Elbert Creek to Goulding Creek

Dogs Unknown

E-Bikes Unknown

Climb up Elbert Creek, traverse Pinkerton-Flagstaff Trail #522, into the epic Goulding Creek descent.

This ride is best done as a two car drop. Parking one at the bottom of Goulding Creek down the highway and the other at the bottom of Elbert Creek. Elbert Creek is a beautiful climb starting off in the aspens. It has technical rock sections to the climb and holds a somewhat steep grade. All very pedalable but will get the heart rate up. Once you get majority of the way up Elbert Creek, you'll hop off at the road intersection and turn left on Elbert Creek Road - FS581 and ride towards Pinkerton-Flagstaff Trail #522. Pinkerton-Flagstaff Trail #522 will be your traverse trail with a good bit of smaller climbs throughout the loss of elevation heading towards Goulding Creek. Once you get to Goulding Creek, the real pure descent starts. Goulding Creek is quite a steep trail littered with switchbacks and tech sections. The top of the trail starts in a more alpine environment and has some fast meandering sections with little to no tech or features before dropping into the steeps, tech, and switchbacks. The switchback section of the trail is actually surprisingly fun! A bit of a brake burner but a blast to ride. There are some mellower switchbacks as well as some that are more challenging to get around. The same goes for in between each switchback as some are more mellow with the occasional root or rock thrown in and some have a bit longer root or rock sections. The entire switchback section is in a burn zone and is very beautiful.