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Blue Sky to Indian Summer

RECOMMENDED ROUTE
Intermediate Intermediate
 4.2 (140)
  1. Areas
  2. CO
  3. …Front Range
  4. …Fort Collins
  5. Horsetooth Mountain Park
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“A short and casual ride, perfect for those after-work excursions. ”

Ian Stewart
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Map Key

11.0

Miles

17.7

KM

95%

Singletrack

5,796' 1,767 m

High

5,442' 1,659 m

Low

957' 292 m

Up

957' 292 m

Down

3%

Avg Grade (2°)

17%

Max Grade (10°)

Dogs Leashed

E-Bikes Unknown

Overview

Blue Sky is a very casual ride with great flow over lightly rolling terrain. It's essentially all singletrack with only one section of steps that most people will walk, though advanced riders can usually figure out a line. The Indian Summer loop adds a couple miles and a few hundred feet of climbing, and together they make for a perfect after-work ride that keeps you coming back again and again.

Note that Blue Sky does have quite a number of blind turns and the trail can be quite popular on weekends, so be careful.

Need to Know

Parking is run by Larimer County Parks, and is $9/day or yearly passes are available (find info here). There is an outhouse and water fountain. The parking lot closes at dusk.

Description

From the parking lot, you'll find the trailhead near the outhouse which you'll take to the right. Continue straight on the obvious trail and you'll go through an underpass around half a mile in.

At about 3.5 miles you'll hit the intersection with the Rim Rock trail. Continue straight (right) on Blue Sky to descend towards Indian Summer. Watch your speed, as the bottom of this descent turns somewhat sharply to the right on usually very loose sand.

When the singletrack becomes road, follow this to the left for about half a mile before the trail continues on the right. Shortly after you'll hit the Indian Summer intersection which you follow up to the right. This will climb up a few hundred feet on low-grade switchbacks before you get to descend back down on intermediate terrain.

At the bottom, you'll pop out where you initially turned left onto the road. Blue Sky continues straight ahead. Take this back to the trailhead.

Contacts

Local Club: Overland Mountain Bike Club

Jan 10, 2024: Mountain Biking in Northern Colorado this Winter

Dec 11, 2023: Action Alert: Your Input Needed for Larimer County Recreation

Dec 1, 2023: Colorado Gives Day is TODAY – Let’s ELEVATE our giving!

Land Manager: Larimer County, Colorado

Shared By:

Ian Stewart with improvements by Mojie Nixon
Full Details

Trail Ratings

  4.2 from 140 votes

#1

in Horsetooth Mountain Park

#167

Overall
  4.2 from 140 votes
5 Star
39%
4 Star
49%
3 Star
10%
2 Star
2%
1 Star
1%
Recommended Route Rankings

#1

in Horsetooth Mountain Park

#51

in Colorado

#167

Overall
144 Views Last Month
30,139 Since Apr 4, 2013
Intermediate Intermediate
1%
5%
81%
8%
6%
0%
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Photos

The view facing east.
Jul 20, 2013 near Loveland, CO
Be alert for rattlesnakes on this trail. This one was kind of aggressive.
Aug 13, 2014 near Loveland, CO
Lots to be said for a morning ride out to Indian Summer.
Jul 23, 2016 near Loveland, CO
Rainy day on the Blue Sky Trail.
Oct 8, 2015 near Loveland, CO
Headed north back to the Blue Sky parking lot.
Mar 10, 2016 near Loveland, CO
Looking south towards Indian Summer Loop.
Aug 28, 2016 near Loveland, CO

3 Comments

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Weather

Current Trail Conditions

All Clear 54 days ago
Add Your Check-In

Check-Ins

Oct 20, 2024
Kevin S
Sep 13, 2024
Christian W
Aug 27, 2024
Aidan Bran
Slow ash but it was fun, had a blast, the float sections felt awesome, like floating. 8.6mi — 2h 00m
Jul 7, 2024
Ethan Puerto
Jan 24, 2024
Daniel Hartwig
Open but muddy. Best to wait a few more days.
Oct 4, 2023
Daniel Domenick
Best flow lines at horsetooth — 2h 30m
Jun 19, 2023
Harry Barnes
Hot, bailed on loop. — 1h 32m
Apr 21, 2023
Lisa Bartner
11mi

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