Riding in the Rio Grande National Forest

We were between 10,000-11,000 feet elevation, so the rain was ice cold and the temperature was dropping as the last rays of sunlight were disappearing behind the mountains.

We had already rode about 60 miles in beautiful weather and were only several miles from camp, but apparently nature didn’t want us to get off easy this time! Monsoon season was in full swing, so random showers and thunderstorms could be expected almost every day. Water was coming down so hard and fast that soon the mud puddles filled, then overflowed, and then started running down the trail in little streams.

We were soaked to the bone, I could barely move my fingers, the trail was slippery, and flashes of lightning could be seen occasionally – but, if you can believe it, there’s nowhere else I would’ve rather been!

If you’re ever wandering around the San Juan Valley in southern Colorado with a trailer of off-road vehicles looking for a good place to ride, look no further than South Fork and the Rio Grande National Forest. This little patch of off-road paradise is where we spent almost five weeks this Summer. Now, “little” isn’t really accurate, though, as the Rio Grande National Forest is nearly two-million acres! Forest roads and trails almost cover a NFS map of this area, and nearly all of them are open to OHVs. Theoretically, according to a local, someone could ride from South Fork, CO, all the way down into New Mexico by staying on the almost countless forest roads and trails!

We picked the Ute Bluff Lodge, on Hwy 160 a couple miles out of town, to stay at while we were there. Amenities include a laundromat, hotel rooms, cabins, RV sites with full hookups, a rec. room, hiking trail, and a tipi to go relax in. It also has very close National Forest access on both sides of Hwy 160, the closest is within about a mile. And once you get into the Rio Grande National Forest, you won’t need to worry about having to turn around any time soon – the network of trails and forest roads is MASSIVE, and unlike anything I’ve ever seen! A map is definitely a “must have” item, and can obtained at the visitor center in town.

We kind of stuck to one area during our rides, but expanded the list of new trails we tried almost every time. The trails and roads south of town (which are the ones we stayed on) range from about 8100 feet elevation, to over 11,600 feet! And they go from easy roads that a car could drive on, to tight rocky trails that wind up and down steep slopes, and everything in between.

Starting out near the trailhead, at 8100 feet, in about 30-45 minutes we could be up around 11,200 feet near the base of Del Norte Peak (which is over 12,000 feet at the summit). Up there is a nearly panoramic view of the San Juan Valley, Rio Grande National Forest, South Fork down below, and Great Sand Dunes National Park in the distance.

I found out quickly that the weather can change really fast up there on the mountains, and even more so during the rainy season, which we caught in full force. It might be sunny and 75 degrees when we left for a ride, but then two hours later be raining hard and near 60 degrees. I discovered that wearing layers is a must if you’re going to enjoy riding in the mountains!

While we were there my aunt and uncle from Denver came down to visit again, and my uncle of course brought his Kawasaki KDX250. They only had one full day with us, so the main agenda was a long ride up into the mountains for the day! My uncle and I left after breakfast and headed up a familiar road (345) that I’d already been on several times. The weather was perfect, with the sun shining and the sky just slightly overcast. We stopped at a big beaver dam holding back a creek alongside the road to walk around some and wait for my dad, who had to do a few things back at the camper, to catch up. After he caught up and we kept going, the road (350) took on more “trail-like” characteristics – getting narrower, steeper, and rockier. We finally came up onto the top of the mountains (at about 11,300 feet), and had to stop and decide which way to go next! We ended up riding on a big loop (898, 345, and 350.2 B) all the way around Del Norte Peak, before taking an EXTREMELY rocky trail (898) back down the side of the mountain to Beaver Creek Reservoir, where we rode around and peered down into the ravine on the other side of the dam.

Next, we continued on up the valley, and back up to higher elevation. It was a drastic change of terrain, as we were now riding on a smooth forest road (360) winding its way up the valley. There were lots of tight corners, so going fast is NOT an option, unless you’d like to end up over the edge! We kept going for a long ways before finally veering to the right onto a road (360) that led to Poage Lake. The lake didn’t look more than 10 acres or so in size, but is at the base of a huge cliff face, which can actually be seen from miles and miles away as we found out later.

We then backtracked and got on the “main” road (332.1D) once again, then onto a trail (359), while slowly climbing higher and higher up the side of the mountain, as the trail that we were now on got steeper and steeper. Free-range cattle watched us intently as we rode by, trying to dodge the little “cow patties” they had left for us. My dad, who has a lead thumb and can’t keep his Suzuki LTZ-400 lower than fourth gear, had a very hard time dodging the “cow patties” going as fast as he was, and ended up having to wash it all off his fenders later!

At last, we crested the top of the mountain, at 11,630 feet, and stopped to take a look around. There was an almost 360 degree view of the landscape around us – looking west back down into the valley where Beaver Creek Reservoir is, looking south across into the mountains where Poage Lake is, back north over towards Del Norte Peak, and east across the mountain tops that we were level with into unexplored territory (at least by us). The view was stunning, and we took 10 or 15 minutes to really soak it all in and get plenty of pictures. Then, the lightning striking the mountains east of us caught our attention, and we figured it was time to head back down into the valley.

As we began our descent (on 350), we were also riding right into a rainstorm! But we knew it could last for hours, and besides, the campground was only about a 30 minute ride away if. This is what I was describing at the very beginning of this article – we were quickly drenched with cold rain, the trail became slippery, and it started getting cold (something I, unfortunately, was not dressed properly for). We kept pressing on, but taking it slow to avoid losing traction and sliding off the trail. My uncle had to be especially careful, with only having two wheels under him instead of four!

I had already quit trying to stay out of the mud a LONG time before this, so by now I was almost totally covered in a layer of dirt and mud, along with my Honda 250EX as well. Several times the puddles were deeper than I thought, and mud splashed all the way up over the top of my head, which also helped complete the head-to-toe mud bath I got.  I had to take off my goggles not long after it started raining, because I could barely see through the mud and water that continued to splash all over them. Maybe this sounds miserable, but for us it was a blast, and we never even thought about turning back!

At last, we got down off of the mountain, and back to the trailhead. By then the rain had stopped, although we were still soaked. We got back to the camper, my uncle went back to his hotel room (on the camp), and it didn’t take long for us all to get cleaned up and in some dry clothes! Thankfully, my mom and aunt had a spaghetti dinner waiting for us, and between bites we told them about our adventure up on the mountains and unveiled some of the beautiful pictures we’d taken.

Although we didn’t keep track the entire way, a pretty accurate figure is that we rode between 60 and 70 miles that day! I think it’s the most any of us have ridden at one time, and it was one of the most fun rides I’ve ever done.

I have dozens of other stories I could tell, about all the dozens of other rides we went on during our nearly six week stay in South Fork, but this was one of the highlights and definitely the biggest ride we did!

If you ever get the opportunity, please visit South Fork and go riding in the Rio Grande National Forest. You won’t be disappointed…

If you have any questions about riding in the South Fork area, please leave a comment and I’ll answer as best I can. After riding at least every couple days for the month that we were there, I got the know the trails pretty well!

Or if you’ve ever been there, leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it and your experience riding in the Rio Grande National Forest.

South Fork's Trail Trouble

I was nervous as we drove up to the community center. I’d never been to a town meeting – much less one like this. We went and sat at the back, and I got my notepad and pen ready to jot down any important information that I was sure to find out. At the table in the front of the room sat several police officers, someone representing the national forest, and a couple others not in uniform that I never identified for sure. I was expecting to encounter angry raised voices, people throwing accusations back and forth, and generally an unpleasant atmosphere. Instead, I quickly noticed all the smiling faces, respectful comments, and even occasional laughter from everyone! This wasn’t the conflict I had imagined, but rather what seemed like a group of friends discussing an important town issue – ATV rights.

South Fork, CO, is a beautiful town nestled in the San Juan Valley about 45 minutes west of Great Sand Dunes National Park on Hwy 160. It’s kind of a gateway into the Rocky Mountains, and somewhere my whole family’s really enjoyed the past few weeks. Looking at a map, something you’ll probably notice first is that it’s completely surrounded by thousands and thousands of acres of national forest, with an immense amount of forest roads and trails! Since we bring our ATVs everywhere with us, it was easy to decide that this was where we wanted to come.

We chose the Ute Bluff Lodge located a couple miles east of South Fork on Hwy 160. It has a campground, cabins, hotel, hot tubs, rec room, laundry room, a big tipi to sit in, and a hiking trail that goes up onto the bluff. One of the main reasons we chose it, though, was because there is a trail leading out of the camp that goes into the national forest. Instead of having to load and unload all our ATVs on the trailer, we could just jump on and ride right out of the campground! People would even ride into town to the grocery store and gas station, on a little trail that runs along Hwy 160. But this privilege that riders have in South Fork is what’s at stake right now.

People have ridden along the road to get to the national forest for at least 20-25 years, according to a local resident, without any major problems. All this changed recently when a weird case was brought to the police department. A man had been riding on this trail along the road when he suddenly ran into a cable strung across the trail, and was thrown from his dirt bike. He was not seriously injured, and was actually at the meeting we attended. Initially, the police suspected an angry citizen had put this cable up, and an investigation began. Not long after, it was discovered that this cable was actually one that was being worked on, and was in fact part of South Fork’s utilities. But because of this incident, the right to ride on this trail, and the safety of it, began to be questioned.

This is why the meeting was organized – to discuss the legal issues of riding along this trail. Captain George Dingfelder, of the Colorado State Patrol, explained how it’s currently illegal to ride on the trail because it conflicts with two “right-of-ways” – the railroad and state highway. The trail runs down in a ditch between the railroad and Hwy 160, and it’s necessary to cross the highway a couple times to get to the national forest from where we are. The officers said that it’s not illegal to cross the highway, but it is to ride in its right-of-way. They explained that the State Hwy Dept. is actually liable for any accidents that happen in the right-of-way – including ones involving ATVs.

It was pointed out by several of the board that the only way for anyone to continue riding directly from their resident (including campgrounds) that do not directly access the national forest is to:

1-      Get permission from the county to ride on county roads.

2-      Get permission from the railway to ride in the railroad right-of-way.

3-      Make a new trail that does not enter the Hwy 160 right-of-way.

Another town meeting is organized for September 8^th to discuss these options, and try to get permission from the necessary people.

I found that every citizen in the meeting was supportive of riding, and even everyone on the board expressed willingness to help where they could to reroute the trail or get permission from the county and railroad. The sheriff even said that if he could, he would get ATVs for his deputies to ride while on patrol!

Several of the citizens at the meeting were business owners, and talked about how much the off-road industry helps their businesses, and South Fork’s economy. An interesting point brought up was that many riders from New Mexico are coming up to South Fork, and Colorado in general, to ride now that some of their public riding areas down there are being closed. One local garage owner (the same man who got “clothes lined” by the cable) stated that approximately 95% of his business this Summer has been from ATVs, and if this issue isn’t resolved he’ll likely have to close down.

The meeting ended and everyone kind of mingled and discussed the meeting and what needed to be done next. Everyone seemed sure that some kind of compromise could be worked out with the city, county, and railroad. One of the officers said that there was probably enough support just in that room to get something worked out!

Obviously, what’s going on in South Fork is not an isolated event. Meetings are being held and issues like this addressed all across America! Every single person makes a difference. Don’t leave it up to someone else to make a difference – if everyone has this mindset, it’ll never get done. If you’re not doing it for yourself, do it for all the other riders out there. Do it for future generations that will thank you for helping secure their off-road freedoms!

If possible, though, don’t go solo. Get together with other riders in your area, and work to make your community more off-road friendly. A quick online search of “ATV trail clubs” brought up over 16,000,000 results! Even if only 1% of the results are actually the kind of off-road group you’re looking for, that means you should still have about 160,000 results to check out.

South Fork is a good example to other towns going through something similar. Get together, talk about the issues, be friendly, and work together to find a solution.

The Rainbow Falls OHV Area (Part 2)

Several weeks ago my family and I went to the Rainbow Falls OHV Area. The variety of trails, beautiful view of Pikes Peak, and close proximity to our campground near Colorado Springs, made us want to come back for more – which is exactly what we did!

If you read my last post, you probably noticed that I put down what trail numbers we rode on and in what order. Well, there isn’t going to be much (if any) of that in this one, because on our second and third trips out there we didn’t keep track of where we were as good as we did the first time since we were more familiar with the trails. Although we did still reference the map, most all of the trails lead back to the staging area, so it’s very difficult to get lost!

Here’s a recap of our rides…

RIDE #2:

My grandma from Florida came up for 10 days to visit, and going riding was on the itinerary from the day she got there. Now my grandma would definitely be classified as a beginner as she has almost no experience on ATVs, and to my knowledge had never been on an actual trail. Although I was hoping for the best, I thought maybe some good video would be in store (ha ha), so I strapped on our handy GoPro Hero helmet camera. From the moment we left the trailer and started off on a trail, I was surprised - she was keeping up with my dad on his Suzuki  LTZ400! Of course, once he got out of second or third gear, my grandma was left in the dust (which wasn’t as bad that day as it was on our previous ride). Because I was behind her on my Honda 250EX, I got to critique her riding. Speed, she had – handling our heavy Yamaha Kodiak 400 while navigating big rocks and ruts, not so much. Luckily, the suspension is soft and the big ITP Mud Lite tires are tough!

Speaking of tires… I need new ones (rear at least). I found that worn out tires don’t work too good on steep hills with slick gravel! Fortunately, my 250EX still pulled its way up every hill thrown at us, even if the tires were spinning the whole way.

We took her on our favorite trails, climbing through thick ponderosa pine and spruce up to about 9100 feet elevation. I could tell she really enjoyed it, and it’s always a thrill getting to ride with someone who never or seldom has before. At one point, we stopped for about 20 minutes to climb up some massive house-sized boulders, where we got a stunning view above the tree tops of Pikes Peak and the mountains around it. Hiking around a bunch of boulders at about 9000 feet was tough, especially since we were still not even totally acclimated to the 6500 foot elevation where our camper was. My grandma had it even worse, having just come from almost sea level down in Florida. Once we got back on the trails, we went back and ate lunch – surprisingly finding some friends of ours waiting for us at the trailer!

In all, we rode for five or six hours before loading everything back up and heading home.

RIDE #3:

My dad and I have been trying to plan a ride with my uncle from Denver for probably 10 years, so with us being so close it was a perfect time to finally do it! He came down and met us at the campground with his Kawasaki KX250, and then followed us to the Rainbow Falls OHV Area. The trails and staging area were pleasantly less crowded than we had seen them before.

I haven’t ridden with dirt bikes very often, and although I know there’s sometimes rivalry, we all pretty much enjoy the same basic sport – just doing it in different ways. It was interesting to see what parts of the trails he navigated more easily on his dirt bike, and which ones I did on my Honda 250EX. I found that he had a harder time with ruts and steep hills, while I had a harder time with roots and rocks!

We rode on a few trails that we’d already been on, and tried out some new ones. At one point we met two guys in a dune buggy seeing if they could figure out a way to fit their machine down a tight little trail that we had just come out of. I doubt they made it, but then again, these guys seemed determined.

We turned onto what we thought was a pretty trail that we had been on during our last ride. Instead, it turned out to be the biggest challenge of all three trips out there! The trail connected two main trails – one on the ridge of a hill, and the other below in the valley. This little connecting trail went almost straight up the side of the hill, with no corners or switchbacks. We climbed up the hill as it got steeper and the gravel got looser, until finally we came to the finale. The other smooth trail at the top of the hill was only a few hundred feet away, but separating us from it was a very steep hill with a deep rut down the center and loose gravel all over it! My dad took a little side trail that I didn’t see and made it to the top. I struggled to keep from tipping over into the rut, but finally made it also. My uncle came next, but the loose gravel kept pulling his dirt bike down into the deep rut – but at last he made it up, too. We paused at the top to check out the hill we had just climbed and watched as another guy rode up it and stopped at the top next to us. After talking about what a rough trail that was, we continued on down the main trail that might as well have been a paved boulevard compared to what we’d just come off of.

The trail got rockier and scenery changed as we dropped back down towards the staging area. Pikes Peak is visible from most places down in the valley and although it’s drier compared to about 1500 feet higher, there’s still a small river, wetland, and green grass. We then went to some trails we hadn’t been on – located near the entrance to the riding area. These are confined to the valley, because there’s a road on one side and a creek on the other. If you’re up for a change from the tight rocky trails up on the mountain, this is the place to go. Much of the valley burned recently, so there’s a gate with a sign warning of falling trees and other post burn hazards. Most of the trails are fairly flat with sparse trees scattered here and there. This was a perfect place for all three of us to  give our machines full-throttle and explore the handful of trails in record time! My dad on his LTZ400 and uncle on his KX250 kept a slim lead on me with my 250EX, but even my uncle commented later about how he didn’t expect my Honda to be as fast as it is. It’ll do between 40-50mph, which is plenty fast for me – especially on the rough trails that we usually ride on.

Once again, time got the best of us!  Before we knew it, the sun was setting and it was once again time to load up and head home.

Between my last two blog posts, I hope I’ve given you a sense of how much fun the Rainbow Falls OHV Area is. If you’re in the Colorado Springs area, it’s definitely somewhere worth checking out. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg for riding here in Colorado! Thousands upon thousands more miles of trails and forest roads are out there to be explored.

Note from Cody:

Check back often – I’m already in a new area of Colorado right now, riding some incredible alpine trails high up in the mountains! I’ll be writing about it soon…