Review Date
September 1, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: fttvienna ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This trail seemed more intermediate than advanced. My family and I rode it. It was great! Really. Could not tell if you were riding up hill or down hill. Beautiful views. Great trail head
Watch for livestock. Start early you won't want to stop..............

Recommended Route:
Any way out of Campground

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Horse Gulch
Colorado Trail

Review Date
October 16, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: uofabill ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:

Five us rode this trail on 10/01/07 at the urging of one of our riding buddies. He said it was a "must do" trail. I think we all agreed.
We shuttled to the upper TH past the ski area and left a car at the Lower TH.
The upper part is spectacular, pretty wide and mostly downhill. Gorgeous Scenery, we were about a week early to catch the aspens at their peak.
I was expecting a lot of creek crossings, instead there are bridges over most of the bigger water which is sweet.
It took us about 4.5 hrs which included some stops for snacks and photos and general gawking at the mountain.
We'd been warned about "the climb out at the end." Just before that came we met two local, shaved legged, local guys riding up. They pointed back over their shoulders from where they'd come and said, "you're gonna have trouble back there!" From the way they looked we were pretty sure they were right.....they were!
The first part of the climb is close to impossibly steep but then turns into "just a hard climb," or trudge as the case might be.
In the end that was a acceptable price to pay for what came before.
It lived up to our expectations.

Recommended Route:
Shuttle to Upper TH and ride down to Lower Hermosa TH or Hermosa.

Review Date
June 8, 2007

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: Tag1 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
We did the Jones>Pinkerton/Flagstaff>Dutch Creek>Hermosa route that mtnbiketodd describes below.

We didn't want to shuttle so we wanted a loop. For everyone else's benefit - I wanted to clarify that after the initial 4-5 mile climb, you will PUSH and CARRY your bike over another appx. 4 miles of steep, uphill, unrideable trail. It's bad. Yes the scenery up Jones is amazing, and the last little 2-3 miles of single track down Dutch are great too, but NOT WORTH pushing/carrying your bike for at least 1-2 hours in the middle of this loop. Plus after the nice Dutch single track stretch which parallels the river, your back to a few more miles of pretty mediocre trail. This loop was a pretty big disappointment. 10-12 miles of climbing/hiking/pushing/being very pissed off for 2-3 miles of very nice singletrack. It's your call.

Recommended Route:
If you ride it, Go up Jones, and then up Pinkerton/Flagstaff, until you reach the T-junction with the gnarly rocky unrideable climb on your left - Then turn around and ride it all back down. Wish we would have done that!

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Telegraph>sidewinder>cowboy

Review Date
July 16, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: mtnbiketodd ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
I ended up riding the Jones Creek to Pinkerton-Flagstaff to Dutch Creek and back via the lower Hermosa Creek Trail.

I have to say the 4 mile climb up Jones Creek was amazing. The trail was perfect and I was the only sole out there. I could have spent all day riding up and down Jones Creek but that was not an option.

Once I hit Pinkerton-Flagstaff life turned gray. The trail was steeper and the cattle had made it pretty much impossible to ride. It is ~4-5 miles to Dutch Creek and I ended up walking most of it. Needless to say I was pretty pissed off which ended up being a good thing when I walked up to a black bear. We just looked at each other for a couple of minutes and the bear ended up walking off. Like I said I was pissed so I just stared him down.

Once I hit Dutch Creek and Lower Hemosa Creek it almost made up for all the walking I ended up doing. The ride took me ~4 hours.
This will take about 4 hours. Bring at least 120 ounces of water and plenty of food! The bombing descent down Dutch Creek is something that Robert Frost might have described if he were a MTBr. This ride is truely an epic, and one that will bring a smile to your face for the rest of your life!!! Get out and do this ride man!

Recommended Route:
If I did it again I would go up Jones Creek to Pinkerton/Flagstaff turn around and come back down Jones Creek. Then up lower Mermosa to Dutch Creek to Pinkerton/Flagstaff then back down.

Review Date
June 27, 2006

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: abegold ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
The first 7 miles of the Hermosa Creek section are on an ATV trail. It's well packed and the creek adds beauty. At about 10 miles it gets trickier and you'll start climbing the canyon walls. The second part of the ride has much more climbing and I'd highly advise energy foods to complete the ride.

Recommended Route:
East to follow, no map necissary.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Sand Canyon, Phil's World