Review Date
April 4, 2012

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: Soundtallica ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Still stands as the best Boulder-area trail. The climb up Bitterbrush is a rock garden and very technical, but fun. If you can clean this climb, you're a pretty damn good rider. Up top, the Nelson Loop is fast and flowy, with many small rollers that you can catch air or pump on. The scenery is good too, and deer frequent this area very often. Antelope is a tight and twisty singletrack trail to another trailhead, and while it's excellent, it's not quite as good as Nelson and Bitterbrush. And the descent down Bitterbrush is simply awesome, one of the best I've ever been on.

Recommended Route:
Ride the whole thing? Use Picture Rock to connect Hall with Heil for an epic ride.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Picture Rock

Review Date
November 26, 2010

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: easymzm ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Certainly a Front range gem. A great ride with a diverse offering of terrain. The Bitterbrush trail has some excellent technical features that are challenging for experienced riders but can still be attempted by ambitious novices looking to up their game. After the initial technical rocky climb the trail becomes smoother hardpack. It is a joy to ride with excellent flow characteristics and beautiful views of the rock outcroppings that dot the landscape. The loop at the top is great either way though, if I had to pick on direction only (I usually ride it both ways) I would go clockwise. The loop trail is loaded with drainage features that translate into excellent little jumps that are great for pumping as well. The Antelope trail is another option for the ascent, especially if you want to skip the technical climb. The Antelope trail also makes for an excellent out and back detour. Though the top and bottom sections of Antelope are rocky fire road they are still very fun and there is a good dose of very tight singletrack in between. The singletrack is not too fast or too technical but it certainly tests your reflexes going down and makes for a good climb coming back up. You can also link Hall Ranch with Heil Ranch via Picture Rock Trail for a 30 mile ride.

Recommended Route:
Up Bitterbrush. Top loop clockwise then counter clockwise. Snack at the base of the loop. Back down with a little out and back detour on Antelope trail before descending down to the parking lot back down Bitterbrush

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Heil Ranch

Review Date
December 1, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: enso ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This trail gives you a lot of bang for your buck. The best thing about it is that you get both a technical and a ripping hardpack descent on the same ride. The first climb on Bitterbush through the rock garden is an excellent chance to hone your technical climbing skills - it is all cleanable, but has some seriously challenging spots. After the initial climb, you are rewarded with a quick descent before beginning a long section with moderate elevation gains. Mostly hardpack, you will find plenty of small rocky sections as well.

Go left at Nelson loop, because the descent on the backside rips - burms and hardpack create a fast and smooth blast. I recommend doing the loop twice - you've come this far. After retracing your steps to the rock garden, you get to pick your way down to the parking lot. Sick ride.

Recommended Route:
Park at Bitterbush. Take it to Nelson loop. Left at loop. I found completing an out and back on Antelope less than rewarding. It is more of a rocky fire road from what I could tell from going half way down before ditching it and turning around. If you want to lengthen the ride, double up on Nelson, or do one lap in each direction.

Review Date
August 6, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: gigante32 ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
This is really one of the killer Front range Trails, it gives you everything in less than 10 miles. You can start on the front side, with Bitterbrush, and get killed, or start off at Antelope, and ease in. Either way, it can be tough, but the reward is on the return downhill. What a blast!

Review Date
September 17, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: Ansible ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Mostly smooth and flowy XC trail, except for the lower part of bitterbrush which is rocky and technical. You can bypass the technical part of bitterbrush by going up the antelope trail instead. The challenging rocks on bitterbrush keep me coming back though, recommended if you like technical riding. Beginners and maybe intermediates should stick with the antelope side.

Recommended Route:
I like to start on the bitterbrush side, ride up to the nelson loop, then down antelope and back up again, then finish with the rocky downhill on bitterbrush.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
The 'ranches' - Heil, Walker, White. Also Betasso is fun.