Red Hill Sampler

Dogs Off-leash

E-Bikes Not Allowed

Features Drops/Jumps · Views

Beautiful views and a significant number of technical features make this network one of the more interesting places to ride in the area.

Parking is plentiful and free in a large lot right off Highway 82 at the bottom. Hikers and trail runners on trails. Not allowed on B-line.

Red Hills has the most technical, classic cross country riding that Carbondale has to offer!

There's no real warm up before you start chugging up the red sandstone switchbacks on Lower Three Gulch, so be prepared for a proper old-school technical climb. If that's your jam, you've come to the right place! Enjoy the punchy, rocky ascent, and while you're catching your breath be sure to glance over your shoulder for some killer views of Carbondale and Mt. Sopris. There's a final steep, rocky pitch just before the top of the main climb, so put it in low gear and stand on those pedals!

After reaching the top, the terrain flattens out onto the new and improved Upper Blue Ribbon, before some (mellower) climbing to the summit. Be sure to check out the Mushroom Rock vantage below you; the view is incredible. From here, you turn onto Skeeter's Ridge for a swoopy, rocky descent to the intersection with the Upper Fairie trail, where the fun really begins! Enjoy the rip down the gully, and when you come to the 4-way intersection of Fairie and Bogus, be sure to hang a left; the Fairie trail is best ridden in a clockwise direction. Catch your breath at the Biker's Lounge, and then head on out to the Elk Traverse and the Outer Loop (again, ride it clockwise).

Rejoin the Elk Traverse and take a left, riding all the way to the intersection of the Northside Loop and Big Top. Once you take a left onto Big Top, you'll be heading back towards the front side, taking Big Top to Sage Loop, and then the Elk Traverse back downhill to the intersection of Bogus and Fairie. Climb back up Bogus, staying left at the next intersection to bring you back to Blue Ribbon.

Blue Ribbon is an awesome, rocky rush of a downhill, utilizing the best of the terrain that Red Hills has to offer. If you're feeling a less technical descent, you can return down 3 Gulches (just as much fun going down as it is up). At the bottom of Blue Ribbon you get to B-Line, a new downhill only mtb trail that pops you out back at the parking lot after some steep, tight switchbacks.

This sampler combines the best that Red Hills has to offer, and is a very fun combination of skill levels and almost every trail feature you can think of.

In a Special Recreation Management Area. Owned by the BLM, numerous fundraising efforts have contributed to its acquisition and management by the Aspen Valley Land Trust, even though it lies entirely outside of Pitkin County and is located within Garfield county on the edge of Carbondale.