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Mount Falcon - The best of the singletrack

RECOMMENDED ROUTE
Difficult Difficult
 3.7 (82)
  1. Areas
  2. CO
  3. …Front Range
  4. …Morrison
  5. Mount Falcon Park
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“A tour of all the great singletrack on Mount Falcon ”

Blake Vanier
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14.3

Miles

23.0

KM

95%

Singletrack

7,834' 2,388 m

High

6,028' 1,837 m

Low

2,909' 887 m

Up

2,907' 886 m

Down

8%

Avg Grade (4°)

37%

Max Grade (20°)

Dogs Unknown

E-Bikes Allowed

Occasionally closed in muddy/wet conditions. Popular with hikers, and Jefferson County rangers have been known to ticket riders who exceed 15 MPH or ride aggressively.

Overview

This is a great bunch of singletrack. The initial climb is long but not terribly steep and there are sections where it mellows out long enough to let you recover a bit. There are some short technical sections but nothing that will define the trail. Some of the more difficult features are the water bars on steep sections but you can usually aim for a side if you want to avoid the full challenge.

Beware of hot days because there's not a whole lot of shade during the initial climb.

It can be crowded, but there seems to be enough room that it won't ruin your ride if you have a good attitude.

You'll often have to park along the road as the parking lot fills up quick.

Description

From the lower parking lot, jump on the castle trail. Pretty quickly there will be a turn off for a hikers only trail (Turkey Trot) on the right. Just stay left and you'll see some small water bars in the trail.

Now this is where you'll be wishing you warmed up more. There is a short but steep climb with some tricky water bars if you stay in the center. From here it'll be a lot more consistent. About halfway up there is a fairly rocky section followed by slightly more technical riding. Just hang in there and you'll be done before you know it. At the top of the climb there is a nice stone shelter for some shade and rest.

The trail widens up and becomes very casual and it'll take you up just a little bit more. Shortly after heading down, you'll pass by a standard open space wooden fence. This is where you have some options. You can continue straight on the castle trail and turn left on Parmalee to hit the nice singletrack. This route will shave off 2 or so miles from the ride i'm describing and avoids some steep uphills.

If you feel up to it, turn left on the meadow trail which is some casual singletrack. Stay right past the Old Ute trail and ride a little bit further until you see a turn off for Parmalee and Tower Trail. Tower Trail will take you to the top of Mount Falcon and supply some nice views from a small structure. If you go straight up the Tower Trail, it'll get the blood pumping. It's short but a little steeper than the Castle trail climb. You can continue this past the peak and to the meadow trail but you'll have to ride down some sets of steps that could be intimidating, so be careful. Biking this little loop in the opposite direction will require you to carry your bike up.

When you've finished the Mount Falcon summit, turn down the Parmalee trail. There is a lot of traffic on this trail so be careful of riders and hikers. This trail has a bit of everything so it can be a lot of fun. Going from this direction you'll have a challenging climb back to Castle trail. It's probably the hardest climbing you'll do, but it's not nearly as long as the initial climb so with a rest or two, you should make it just fine.

Once you reach the Castle trail again, you might as well run Parmalee the other direction. Now you'll have some fun downhill and moderate climbing back to the Tower Trail intersection.

Turn right back on the meadow trail and either head to the castle trail to head down or continue with the two last loops.

If you're continuing, head right onto the Old Ute trail. There will be a very short but steep climb with some more water bars until you reach the turn off for Devil's Elbow.

The hardest part of the Devil's elbow is actually the climb out from the loop. There's also a good amount of shade so this loop is the most likely place to see mud. The worst is right at the beginning and can make the climb all the more challenging. I like to go counter clockwise because there is a really fun, short down hill section. Once you're on the loop, there is a short climb and then some nice opportunities for scenic views of the mountains. Push through the climb back to the Old Ute loop and you've pretty much done all the major work.

The rest of Old Ute has some bits of down and up and some interesting sections that aren't terribly hard.

Make you're way back to the Meadow trail, hang a right to meet with the Castle trail, and make the long decent back to the parking lot.

Enjoy!

Contacts

Local Club: Colorado Mountain Bike Association

Land Manager: Jefferson County, CO - Open Space Dept.

Shared By:

Blake Vanier
Full Details

Trail Ratings

  3.7 from 82 votes

#2

in Mount Falcon Park

#223

Overall
  3.7 from 82 votes
5 Star
20%
4 Star
40%
3 Star
28%
2 Star
11%
1 Star
1%
Recommended Route Rankings

#2

in Mount Falcon Park

#72

in Colorado

#223

Overall
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41,642 Since Nov 5, 2013
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Photos

Who needs a fat bike?
Sep 16, 2017 near Indian…, CO
Near the Top of Castle Trail after climbing up the technical singletrack.
May 15, 2015 near Indian…, CO
Fog on a snow covered morning
Aug 8, 2017 near Indian…, CO
Midwest/Flat Earth Rider Tries Mount Falcon Climb...
Sep 6, 2022 near Morrison, CO
Near the 1st half of the climb
Dec 27, 2019 near Morrison, CO
Technical challenge on Old Ute.
Sep 16, 2017 near Indian…, CO

2 Comments

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Weather

Current Trail Conditions

All Clear 44 days ago
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Check-Ins

Jun 27, 2024
Mike Palamara
12.5mi — 1h 09m
Jun 19, 2024
Rob Jenkins
Apr 14, 2024
Jeff B
Busy day but people were chill. All clear except a few snow patches below the 1st shelter. 9.8mi — 2h 15m
Jul 9, 2023
Brandon Flock
14.3mi
May 28, 2023
Eric Roberts
Waaaaay to many hikers. Had to turn around!
Mar 21, 2023
Ryan Hamman
Still slushy and muddy in the shade. 6mi — 1h 00m
Mar 4, 2023
Xavier Hulbert
Snow melt has made the trail soft and easily damaged by tires. Hikers say it gets worse the higher you go. Had to turn back before the climb.
Sep 23, 2022
Jeremy Orr
Great conditions. 10.1mi — 2h 10m

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