Review Date
August 3, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: samjolman ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
In a word, EPIC! This trail has everything. Scree fields, hard climbs, rocky down hill bombs, tree runs, high altitude meadows, amazing views, even a section in a mountain stream. It is very, very fun and not too technical. It requires being in shape more than being an expert biker. But be ready for a long, exhausting day. The absolute best part is the view from the upper part of the trail (the first 11 miles or so). You are right at tree line and can see forever. AMAZING!

Full suspension will save your butt and body. I did it on a hard tail and am no longer a hard tail purist. After miles of rock strewn trail, I now realize the value of full suspension. I also burned out my front Avid brake. That made the last half pretty scary.

Start early (before 10 AM) to avoid storms. Definitely buy the $12 map in the gift shop at the top of the pass (or a local bike shop). Very helpful map.

Recommended Route:
We opted to do the Rainbow trail, which has a lot of ups and downs in drainage wash outs. If I wasn't exhausted, it would have been a lot of fun. But after 20 miles, it was close to miserable because of all the extra climbs. You can take the silver creek two track and save yourself the pain.

We parked at the Poncha Springs visitor center (where 285 and 50 meet). If you can, go south on 285 a little more and park at the gas station on the East side of the street. We saw a lot of bikers there. It saves you a little extra effort.

Review Date
July 9, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: wilcox510 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Best ride I've ever done. Overall not very technically challenging, just fast and fun. I was amazed at how good the singletrack was, considering all the use this trail gets. Even the double track was fun. The Rainbow Trail by itself would be a destination ride in most places, amazing up and down curvy singletrack in a pine forest. I didn't really think the climbing in the first several miles was very tough, I thought there were more difficult climbs just toward the end of the ride (obviously fatigue was part of that). If you are all about technical challenges and scaring yourself this may not be your ride, but if you like fast flowing singletrack (and lots of it) this ride is unbeatable.

Recommended Route:
Shuttle from Poncha Springs (unless you're way tougher than me), Monarch Crest to Rainbow Trail.

Review Date
July 29, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: singletrackminded ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
I was looking into camping info about spots on old monarch pass when I saw the review posted by some guy from Santa Cruz (in the old indexed posts.) In the review he claims that Downieville (CA)is the be all end all - and that Monarch Crest Trail is easy, not technical, basically a novice ride. So I felt the need to pipe in - because I grew up in Tahoe - rode Downieville all the freakin time (probably about 30-40 days worth) and still think the Crest Trail rules. So on to the review part...

As everyone has said - this ride is no joke because you start off with a 10 mile climb at a beginning altitiude near 11 grand. Its mellow enough for me cause I live at 10 grand in Keystone. But for someome from say Santa Cruz - there's not much air up there. The ride down is not all downhill - but mostly. Try it when its wet if you really want a challenge. But my point is - this is one of my top 3 rides ever - right up there with the Big Boulder ride in Downieville (ask somebody if you dont know) and Reno/Flagg/Bear in Crested Butt.

Recommended Route:
Shuttle service from the gas station / bike shop in Poncha Springs. Best to ride in small groups - as this trail seems to bring out the worst in mechanicals and people blowing up. Don't miss the Thai Cafe on Hwy 50 (with the big ice cream cone) - arguably some of the best Thai in Colorado - who would have know. The lady that runs the place wont let you leave until you are full.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Look into the trails that drop in to the Gunny side of the pass - still somewhat unknown so find out for yourself.

Review Date
October 27, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: imtnbke ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
A fabulous ride. A few tips:

Buy the $11.95 Monarch Crest Trail map from the High Valley Bike Shuttle (http://www.monarchcrest.com) company in Poncha Springs or from the well-stocked Absolute Bikes bicycle shop in Salida. What, $11.95 for one ride? Yes, it's worth it. The map has photographs that show what to do at confusing intersections. It can save you the long climb back up to the ridge that you might otherwise have to do if you take a wrong turn.

There is a gift shop at Monarch Pass, where you'll start the ride. I think it has bathrooms. But at least one of the employees there is rude; she lectured me when I tried to bring in my bicycle and myself to get out of the cold. No further patronage of them from me, thank you!

I did the ride in August 2004 and it was 44 degrees (7 degrees celsius) on the ridge you'll be riding along for the first several miles. You'll climb to 11,994 feet (3656m) on that ridge, and you're greatly exposed to high winds. So even it it's mild in Poncha Springs or Gunnison, be ready: it can be cold on the ride. I wore three top layers, including a full GoreTex jacket, and still wasn't warm enough until I got down to Marshall Pass, which is about 1,000 feet (about 300m) down from the highest point. You can get the Monarch Pass weather from the Weather Underground website, http://www.wunderground.com. Type 81230 in the search box (it's the ZIP Code for Gunnison) and look for the Monarch Pass link on the page that appears.

Recommended Route:
From Monarch Pass via shuttle.

Review Date
September 21, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: Vaughn ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
This is a benchmark ride. Top Ten all time. My loving and pregnant wife (otherwise she'd be riding)dropped me, my brother and his wife off at Monarch Pass, and went down and waited for us at Poncha Springs. Outstanding weather for us this early September. Ten miles of above treeline singletrack all easy cruising, but just beautiful. Camera is a must. We continued to Marshall Pass which is a bailout point down to Poncha, but we kept cruising southward to Silver Creek. A few hundred feet of painful climbs and a few miles of uncertainty about the correctness of our trail finding, but again a sweet payoff. Silver Creek has fast, technical, and faster singletrack. A few rock gardens.

We were confused when we came out to the Toll Road. My old Trails Illustrated Map showed the Rainbow trail taking off from the uphill spur, but after about 45 minutes of huffing up and down the hill there we figured out the Rainbow trailhead was just an easy coast 200 yards downhill from where we had dropped out from Silver Creek. Ignore the uphill right hand turn and just descend to the Rainbow trail kiosk. From there it is about 10 more miles of up and down until you hit the highway, then coast 4 or so miles into Poncha. That last ten miles will kick your butt. It is interval training that wouldn't be so bad if you hadn't already put in 20 or so miles. Overall, we cranked 37 miles.

Recommended Route:
We passed those other trail turn offs: Agate and Foose and those certainly looked inviting. ...another time.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
I would like to try continuing that Rainbow on toward Methodist mountain. Read that it was tough, but you never know unless you try.