Best Mountain Biking Trails in Breckenridge

Breckenridge isn’t just famous for its skiing.  With 800 miles of scenic mountain biking trails within the vicinity of Breckenridge, it’s one of the best mountain biking destinations in North America. With aspen trees, beautiful mountains, flowy downhills, and rocky traverses, there’s a route for everyone in Breck.  Read on to find out the top mountain biking routes in Breckenridge and Summit County…

Section 6 of the Colorado Trail

Length: 8.5 miles, loop

Elevation gain: 1800 feet

Difficulty: Intermediate

The Draw: Ride one of the smoothest trails in the area which also happens to be on the iconic Colorado Trail which runs from Denver to Durango. This is a great moderate ride, not too short, not too long, not too hard, not too easy.

The Route: The trail start literally right across the street from Tiger Run Resort.  Once on the trail you will ride through a residential area and a pond and from there on, it’s really steep.  

Be sure to stay left at the first junction to stay on Vomit.  This 3 mile trail is steep and rocky for half of it.  The other half is downhill and will bring you to a junction with Hippo.  Stay left, then make a quick right onto Soda Creek.  

Once again you’ll reach a junction and turn right onto Horseshoe Gulch.  Continue straight on Horseshoe Gulch for a little more than a mile and until you reach the junction for the CT.  Turn right onto the CT and ascend a brief amount of climbing.  

Finally for the most fun part, descend the CT all the way back to where you started.

Getting there & back: Since this is a loop, parking and shuttling is made simple. If you have a car, park at the dirt parking lot on Revette just across from the pond. If you ride Summit Stage, get off at Revette Drive. The trail begins right past Tiger Run RV Resort by the pond. 

 

Slalom Singletrack + Flume

Route Length: 5 miles, loop

Difficulty: Intermediate

The Draw: Ride one of the flowiest trails in Breckenridge with wide berms, switchbacks, and a moderate grade.

The Route:     

From either the 7-11, or if you take the bus, you will head uphill on the road and Gold Run Road will be on the left (it’s the same as FR300).

Continue on this dirt road until you see a sign for Western Sky on the right.  Stay on this trail until it dead ends at a junction.  Head left around the gate and cross the dirt road to Slalom.  Now the real fun begins.  Enjoy wide berms, switchbacks, and a moderate grade until you emerge from the forest and reach a large switchback heading right.  Here is were Upper Flume starts.  From here there are a lot of options.  You can combine it with Upper Flume or Middle and Lower Flume, or for a longer ride, combine with Horseshoe Gulch and Soda Creek or the Colorado Trail.  I personally think Upper Flume is the best trail among Upper, Middle, and Lower Flume.  

Getting there & back: 

Park near the 7-11 on Huron Road or anywhere along that road up toward Gold Run Gulch Rd.  Or take the Purple route bus and get off at Olivia Lane. Head up the road briefly until you see Prospect Gulch road, a wide dirt road on the left.

Combine with: Barney Ford by starting at Carter Park.  From Carter Park ascend up Moonstone until you reach the junction.  Continue onto Barney Flow and then across the road on Barney Flow until you reach CR565 on the left.  Stay left on CR565 until you reach the road, go left, and then turn right onto Gold Run Gulch (FR 300).  Adds 3 miles one way.  

One of our favorites: For a fun, long point to point, skip Upper Flume trail and instead, head right on Toxic, left on Middle Flume, right on Tom’s Baby taking Gold Run Road down to Tiger Run Road.  Go right on Tiger Run to the start of Horseshoe Gulch.  Combine it with Soda Creek and you’ll finish in Summit Cove where you can catch a bus ride back to Breck.  

 

Flume Loop

Route Length: 6.5 miles, loop

Difficulty: Intermediate

The Draw: Get a variety of riding on rocky and smooth trails and get some amazing views of the Tenmile Range along the way.

The Route: Head out on the Tom’s Baby trail until you reach a junction.  Turn left onto Middle Flume then right onto Toxic Forest.  You’ll be on this trail briefly before turning right onto Upper Flume at a switchback.

From here it’s fun downhilling for awhile.  At some point you’ll run into Lower Flume, continue straight down it. Continue following Lower Flume trail once you reach the bottom.  

When you see the trail junction for Mike’s Trail, turn right and head uphill for a bit before turning left onto Middle Flume.  Follow this all the way back up to the very first trail junction you saw and turn left onto Tom’s Baby.  Personally, I think downhilling Tom’s Baby is the best part of whole ride. There’s also a fun flowy downhill section on Upper Flume, but a lot of Middle and Lower Flume is quite rocky.

Getting there & back: This route starts at The Ledge trailhead, which is easy to get to and has plenty of parking.  The closest bus stop to here is Tiger Rd an it’s a short ride to get to this trailhead.

Comine with: Horseshoe Gulch and Soda Creek, the Colorado Trail, or Slalom Singletrack

 

Horseshoe Gulch & Soda Creek

Length: 7 miles, point to point

Elevation gain: 600 feet

Difficulty: Intermediate

The Draw: This is one of the easier of the intermediate rides in Breck filled with beautiful mountain views as you weave through the valley floors. 

The Route: From the trailhead, head out on the obvious trail, passing through some shrubbery and eventually forest.  When you reach a junction, stay left and continue on Horseshoe Gulch.  

At the bottom of this fun little descent, turn right onto Soda Creek then at the next junction, a right.  Optional: for a more challenging ride, turn right onto Soda Creek instead of left and follow the trail and road to Aqueduct where you’ll turn left.

From Soda Creek it’s mostly downhill, fun, and flowy.

Getting there & back: This route starts just a few miles down Tiger Run road at The Dredge AKA Blair Witch Trailhead. There is a big dirt parking lot if you have a car or if you want to take the bus to the Tiger Road stop.  Ride east down Tiger Rd until you reach the trailhead.  

This route puts you out right at the Summit Cove stop where you can hop on a bus directly to Breckenridge, Silverthorne/Dillon, or Keystone. To get back to your car, take the Swan Mountain Express to the Breckenridge High School Roundabout stop, then switch to the Breckenridge to Frisco Bus and get off at Tiger Road.

Combine with: Slalom Singletrack or the Colorado Trail

 

Peaks Trail

Length: 8 miles, point to point 

Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced

The Draw: Peaks Trail is basically a right of passage around here. Though it’s technically downhill from Breckenridge to Frisco, this trail has plenty of steep uphill sections. Though it’s considered an intermediate trail, Peaks is filled with lots of rocks mixed in with some smooth sections. 

The Route: You have two options to get to Peaks Trailhead.  Either take the FreeRide bus to Peak 7 on the Black Express Route or bike from the transit center in Breck.  

If you bike, head up Ski Hill Rd until you see a trail sign on the right on a switchback.  Cross the bridge and follow Gold Digger until you see a sign for Toad Alley which will bring you right to the trailhead of Peaks.  

From the trailhead, head straight out on the trail (don’t go right) and enjoy the famous Breck trail.  The trail starts of with about 1 hour. of climbing over rocky terrain then becomes more gradual uphill and downhill. Finish at Rainbow Lake. 

If you want a huge challenge, ride this in reverse by starting at Rainbow Lake in Frisco and then head south on Peaks trail towards Breck.

Getting there & back: The Summit Stage bus system makes for extreme ease when getting to and from Peaks Trail. Since it is a point to point you will need to ride the bus once.  Peaks is much easier if ridden from Breck to Frisco so if you are in Breckenridge, you will want to ride the Frisco to Breckenridge bus back at the end and vice versa.  If you’re in Frisco, take the bust to start. 

The Peaks trail is also a popular hike to do in Summit Co.

Aspen Alley

Route Length: 4 miles, out and back

Difficulty: Intermediate

The Draw: Aspen Alley might be the absolute best mountain biking trail in all of Breck due to the stunning aspen groves and perfectly smooth trail. On Aspen Alley, you will get to ride through one of the most spectacular Aspen groves in all of Breckenridge. This trail is fast and flowy and has little to no rocks. Really the only difficulty on this trail is getting up, and even that can be avoided with the free buses. It’s one of the stoutest MTB ascents in the area and endurance is necessary to get up it before you can turn around, head down, and enjoy the ride. 

The Route: If you are starting from the Ice Rink, head out on the trail on the backside of the Ice Rink.  Follow the trail as it curves right and soon you’ll begin a steep, rocky climb.  You’ll reach 2 small junctions.  The first is obvious, just keep heading straight as opposed to a sharp right.  At the second junction, you’ll emerge from the forest momentarily and make a sharp left.  You’ll see a parking lot open up and here’s where Aspen Alley starts.  It’s a steep climb up but the downhill is worth it.  When you hit a dirt road, that’s where you ca turn around and enjoy the ride back down or combine with Boreas Pass and Bakers Tank before heading down.

Getting there & back: Access to this trail is easy whether you have a car or not.  If you’d like to ride the bus you can start and end at the ice rink. If you have a car, I’d recommend starting even closer at Breckenridge Sawmill Museum trailhead/dirt parking lot.  Don’t want to ride up Aspen Alley? Take the FreeRide bus from the Ice Rink to the Silver Queen stop and it’s all downhill.

Combine with: Boreas Pass + Bakers Tank

 

Boreas Pass to Bakers Tank

Route Length: 5.5 miles, loop

Difficulty: Intermediate

The Draw: Boreas Pass is a must do in fall! While Boreas Pass is not single track, the scenic views and tress that line the road are worth ithe ride.

The Route: I’d recommend riding Boreas Pass road first if you want to downhill on single track.  If you don’t care so much about single track downhill, start on Bakers Tank so you can take in the views better on Boreas Pass. 

Getting there & back: Start at the Baker’s Tank trailhead where there is a large parking area. If you are riding the bus, get off at Silver Queen and ride Bunker Hill to Boreas Pass where you’ll go right. 

Combine with: Aspen Alley

 

Barney Ford & Barney Flow

Route Length: 4 miles, loop

Difficulty: Intermediate/Advanced

The Draw: Fun whoops, berms, and obstacles fit for the intermediate to expert rider. 

The Route: Start this route from Carter Park, just a few blocks east of Main Street Breckenridge.

From Carter Park take the obvious trail up some steep switchbacks for less than half a mile until you come to a junction. Stay on the singletrack straight ahead and then right on Moonstone.

After some pretty easy climbing you’ll run into a road. Cross the road and start back on the trail but make the first right onto Luniata. On Luniata you’ll climb for 1 mile before crossing a dirt road and then take a left and descend a few switchbacks.

After the switchbacks take a quick right on a dirt road then an immediate left. From here it’s downhill in Barney Ford, back to the Junction of Moonstone, but this time look for Barney Flow. Enjoy some berms, jumps, and bridges of Barney Flow before heading right down the doubletrack Hermit Placer. From the road, it’s easy to find your way back down to main street.

Getting there & back: There is a lot of parking in Carter Park and the surrounding residential area. If you are riding the bus. It’s easy to ride your bike to the trailhead from any bus station in Breck. 

Combine with: Slalom Singletrack and/or Flume Loop

 

Keystone Resort

Length: Varies

Difficulty: Varies 

The Draw: Lift serviced mountain biking, anyone? While Breckenridge Resort is the more popular downhilling resort, Keystone is less crowded and equally as awesome.   Keystone has trails for all levels from easy to expert. Downhilling here gives you amazing mountain views throughout your entire ride and the trails are really smooth.

Our Favorite (+ easiest) Route:  Girl Scouts + Suz’s Cruise + Let it Ride to Celtic Way + Bluegrass + Sleepy Hollow + Ina’s Way

Getting there & back: Keystone is most easily accessed by lift. If you’re feeling crazy (or are on a tight budget) it is possible to ride up Keystone instead of paying for the lift. To do so, ride west of Keystone to Porcupine Lot.  Ride Jackstraw Road, a wide, steep, dirt road all the way to the top.  It took us 2 hours to ride up this!

Resource List For Breckenridge & Colorado:

• Colorado Road Trip Itinerary
• Best Fall Hikes in Breckenridge
• Things to do in Summit County in the Winter
• Things to do in Silverthorne, Colorado
• Hiking the 14er Grays: South Ascent
• Best Hikes at Rocky Mountain National Park
• Backpacking Maroon Bells
• 8 Reasons we love Ouray
• Fall in Crested Butte
• Telluride in October
• Using the Free Buses in Summit County

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