Reviewed by: DouglasTParks ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This series of trails are to good to be missed!
Ride up Smuggler, turn left at top, up fire road leading to (road or singletrack downhill) Hunter Creek Valley. Fom there cross over to the right side of the creek, facing downvalley. Road to 4 corners begins

200 yards uphill from ghost town/mining houses. Ride 35+ minutes up from there, on the way you will pass intersection of Upper plunge and lower plunge trail. go left, uphill at the only fork in the dirt road. ( or stay Right to go to Van Horn park, and on to The Hobbit Trail)
Now comes the summit, or plateau of Red Mountain, which has many of the best trails in the whole valley.
If you stayed Left you will find 4 corners, with a choice of trails From the intersection: 1) Van Horn Park Trail 2) The Hobbit Trail 3) Lenado Trail 4) Secret Single track trails 1 & 2. 5) Upper and Lower plunge Trail 6) Shadyside/Sunnyside or: 7) Sunnyside.You will find the way.

How to get there:
Take hwy 82 to Cemetary lane. Cross the Roaring Fork River and park in the lot on your left.


From here, ride the paved Rio Grande Trail into Aspen to the base of Smuggler Mountain.

Recommended Route:
Ride Up Smuggler mine road, or Red Mtn. Rd. to Hunter Creek Valley. Then ride road to 4 corners. Distance: 16.00 miles (25.74 KM) Elevation Gain: 2000 Feet (609 Meters)

Other recommended trails in the same area:
FROM CASTLE CREEK VALLEY at Ashcroft, ride (Express creek Rd) to Taylor Pass, And on to Star Pass (south) or Crystal Trail,(West) to 12,000+ ft, and descending to Crested Butte. Approx. 28 miles

Reviewed by: Paul , from Park City, UT

Summary:
I am not sure who classified this trail as world class but they have obviously never ridden world class singletrack. This trail is epic, the climb and short single track to the top of four corners was great, the views were wonderful. However, most of the climb was jeep road. Once on top, Secret was nice, but I was so put out with the down hill. It was simply red dirt switchbacks all the way (well, most the way) down. You could never really open it up and let your bike fly like on Park City and Sun Valley trails. Does Apsen have a dedicated trail system foundation? If not, maybe one can be formed to build some amazing trails. The terrain is certainly there.
I was told by one of the local shops as well as some locals on the trail that If I could only ride one trail in Aspen, then Sunnyside would be the best. Wow, I am glad I didn't waste my time on any other trails. I left town and went to Fruita for the rest of the trip and had a blast.
I was so glad to get back home to Park City where you climb world class single track from 6700 feet up to 9000-10,000 feet and then smoke back down on more world class single track. Way to go Mountain Trails Foundation.. You guys rock.

Recommended Route:
Up Smugglers Mtn to single track, cross river, up shadyside (I believe) to road up to four corners. Took Sunnyside to Secret back to Sunnyside, up a long stretch until it Switchbacked down to Paved road, back to town on Rio Grande.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Maybe Crested Butte, definately Fruita although it is more desert riding. If you are headed out west, come to Park City, Ut, Sun Valley, Id, Moab, Goosebury Mesa, etc.

Reviewed by: Jim , from Golden, CO

Summary:
I was totally disappointed at this trail. It started out with a good grunt up Red mtn, followed by some sweet singletrack down into Hunter Creek, From there it was a long (1+ hr) gradual climb through beautiful aspens. I kept thinking about how sweet the downhill will be. Wrong! After a short teaser on some smooth singletrack the trail dropped straight down the face of the moutain. 2 handfulls of brake, ass off the back sh*t for 15 minutes and it was done. I hate long climbs for such short rewards. Should have turned around at the top and gone out Hunter Creek.

Recommended Route:
Out and back before "the drop"

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Snowmass Mtn (tom blake trl), government trail

Reviewed by: Vincent Talavera , from Englewood, CO

Summary:
This is a fantastic, epic ride. A long and difficult ride for less seasoned riders. I rode this in September 2001 right after the terrorist attacks. And after seeing the vistas and Aspen trees changing colors, I knew that there was still hope for this planet. A must do ride if your spending some time in Pitkin County/Aspen Area.

Recommended Route:
Start at the Rio Grande trail and head up Smugglers.

Reviewed by: brian rose , from Boston, MA

Summary:
Awesome ride. See the other reviewer's comments. Just wanted to add a second opinion. Probably a spectaular ride when the Aspens change color.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Gov't trail