Rocky Mountain National Park Trail Ridge

4 passes in 420 km, topping out at 1340 m

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Why this ride

A rider’s loop: clean exit, memorable middle, calm return. A 420 km loop that starts and ends near Aurora, about 8 h 44 of riding. On the way it passes Berthoud, near Nederland and Sheridan. The climbs: Near Berthoud, on the way back, near Evergreen and Rocky Mountain National Park Trail. It tops out at about 3,050 m.

Roadbook

1. Fuel stop near Aurora fuel

   Fuel at 0 km.

2. Near Berthoud, on the way back pass

   There the Rockies rise in a long blue wall, with Longs Peak standing out as a notched summit above the rest, and on a clear morning the contrast between the field in front of you and the peaks behind is sharp. Campion is a small, quiet community; Berthoud, about six kilometres away, is a small town of some six thousand people with a historic main street.

   Berthoud takes its name from Edward Berthoud, a railroad surveyor and engineer who explored the passes of the Colorado Rockies in the 1860s, and who also gave his name to the high pass on US 40 above Winter Park. The surrounding land is irrigated cropland, with fields of corn, wheat and sugar beets, and the Little Thompson River winds quietly through cottonwoods. Loveland, a bit farther north, is known for its sculpture and for its Valentine's Day postmark.

   For a rider, this is the doorstep to the mountains. US 34 runs from Loveland up the Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park, a beautiful, winding road squeezed between granite cliffs and a rushing river, which was devastated by a flash flood in 1976 and again in 2013. It is a road for caution: tight, shaded, and prone to rockfalls. Colorado 7 and 66 give alternatives into the high country. The plains roads here are dead straight, grid-like, and fast, with the wind blowing hard across the open country, often from the west.

   Fuel is easy in Berthoud and Loveland. The weather here can change rapidly: summer afternoons bring thunderstorms off the mountains, often with hail, while spring may bring sudden snow. Early mornings are the best time, with the sun low and the peaks sharp, and the air cold and clear. Set out before the traffic begins, fill the tank, and head west toward the canyons, with the whole range ahead of you.

3. Food stop near Nederland food

   Nederland is a mountain town that has never entirely decided whether it is a ski-resort suburb, a hippie holdout or a mining camp that kept going. The answer is probably all three. It sits at about 2,500 metres where Boulder Canyon spills into the high country, at the edge of the Barker Reservoir, with the Indian Peaks on the horizon. Once you ride in from the canyon, the first thing you register is how cold the air has become, even in summer.

   The name is old and slightly odd. In the 1870s a Dutch company bought a local mine, and the settlement became Nederland, Dutch for the Netherlands. The silver of nearby Caribou had drawn miners and mill workers here, and Nederland lived as a processing and supply place for them. Today the town is better known for its eccentricities than for its silver. A few days every March brings Frozen Dead Guy Days, a festival built around a man preserved in dry ice in a shed up the valley, and the town also has an old carousel hand-carved and restored by locals. I mention these because a rider doing laps on the Peak to Peak Highway should know the place has a sense of humour.

   The riding in and out is the draw. Coming up from Boulder, Highway 119 climbs Boulder Canyon in a long run of tight, rocky bends alongside the creek, which suits a middleweight bike and a rider who has not eaten recently. Past town, the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway runs north and south along the Front Range at over 2,500 metres, with a view of snow on the high peaks, long open curves, and not much else. Weekends bring cyclists, tourists and heavy bikes in numbers, so mid-week is better. Winter can close sections, and ice lingers in canyon shadows into spring.

   Nederland has a handful of coffee shops, bakeries and a few gas stations, so it is a natural place to refuel, eat and warm up before turning on to the higher parts of the byway. Boulder, about twenty kilometres down the canyon, has everything else. Altitude cuts engine power slightly, and the weather can turn in a few minutes, so pack a layer.

4. Photo stop near Evergreen pass

   The high point of this section.

5. Near Sheridan finish

   Southwest Denver ends abruptly where the plains slam into the foothills. Beyond it, red rock formations and pine-covered hills rise toward the higher peaks of the Front Range.

   The geology here is spectacular. At Dinosaur Ridge, near Morrison, fossilised dinosaur tracks and bones are exposed in the rock, and the ridge has been a source of important finds since the 1870s. Nearby, the Red Rocks Amphitheatre is set between enormous slabs of red sandstone, a natural concert venue with superb acoustics where legendary bands have played. The view from the top over the plains and the city at sunset is unforgettable.

   The rides from here head into the mountains. Deer Creek Canyon and Turkey Creek Canyon offer twisty roads through the foothills, while US 285 climbs southwest through forests and valleys toward the high country and Kenosha Pass. The Guanella Pass ride leads to Georgetown and over the pass to Grant, and the Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, further north, is the highest continuous paved road in the United States, crossing the tundra above 12,000 feet. Trail Ridge closes in winter, usually from mid-October until late May, and the park has used a timed-entry permit system in summer, so check before you go.

   The weather can be dramatic. Summer afternoons often bring thunderstorms with lightning and hail, especially in the mountains, so start early and plan to be off the high roads by early afternoon. The altitude affects both riders and machines, and the sun is intense. In spring and autumn, snow can fall without warning at higher elevations.

   The suburbs around Sheridan and Lakewood have every service, including fuel, food and motorcycle shops, and the stretch along C-470 has many stations. Traffic in the Denver area can be heavy, especially on weekends and on the roads leading into the mountains. Carry plenty of water and warm clothes, and enjoy the transition from city to mountains, one of the most sudden and dramatic in the country.

6. Rocky Mountain National Park Trail pass

   This is the broad ridge that separates the South Platte drainage from the Arkansas, a plateau of ponderosa pine, scrub oak and hay meadows at roughly two thousand metres, with the Front Range a blue wall away to the west. On a clear day, Pikes Peak stands out to the south as a great pale dome.

   The nearest towns are the suburban sprawl of Parker and the smaller settlements of Ponderosa Park, Franktown and Elizabeth. It is ranch country that is rapidly turning into commuter country, with new houses spreading across what were once grazing fields. Highway 83, the Parker Road to the locals, runs south along the divide toward Colorado Springs, a good road with gentle rises and sweeping views, although it fills with commuter traffic at rush hours. Franktown has an old-time feel, with a historic schoolhouse and the Castlewood Canyon State Park nearby, where a collapsed dam and red sandstone cliffs make a good short stop.

   For riding, this is the quiet plains approach to the Rockies. Back roads of gravel and tarmac lace the area, with long straights and rolling hills, and the sky is huge. Weather swings quickly: thunderstorms build on summer afternoons and can drop hail without warning, and in winter the divide catches snow when Denver sees rain. Wind blows steadily from the west, sometimes hard.

   Practicalities are easy, because Parker and Castle Rock have fuel, supermarkets and cafés in plenty. Treat this as the start of the day, a place to top up and warm up before the mountains. A morning leaving here with the sun low behind you and the peaks lit pink ahead is as good a start as the Front Range offers. Pronghorn and deer graze the fields at dawn, and hawks hunt from fence posts.

7. Rocky Mountain National Park Trail pass

   Parker is one of the fast-growing suburbs on the south-east side of Denver, a town of many thousands of people that used to be little more than a stagecoach stop. Despite the label, nothing here is a pass; the land is gently rolling and the nearest high peaks are thirty miles west, a blue-grey line of the Front Range along the horizon.

   For a rider, Parker is a launch pad. You get fuel, breakfast and a few kilometres of warm-up on suburban roads before you point yourself toward the mountains. Parker Road, E-470 and the interstates all converge here, which makes it easy to head north to Rocky Mountain National Park or west to the passes. Traffic is the one real drawback: Denver's southern suburbs jam hard at rush hour, and weekend ski traffic adds to it in winter. Leave before seven and you will be through the worst.

   The surrounding country has a quiet appeal. Open space trails and parks thread through the pines, and Cherry Creek State Park lies north with a reservoir, a prairie dog town and some good birding. Dawn light on the plains here is warm and golden, and in autumn the oaks turn a dull copper. Hail is a regular threat in summer, big enough to dent cars, and storms can blow up within an hour, so keep an eye on the western sky.

   If you are ending a day here, you will roll in from the west on a long, slow descent from the mountains, tired and sun-burnt, with city lights ahead. There is no shortage of places to eat, from Tex-Mex to pizza to breakfast joints with big portions. Pick a hotel near the highway if you want an early start. The altitude, around 1,800 metres, takes a day to get used to for visitors from sea level, so drink plenty of water.

8. Back to Rocky Mountain finish

   This one is a gate, not a viewpoint, and it deserves an honest description. There are no mountains here. On a clear day you can see the Front Range as a thin blue-white line far to the west, a hundred kilometres away or more, and it is a good reminder of how abruptly the Rockies rise from the plain.

   The practical value is fuel and a sensible start. A ride to Rocky Mountain National Park from the eastern side of the metropolis means a long run through suburban sprawl first, so it makes sense to top up here, where the stations are plentiful, the prices are lower than in the mountain towns, and the traffic is light early in the morning. Aurora, a big city of more than three hundred and fifty thousand, has every service, and Bennett is a smaller railroad settlement on the plains. The land is shortgrass prairie, dotted with pronghorn, prairie dogs and hawks, and the smell on a hot day is of dust and sage.

   The real riding begins later. The destination of the ride is Trail Ridge Road, which crosses the park at up to 12,183 feet, the highest continuous paved road in the United States, and is generally open from late May to mid-October, depending on snow. Rangers close it with little warning when storms arrive, so check before you go. Above the tree line, the road runs through tundra with elk, marmots and long views of the Continental Divide, and the air is thin and cold. Afternoon thunderstorms are common in summer, with lightning on the exposed ridges, so start early and be off the high sections by midday. Bring warm gear, because the temperature can fall by twenty degrees between Denver and the summit.

   If you are returning in the evening, the plains have a gentle charm of their own. Sunsets over the Front Range can be spectacular, and the wind often drops. Expect crosswinds, particularly along the interstate, and be careful about hail, which can arrive from nowhere in summer. It is a good moment to fill the tank and cool down before the last part of the day.

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