Review Date
August 2, 2012

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: steve ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
A blast. Did in late July and it was pretty sweaty at about 82. Bunch of fun

Recommended Route:
All lefts and make sure to hit the Rib Cage.

Review Date
April 24, 2012

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: JohnMuirJr. ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
These trails are awesome- they combine smooth flowy singletrack, a bit of rocky terrain, and of course the famous natural pumptrack of Ribcage.

Recommended Route:
Take thew outer loop (clockwise) and make sure you hit Ribs.

Review Date
November 8, 2010

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: stormpeakco ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
What a great time and worth the scenic drive through Ridgway from Northwestern CO when the weather begins to get iffy up north particularly if you incorporate it with rides in Fruita-Bookcliffs and GJ-Tabeguache (stayed in MontRose two nights). This definitely lives up to it's growing and well regarded reputation.

Recommended Route:
All mentioned previously by others and the great guys at Kokopelli bike in Cortez, great shop and nice folks... for the first time down there for a day trip Ledges was too fun. The 'youtube' videos of the Ribcage just can't reflect it's due justice. Starting off just past the pay station, a brilliantly colored red fox provided an added attraction and made me less concerned about the gun shooting range to the west(after 15 minutes, one could no longer hear nor be concerned with the gun shots).

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Haven't tried any others but I'll be back for a longer, more extensive trip in spring and later in autumn (the Stoner-Mesa area sounds worth it as well).

Review Date
October 22, 2010

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Reviewed by: monkeyboy ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Hard to add much more to the already glowing reviews about this place. Definitely worth checking out and supporting (paying the minimal fee).

Lots of variety of riding packed into this little desert area but there
are no big climbs or hard technical, if those are your bag. They have
done a great job of utilizing the available space to maximize trail
mileage without making it feel one dimensional or overly contrived.

There are some great viewpoints and views on this ride (Mesa Verde,
Sleeping Ute Mtn, etc). Even got to see a couple small tarantulas
crawling about.

Recommended Route:
I did the "all lefts". I am pretty sure it is one way only on these trails which is really nice for cutting loose. The Ledges loop adds a pretty decent upper body pump without being terribly technical. The Stinking Creek loop is one of the best 5-6 miles of trail anywhere. And of the course, the "Ribs" will make your ribs hurt from laughing out loud (or really hurt if you auger in, but they aren't that hard/scary). At the end there was a left turn I didn't take that was called "2 More" that wasn't on my Singletracks map... I was already kinda tired (23 miles/1500 ft vert) and running out of time, but can only imagine it goes 2 more fun. Next time...

Review Date
October 12, 2010

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: jstaples ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Phil's is just plain fun riding! No killer climbs, a few light technical areas, and miles and miles of sweet, smooth, swooping singletrack. Cortez tends to get overlooked because Durango gets all the hype, but if you are in the area you want to give this a run.

Recommended Route:
The trail system is all one way. Take all your lefts to hit everything. If you only have an hour skip Lemonhead (the first left after the main trail starts) and turn left at Abajo to hit the ribs.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Sand Canyon - South of Cortez, 12 miles down McElmo Canyon.
Italian Canyon - Part of the Boggy Draw trail system in Dolores.