Gravel CYCLING

gravel cycling in trinidad


We would like to welcome everyone to Trinidad, Colorado, to experience the area’s gravel road opportunities. Las Animas County, the largest county in Colorado, consisting of 4,775 square miles with 1600+ miles of gravel roads for cycling adventure.

These roads take in the expanse of the eastern plains and the western mountains for the enjoyment of area citizens and visiting cyclists.

Home of the newest event presented by LifeTime Fitness, the annual RADfest is opening up the potential for Trinidad to become the next big adventure hub for gravel bike enthusiasts in the state. Make your next stop Trinidad, Colorado. Enjoy our deep history. Ride our soil. See remnants of our past, and help us build a new future.

Copies of the guide can be picked up from select locations in and around Trinidad, such as the Colorado Welcome Center in Trinidad, CO or outside the Creative Commons office at 210 E. Main Street, Trinidad, CO. The digital version is available on this page below. Happy riding!

full map of gravel guide routes

Feb. 28, 1861—Congress passed the Organic Act that created Colorado Territory and moved the boundary between Colorado Territory and New Mexico Territory from the 38th parallel south to the 37th parallel.

Fishers Peak State Park


Fishers Peak is a natural landmark that helped guide travelers on the Santa Fe Trail and cemented Trinidad’s identity as an early old west trail town. In 2019, the former privately-owned Crazy French Ranch (19,200 acres) was acquired by the state of Colorado and declared the 42nd state park. It was the result of a partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Trust for Public Land, Colorado Parks & Wildlife, the city of Trinidad, and Great Outdoors Colorado.


While the property is currently off limits to bikes, a master plan is in development that will only improve the off-road cycling experience of Trinidad/Las Animas County, and eventually expand the experience with connections to the city of Raton and Sugarite Canyon State Park in New Mexico. Expect the gravel adventures from downtown Trinidad to only get better in the years ahead.

gravel guide stats of 30 square miles, 3,000 elevation gain, 39,000 acres

The Purgatoire


“Ute coming down from the mountains to hunt buffalo on the plains used to camp here. This spot (Trinidad) on the Purgatoire River where we now live was long a favorite camping ground, first for the Indian and then the White. The fur trapper knew the Purgatoire as a beaver stream and set their traps up and down its winding banks. Before wheeled vehicles were put to use, great caravans of pack mules, numbering as many as 75 to 200 animals in a pack train passed by here and along the trail later to be known as the Santa Fe Trail.”


— Arthur Roy Mitchell, Western Artist & Colorado Historian

AR Mitchell overlooking the pur

Explore

gravel adventure field guide


In a few short years, Trinidad/Las Animas County has emerged as a gravel bike destination that offers a unique old-west inspired, rural cycling experience. With a county road network of 1,600+ miles, cyclists can enjoy a number of rides that see more cattle guards than cars, all while taking in the culture, history, and scenery that make this region distinctly different than the rest of Colorado.


We strive to inspire cyclists to ride in small groups to create their own personal gravel experience. All of the routes highlighted in this Gravel Adventure Field Guide start and end in downtown Trinidad. Come see why the relatively undiscovered dirt of rural Las Animas County is some of the best gravel bike terrain in the state. Explore what we have to offer. We are confident you’ll come back for more.

route maps

Happy riding!


Under 25 miles

  • Arroyos and Ditches
  • Trinidad Lake Look

25-50 Miles

  • Perry Stokes Airport Loop
  • Corrido de Casimiro

50-75 Miles

  • Al's Escape
  • Dirty Trinidad Revival
  • Sunflower Valley Tour

75-100 Miles

  • Pancho & Lefty’s Loop
  • Miner’s Classic
  • Revenge of the Black Hand

Over 100 Miles

  • Vuelta Huajatolla
ARROYOS AND DITCHES

As farmers moved north from New Mexico and implemented traditional irrigation systems, they began to construct a series of ditches. Pedaling along this route, you’ll see how this method of water distribution is still crucial to the agriculture and cattle operations in the Sunflower Valley. A mix of abandoned and working ranches lend a sense of heritage to this ride. Arroyos carved by water and time, seen along the way, add visual texture to a short sub 25-mile route that starts and ends in town.

Map of Arroyos and Ditches gravel route
TRINIDAD LAKE LOOP

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.

Map of Trinidad Lake Loop gravel route
PERRY STOKES AIRPORT LOOP

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.

Map of Perry Stokes Airport Loop
CORRIDO DE CASIMIRO

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.

Map of Corrido de Casimiro Gravel Route
AL'S ESCAPE

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.

Map of Al's Escape Gravel Route
DIRTY TRINIDAD REVIVAL

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.

Map of Dirty Trinidad Revival Gravel Route
SUNFLOWER VALLEY TOUR

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.

Map of Sunflower Valley Tour gravel route
PANCHO AND LEFTY'S LOOP

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.

Map of Pancho and Lefty's Loop gravel route
MINER'S CLASSIC

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.

Map of the Miner's Classic gravel route
REVENGE OF THE BLACK HAND

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.