1,600 miles of county roads, you will quickly see why Trinidad is a gravel bike destination in the making. This featured loop is intended to show a little of everything Trinidad/Las Animas County gravel has to offer. It takes you from the Front Range into the foothills, and includes quality framing views of the Huajatollas (Spanish Peaks) and Fishers Peak, along with visual clues into the region’s ranching and mining past.

Generations of farmers have called the Sunflower Valley home. Historically it was the area that extended from Jansen, west of Trinidad, all the way past Hoehne to the east. These fertile lands along the Purgatoire River first drew Native Americans to the area, and later supplied fruits and vegetables to the population of miners and their families. Riding this route brings to life what the overland Santa Fe Trail experience would have been like in the 19th century. You will even see wagon trail marks from the remnants of an era that saw the region host the nation’s first commercial highway.

This route is a mashup of pop culture and local history. Townes Van Zandt who penned the song passed through Trinidad on his road trips between Colorado and Texas, and like the tale of Pancho and Lefty this route skirts the former borderlands between Mexico and the United States. It’s a ride that reminds cyclists of the diversity of people who have called Trinidad/Las Animas County home. A portion of the ride crosses San Francisco Creek; in Spanish, Pancho is the nickname for Francisco.

This route gets its name because of the number of former mines found along the ride. Coal from the mines in Trinidad-Las Animas County was highly prized for its quality in creating coking fuel for Colorado’s smelters further north in Pueblo. Now, ghost towns like Berwind, Chicosa, Majestic, and Tabasco all speak of a bygone era that left a strong mark on the history and landscape of the region. A route that will not disappoint cyclists looking for a ride through old west history, one can’t help but ponder what life would have been like in a Colorado Fuel & Iron company town.

This ride is a chance to experience the dirt roads utilized by the Black Hand (Cosa Nostra) in its quest to expand Italian mafia operations along the southern Colorado Front Range. Mob activity did not start in Denver, but in the corridor between Trinidad and Pueblo. Illegal bootlegging, extortion, and contract killing activity caught the attention of the FBI, who began investigating the Black Hand in the 1920s. Traveling these quiet and remote roads around Aguilar and back to Trinidad is an experience into a world where contraband destined for other places like New York, Chicago, Detroit, and Los Angeles moved freely about Trinidad-Las Animas County.

The Spanish Peaks are two prominent mountains on the Trinidad/Las Animas County skyline. They were originally referred to as Huajatolla by the Comanche. It means double mountain. The route also doubles-back over the western portion of the county. This route is for those looking for a day’s worth of climbing on shaded pine forest-lined roads, while soaking up the stunning views of the peaks. A highlight is topping out Cordova Pass (11,238 ft) and then descending the rolling hills that skirt the south side of the Spanish Peaks Wilderness Area all the way back to Trinidad (6,022 ft).