Photo Essay: Colorado High Country Riding

In the middle of the summer, sometimes it’s tough to get motivated to ride around our home base of Boulder, CO.  Yeah, I know- it’s hard to comprehend (first world problems, anyone?)…  but when the sun is beating down and it’s close to 100 degrees, riding a mountain bike on trails with no shade can be a daunting task.  That said, we always have options, and yesterday morning a few of us headed up to a favorite high-elevation ride that’s close to town, and always seem to be empty.  We love the high-elevation riding in the Colorado high-country so much that we’re always trying to duplicate the experience of riding in places like Crested Butte, Park City, and Durango.

Golden Gate Canyon State Park is a hidden gem on the Front Range of Colorado, and offers riding for everyone.  One of our favorite loops is Mule Deer, a ~9 mile loop that gives you a little bit of everything: high meadow riding, technical rock gardens, and some lung-busting climbs that put the hurtin’ on you real fast!  We prefer a couple of loops, which makes it an 18 mile ride with just under 3,000 feet of climbing.

Yesterday we made the 45-minute drive, unloaded the bikes, and went for a 3-hour ride to have fun and take pictures.  Photography is one of our favorite things to include with a good ride, and we try to take out the camera for a handful of shots on all our Chasing Epic trips- especially the private/custom trips when we can capture moments you’ll look back on for years to come.

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AUTHOR: Steve Mokan

Steve is the owner (and founder) of Chasing Epic Mountain Bike Adventures, and contributes regularly to our blog. He's passionate about providing customers with incredible mountain bike vacations, and he loves photography and travel when he's not working. Truthfully, he loves those things when he is working too.