MOUNTAIN BIKING: North Catamount Reservoir

Single Tracks →

Description

The trail begins with a short uphill climb and you will quickly come upon a gate to your left. Go through this gate and turn right. PLEASE NOTE: The gate is closed from October 1st until May 1st, which leaves you with the Elder Fehn Trail (Also good) to ride. Once through the gate travel south towards the Peak. This short down hill section is named the Limber Pine Trail. At the bottom of Limber Pine, turn left and travel across the dirt road to access the trail. The trail weaves through a wetlands area for a couple hundred yards and then leads into the forest along the banks of North Catamount. Through this section there are a couple good climbs that lead you away from the reservoir. Once you've reached the top of the last climb there is double track along a high ridge, which offers beautiful glimpses of Pikes Peak. The trail quickly descends a pretty beat up, rooted, washed out section and drops you into a dirt Cul-de-sac. A short distance away there is an intersection, which leads down to both South and North Catamount Reservoirs. Go straight and ride on Ridge Trail Road until you reach the dam. *There may be some single track along the bank of North Catamount, but the dirt road offers a quick pace and a moment to rest your legs.* Cross the dam and look for "Trail" signs on your left that will lead you back to the banks of the lake. This is a great section that meanders in and out of coves, much like Rampart Reservoir, but easier. Eventually the single track drops into another dirt Cul-de-sac. There are two roads leading out and one single track. The single track follows the lake, but is less defined. The less traveled road is also a good option. If you are beat, you can take the main road back out. The single track will lead you back to Limber Pines trail, which you would return on. The two roads entail an uphill climb that intersect with the Catamount road. Turn left once you reach this road. Once on the road look for an access point on your right hand side for the upper portion of the Limber Pines trail, which is also part of the Ring the Peak trail. This short portion of single track will take you back to the gate and back to the parking lot. If for some reason you miss the access point, you will eventually come back down to the reservoir where you would take the Limber Pine trail back up the way you came down. Please Note: I labeled this trail as single track because a large portion is. However, a quarter of the trail is on dirt roads.

Directions

There are a number of access points to North and South Catamount Reservoirs, but the easiest, in my opinion, is to head out of Woodland Park via Hwy 24 towards Divide. Turn left onto Edlow Road, which is about 2.8 miles from WP, and take that all the way to the end (3.5 miles). There is a parking lot with restrooms.

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