Young Gulch Mountain Bike Trail – Fort Collins, Colorado

 Young Gulch Mountain Bike Trail – Fort Collins, Colorado

Are you looking for a "gulch" ride?  Here at Young Gulch, located off of Colorado Highway 14 in Poudre Canyon (not far from Fort Collins), you will have the opportunity for a great ride.  This is a wonderful place for the mountain biker, horseback rider or the trail hiker.  The beauty of the area with the challenges that you will face make it not only fun but awesome for pictures of nature.  Don’t leave your camera at home, bring it along so you can snap those special shots to show your family and friends.

Young gulch is an out-and-back singletrack ride.  Now this isn’t a breeze of a ride, it is technical in spots and contains a great number of stream crossings.  You are in the mountains so you will be facing spring runoff which can make the stream crossing deep and dangerous.  It would be best if you rode this trail in early fall or during a dry period in the winter.  There will, most likely, be water in the streams regardless of the time of year but if you go in the summer or spring you will have a most difficult time crossing them.

The ride is cool and forested with the lower section being rocky and rooty.  There is curvaceous singletrack in the upper section.  This is a more technical than nearby Hewlett Gulch and Dadd Gulch.   But if what you are looking for is more than the standard paved track then you will truly enjoy this ride.  Make sure you bring plenty of water since you will be working up a sweat on this ride, particularly if you are biking or hiking.  Don’t hesitate to take a break and observe the area, you may see some wildlife or just enjoy the steams and beauty of the area.

This trail follows two streams up the bottom of the gulches, crossing them more than 30 times. It is almost impossible to avoid getting your feet wet if you are hiking. The trail climbs about 1,200 feet in five miles. It is a very gradual climb and almost seems level. It winds up the gulch through beautiful stands of cottonwoods and ponderosa pine tress, interspersed with lush grassy meadows. Wild flowers are abundant in the spring.

Fires and camping are prohibited within a quarter mile of the trail. For all practical purposes these activities are eliminated because of the width and the steepness of the sides of the gulch. You would have to climb out of the gulch to get the required distance away. However, there are many beautiful spots to picnic.

Trail length: 5 miles; Elevation range: 5,800 to 7,000 feet; elevation change: 1,200 feet.

This is a trail that you can both ride your bike or your horse and of course hike.

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