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Meadow Mountain Loop

RECOMMENDED ROUTE
Intermediate/Difficult Intermediate/Difficult
 4.5 (52)
  1. Areas
  2. CO
  3. …Central Rockies
  4. Vail
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“A great loop with a big climb, big views, and big aspens. ”

Ryan Williams
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Map Key

10.3

Miles

16.6

KM

70%

Singletrack

9,749' 2,971 m

High

7,749' 2,362 m

Low

2,088' 636 m

Up

2,088' 636 m

Down

8%

Avg Grade (4°)

24%

Max Grade (13°)

Dogs Unknown

E-Bikes Not Allowed

Whiskey Creek (the second half of this loop) is closed until June 20 for Elk calving.

Overview

This ride has a bit of everything: a long grind up a dirt road through open meadows, a little historic cabin, a fabulous descent through a large aspen forest, and more singletrack on the new Everkrisp (opened July 2019).

Need to Know

Though Whiskey Creek was once closed to mountain bikes, thanks to the new Everkrisp trail, this awesome loop is fully open to mountain bikers as of summer 2019!

Description

The 2,000+ climb starts right from the parking lot up the Line Shack trail, and basically doesn't end until you get to the high point, at an old "line shack" that appears to be frequently used as a winter hideaway. There's a wood stove and primitive sleep & cooking space.

From there, the singletrack begins down Whiskey Creek, and you have 4 miles of fun through the aspen forest. The trail is a little rutted in places, but not bad. Take it down to the Everkrisp trail and hang a right. This will loop you back to the parking lot.

This is a heck of a climb with a fun/technical descent.

History & Background

In the 1920's, the meadows were the property of the Everkrisp Lettuce Company (I kid you not - Minturn was "the lettuce capital of America"). In the early 1960's, it was the Meadow Mountain ski area. Vail bought it and ran it for a few more years before giving up due its lower elevation and east-facing slopes.

Shared By:

Ryan Williams with improvements by Nick Wilder and 1 other
Full Details

Trail Ratings

  4.5 from 52 votes

#1

in Vail

#320

Overall
  4.5 from 52 votes
5 Star
56%
4 Star
40%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
4%
1 Star
0%
Recommended Route Rankings

#1

in Vail

#102

in Colorado

#320

Overall
7 Views Last Month
11,849 Since Jul 12, 2019
Intermediate/Difficult Intermediate/Difficult
2%
2%
17%
64%
15%
0%
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Photos

The Line Shack at the top of the climb.
Jul 21, 2019 near Minturn, CO
Fabulous aspen section.
Sep 19, 2015 near Minturn, CO
Miles of this. Awesome.
Nov 6, 2012 near Minturn, CO
Flow with a view
Jul 13, 2019 near Minturn, CO
Looking northeast just a few yards from the line shack.
Oct 3, 2015 near Minturn, CO
Finishing the climb up Meadow Mountain.
Sep 19, 2015 near Minturn, CO

6 Comments

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Add Your Check-In

Check-Ins

Oct 15, 2024
Atsuko Ohtake
Oct 14, 2024
Taylor Ausec
Great trail! Very rooty, but a good challenge. — 2h 30m
Jul 7, 2024
Lautz Lautzenheiser
10.3mi — 2h 00m
Jun 23, 2024
Dan 60D5H411
With Owen, Eliana, Tina
Aug 20, 2023
Private User
Aug 13, 2023
Zach Sforzo
10.6mi — 2h 20m
Jul 22, 2023
Corey Adams
2h 23m
Jul 15, 2023
Andrew Vega

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