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FLIGHT OF ICARUS
| RATING
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 Descending the singletrack to the cattle tanks MORE RIDE PICTURES |
COMMENTS: What an awesome ride. The whole ride can be riden as a loop, but it is a very long ride with a lot of cliimbing. The most common ride includes a shuttle. The start is at Douglas Pass. There are epic long sections of single track with a total 4000 foot descent! Tune up your brakes for this one. You can't beat the views from the ridge.
The Bureau of Land Management has recently closed the ride to bikes an put up signs to this effect. As far as we know there was not public input to this decsion. This multi-use trail was first riden by the Over the Edge group and a GPS was used by the B.L.M. to avoid private land (according to our sources). Maybe they will reopen this great ride soon. Email the BLM and encourage them to allow mountain bikes on this trail.
Catherine Robertson
Grand Junction Field Office Manager
970-244-3000
Catherine_Robertson@co.blm.gov
STARTING POINT: Douglas Pass is located north of Fruita. Take I-70 west from Grand Junction. Exit at the Loma exit and head north (right) on highway 139 for 22.7 miles to a parking area at hay Canyon. The ride is usually ridden as a shuttle. Leave a car at the parking and continue up to the top of the pass. The pass is about 33.5 miles north of I-70. Leave the car at the top of the pass. If you do not have two cars, you may try to hitchhike back up to the pass at the end of the ride.
RIDE TYPE: SHUTTLE. STRONG RIDERS MAY CLIMB THE PAVED ROAD TO MAKE A VERY LONG LOOP
TRAIL TYPE: SINGLE TRACK 75%, DOUBLETRACK 5%, IMPROVED DIRT ROAD 20% (LOOP is about 40% PAVED)
ELEVATION CHANGE: 1458 foot gain with 3928 foot loss (riden as a loop 4131 feet up and down)
DISTANCE: 14.4 miles (riden as a shuttle), 25.2 miles (riden as a loop up the paved road)
APPROXIMATE RIDE TIME: 3-4 hours
DIFFICULTY: Advanced with many technical sections of singletrack.
| Douglas Pass | 0 miles | 39º 35.863' N | 108º 48.272' W |
| Road forks (go right) | 2.6 miles | 39º 36.351' N | 108º 46.369' W |
| Jeep road turnoff (easy to miss) | 5.6 miles | 39º 35.714' N | 108º 44.228' W |
| Singletrack begins downhill | 6.8 miles | 39º 34.821' N | 108º 43.855' W |
| Cattle tank #1 | 8.5 miles | 39º 33.481' N | 108º 43.618' W |
| Cattle tank #2 | 10.3 miles | 39º 32.000' N | 108º 44.444' W |
| Cross gulley | 12.7 miles | 39º 30.861' N | 108º 44.246' W |
| Cross gulley to parking lot | 14.2 miles | 39º 29.756' N | 108º 44.858' W |
| Parking Lot | 14.4 miles | 39º 29.848' N | 108º 45.000' W |
RIDE DESCRIPTION: This description is for the shuttle ride from Douglas Pass back to highway 139. Park at the pass and begin the ride up the improved dirt road to the east. A odometer is very helpful on this ride. Climb 2.6 mile to a fork in the road. Take the right fork and continue on the improved road. Great views are seen from this ridge. At mile 5.6, just before you crest a hill, look for a jeep track on the right. Take a right down the track and you will be heading south. Continue along the doublertrack until mile 6.8. There are BLM trail closure signs here. The ride now becomes one of the best singletrack descents around. Ride down the ridge. The trail can bee loose here, so be careful. When the ridge flattens, there is a cattle tank at mile 8.5. You pass a second tank at mile 10.3. Shortly after tank #2 the trail turns to the west and starts a steep techinical descent into the valley. At mile you have reached the valley floor and cross a deep gulley at mile 12.7. Continue straight down the valley. As you get past mile 14 you will see your car in the parking area to the west. when you reach a fence at mile 14.2 cross the gulley and ride into the parking lot at mile 14.4.
If you are doing the loop, hit the paved road a pay for the downhill.
MAP OF RIDE: [HIGH RESOLUTION MAP (7.5 minute)] [HIGH RESOLUTION MAP (100K)]
