Chicken Dinner Trail

Dogs Off-leash

E-Bikes Unknown

One of the newer additions to the Arkansas Hills Trail System, the Chicken Dinner Trail, was completed in December of 2016.

This non-motorized, multi-use trail is a southern extension off the Sweet Dreams trail. It begins on BLM land and continues east and south, finishing on CR177. The endpoint is on county land, near the Rocky Mtn Livestock sale barn and the Water Treatment Plant.

The trail is bi-directional with an elevation change of almost 400ft and features climbing turns, rollers, berms, and rock gardens. Although the elevation profile shows an almost constant downhill grade (from Sweet Dreams), there are actually several sections that are uphill and require quite a bit of pedaling to keep the momentum going and get the best out of the next section.

This trail is not considered a downhill flow trail; it's a spicy XC trail that rides well in both directions. Although heading uphill from CR177 is a two-mile climb, there are a number of ups and downs and breaks on the way toward Sweet Dreams, and this is a better uphill option compared to starting at the bottom of Sweet Dreams (which is very steep and rocky in places).

The Chicken Dinner Trail offers users an extended outing on the Arkansas Hills (S-Mountain) trail system, and it can be used as a connector trail to the east side of Salida and the Methodist trail system that starts at the Burmac trailhead just off Hwy 50 on the south side of town.

This trail was designed by Salida Mountain Trails and built by Tony Boone Trails LLC.