Planning a trip from Calgary to Fruita/Moab - suggestions please!

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Planning a trip from Calgary to Fruita/Moab - suggestions please!
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Posted: Mar 12, 2010 at 12:41 Quote
I am contemplating a mountain bike safari from Calgary to Fruita/Moab. Looking for suggested rides to do along the way. Of course and ideal scenario is a loop of sorts.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

The 20 hours to Fruita is giving me grief - does anyone have suggestions on how they managed this? Opinions on flying to Denver or Salt Lake City?? Not sure if that would be worthwhile or not.

I have heard the riding is incredible...spending 50 hours in a car over a week seems tough. Not sure what best strategy is - drive through or look for options along the way and break things up.

I have looked at the IMBA page for their list of epics. Has anyone ridden any of the following:

Curt Gowdy State Park Cheyenne, WY
Buffalo Creek Trails, Pine, Colorado
Mid Mountain Trail, Park City, Utah
Loon Lake Trail Epics, McCall, ID
Telegraph Trails, Durango, Colorado

Any beta or suggestions are welcomed - rides to hit, avoid, time of year, etc.

I also sport climb (5.10 on a good day) and hike. May have a motorhome.

Thanks in advance for replies!!

Posted: Mar 12, 2010 at 15:50 Quote
I've ridden in Fruita a lot but have driven to it from Vancouver.

You've said nothing about how long you have or what time of the year you\re thinking of doing it.

Every trail you've mentioned there except for the SLC trail is out of the way and adds to the already long drive you have.

More info please and I'll try to provide some beta.


fiftyfour-46 wrote:
I am contemplating a mountain bike safari from Calgary to Fruita/Moab. Looking for suggested rides to do along the way. Of course and ideal scenario is a loop of sorts.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

The 20 hours to Fruita is giving me grief - does anyone have suggestions on how they managed this? Opinions on flying to Denver or Salt Lake City?? Not sure if that would be worthwhile or not.

I have heard the riding is incredible...spending 50 hours in a car over a week seems tough. Not sure what best strategy is - drive through or look for options along the way and break things up.

I have looked at the IMBA page for their list of epics. Has anyone ridden any of the following:

Curt Gowdy State Park Cheyenne, WY
Buffalo Creek Trails, Pine, Colorado
Mid Mountain Trail, Park City, Utah
Loon Lake Trail Epics, McCall, ID
Telegraph Trails, Durango, Colorado

Any beta or suggestions are welcomed - rides to hit, avoid, time of year, etc.

I also sport climb (5.10 on a good day) and hike. May have a motorhome.

Thanks in advance for replies!!

Posted: Mar 12, 2010 at 19:00 Quote
leelau wrote:
I've ridden in Fruita a lot but have driven to it from Vancouver.

You've said nothing about how long you have or what time of the year you\re thinking of doing it.

Every trail you've mentioned there except for the SLC trail is out of the way and adds to the already long drive you have.

More info please and I'll try to provide some beta.

Initial thinking was late may or late September.

Duration would likely be 9 days. Leave Friday night return Sunday night.

All riders in good shape - able to ride 4+ hours with technical climbs no problem.

All riders on modern XC bikes primarily but also have DH bikes and gear.

Money not a primary concern but not unlimited.

Prepared to go somewhat out of the way for great trails but an experienced view point would be appreciated.

Favourite trails ridden would include Cox, Keystone Standard, Jasper single track.

PS - thanks in advance LeeLau - have used/appreciated your online resources in the past.

Posted: Mar 12, 2010 at 22:29 Quote
fiftyfour-46 wrote:

Initial thinking was late may or late September.

Duration would likely be 9 days. Leave Friday night return Sunday night.

All riders in good shape - able to ride 4+ hours with technical climbs no problem.

All riders on modern XC bikes primarily but also have DH bikes and gear.

Money not a primary concern but not unlimited.

Prepared to go somewhat out of the way for great trails but an experienced view point would be appreciated.

Favourite trails ridden would include Cox, Keystone Standard, Jasper single track.

PS - thanks in advance LeeLau - have used/appreciated your online resources in the past.

Nine days is a decent amount of time.

I'd bring the XC bikes.

It's huge country out there, distances are big. My advice is to go to one distinct area, spend some time there and explore it; get a flavour for it. Then use another discrete trip for another area, then another area etc.

Most of these trips or places are on my site, on my vimeo account , or on the web.

I'd break it up into these areas:

1. Fruita/Moab (or each of Fruita and Moab itself are so thick with trails that it's not a bad idea to spend nine days on each)

2. SW Utah (St George/Hurricane/Virgin)

3. SLC (combine this with a trip to Vernal)

4. Sun Valley

5. West Montana

6. Jackson and parts of Wyoming

I've travelled 1 - 3 pretty well and have tasted enough of 4, 5 I want to go back. I've heard incredible things about 6.

Talk about these things with your buddies, see what they think and then decide on one area. Dont spread yourself too thin

Posted: Mar 13, 2010 at 10:14 Quote
i took a 9 day trip from minneapolis, mn to fruita/moab this past november, drove w/ 4 others. stopped for a day of riding in fruita before continuing on to moab. fruita was worth it and would love to go back for a longer period of time, and the 5 days in moab felt like i hardly scratched the surface. trying to hit more on your way will probably stretch yourself too thin and you'll be left wanting to come back (not necessarily a bad thing...) driving took about 1 full day each way, made for ~7 days of riding.

bring the XC bikes or you'll be suffering more than grinning. you really have to earn your descents more often than not so a DH bike would be asking for it.

i went in mid-november, temps were 50s during the day, 30's at night (F not C) which was perfect riding weather for me. trails were practically empty that late in the season however some of the higher elevation trails already had snow.

Posted: Mar 14, 2010 at 21:25 Quote
Moab over rated but you have to ride slick rock and ups-lps-and porcupine rim ( may be the best trail you ever ride) Do rabbit valley - western rim trail fun and extremely scenic and a good trail inbetween moab and fruita. You will enjoy fruita and grand junction more than moab so be prepared and allow to spend more time there. fast long and flowy trails in fruita, a little more technical in grand junction - moab tends to have more sand and rock. most people who return a second time spend more time in colorado. there are nice camping areas at western rim and in fruita. if you are arriving on a weekend camping sites may be consumed. In fruita stop in at over the edge sports and they will give you the low down and have trail maps there.. Get on the bike before you go most rides start at about 13 miles and go up from there. definately go with the xcbikes.

Posted: Mar 15, 2010 at 17:11 Quote
willic wrote:
Moab over rated but you have to ride slick rock and ups-lps-and porcupine rim ( may be the best trail you ever ride) Do rabbit valley - western rim trail fun and extremely scenic and a good trail inbetween moab and fruita. You will enjoy fruita and grand junction more than moab so be prepared and allow to spend more time there. fast long and flowy trails in fruita, a little more technical in grand junction - moab tends to have more sand and rock. most people who return a second time spend more time in colorado. there are nice camping areas at western rim and in fruita. if you are arriving on a weekend camping sites may be consumed. In fruita stop in at over the edge sports and they will give you the low down and have trail maps there.. Get on the bike before you go most rides start at about 13 miles and go up from there. definately go with the xcbikes.

- I don't know that Moab is better then Fruita or vice-versa. They're quite different. Funny because they're so close but Fruita trails feel different then Moab's.

- Definitely agree that UPS - LPS - Porc rim is one of those oh-so-special trails you have to ride before you die but for added flavour pay for a shuttle to the 10K foot start of that ride at Hazard/Burro Pass. If you go in early May that may still have snow. If you go in late Sept you may get lucky and enjoy awesome fall colors.

- Definitely also agree that the Western Rim, Rabbit valley area of Fruita has some gems. I love the trails in Grand Junction too.

- As for what I said about XC bikes. I would have liked a 5 to 6" travel bike for the Grand Junction trails and for Porcupine Rim/Amasa Back. Lots of fast rock-strewn trails with square edged hits. So much fun at speed

Posted: Mar 22, 2010 at 2:35 Quote
Been to Moab and Fruita several times over past five years. Fruita trails are great. The trails there are absolutely dialed in for Mountain biking. Many of the Moab trails are shared trails. Despite this, Moab is in a league of its own. A little busy but we usually go in March and Oct/Nov. Great riding and AMAZING scenery.

The local bike shops like Chili Pepper and Poison Spider can help you with new trails, shuttles etc. I agree with previous, gotta do Slickrock and Porcupine(and do the whole trail! so worth the extra shuttle time). Also look at Amasa Back and Sovereign Singletrack, both excellent trails.

Definitely take a trail bike or all mountain to get the most out of your riding. You can do these trails on a hard tail but your wheels and body take a beating...even going slower.

The drive seems to take forever. I always say I will never do that drive again...and yet I keep going back! Yes...its that good.

Posted: Mar 25, 2010 at 21:05 Quote
I agree. Do sovereign. Do gps. We got lost for 3 hours so fun...

Posted: Mar 30, 2010 at 13:05 Quote
Did a 5-day trip to Fruita last May long weekend - unreal. You will not be disappointed, the drive is more like 17.5 hours (at least in a car - a motorhome will probably take 20 or more)

Advice - avoid Salt Lake City rush hour at all costs, it can be a gong show. If you have a full week, the drive should be fine - by the time you load up the bikes, go through customs, rent a car, etc etc etc flying becomes just as much of a pain in the ass - especially because it's still a decent drive from SLC.

You can order the "fruita fat tire guide" from Over the edge sports' online store, we used this to plan our attack in advance, and it's a good reference for when you're on the trail trying to find your way around. We did the bookcliffs area (Zippety do-dah, frontside, Joe's Trail, etc.) which was all the fast, flowy stuff - the Kokopelli trails are a 10 minute drive, and have some amazing views over the colorado river, more technical riding and climbing. "The Edge Loop" is an IMBA epic, and was one of the most unique riding experiences I've had - highly recommend it, be sure to bring lots of water.

Only regret was not spending more time in the area, and hitting Moab - yes, the drive is a killer, but so worth it.

Posted: Apr 12, 2010 at 14:34 Quote
fiftyfour-46 wrote:
I am contemplating a mountain bike safari from Calgary to Fruita/Moab. Looking for suggested rides to do along the way. Of course and ideal scenario is a loop of sorts.

Does anyone have any suggestions?


We drove straight through from Niagara to Fruita and it was a bit of an exhausting 40 hours. We flew next time and it translates to more ride time so I would suggest looking into it. It's about the same to drive or fly once you factor everything in (except getting hit hard for freight charges on your bike/s on the way back). $350 USD to bring my bike back from GJ to Toronto. $50 down no issue. Fruita has the best riding I have ever witnessed. I've only been there twice but it's unbelievable. The riding in Moab in epic and riding up Porcupine and bombing down the other side is worth it if you feel the lungs are in shape. There's supposed to be some higher alpine riding in Moab similar to upper UPS that we didn't get to explore. My personal opinion if you want some great alpine riding is to mix up your trip with a jaunt to Flagstaff. As I recall, you can day trip from Fruita to Moab in maybe 2 hours. You can day trip from there to either Flagstaff, Sedona, or Prescott. I've only ridden Flagstaff and Sedona. If I were to hit AZ again, I would spend much more time in Flagstaff as the trails were a little more epic and flowing compared to the mazes of smaller trails in Sedona.
Crested in doable from Fruita in about 4 hours as I recall and another few hours will get you to Durango. In my opinion, if you've ridden one high alpine run in Crested, you've ridden them all (unless you're looking for shuttle/resort riding or freeride in which case there's a lot there). 401 is a decent climb with a somewhat mellow decent that doesn't quite pay back the effort in my opinion. In Fruita, the lunch loops are fun and make sure you make a day out of bombing down Kessle's Run, Prime Cut, Zippidy Doo Da, Mack Ridge, etc (even Mary's loop is a great epic ride when mixed up with some of the other trails). Some of those trails I mentioned are pretty damn close to the most fun you can have on a bicycle in my opinion. All for different reasons but I noticed that the common theme with Fruita is technical riding and flow. Two things I love in a good ride.
You could also switch it up and go to the Grand Canyon?? Depends on how much driving you want to do. If you flew into Grand Junction from Denver and day tripped to Moab, you could still get to Durango. The riding in Durango is awesome and the best thing about it in that on one ride you can hit desert riding, techinal descents over rock ledges and high alpine climbs. I regret not spending another week in Durango and also feel robbed by not exploring flagstaff more. The DH runs in flagstaff are pretty serious from what I hear (if that's what you want).
I almost forgot, from Crested, you can dya trip to a place near Gunnison called, Hartman Rocks?? or something like that. It's a great place to play for the day just watch the climb out of the first parking lot as it will kick you hard.

FYI:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=fruita,+CO&daddr=Crested+Butte,+CO+to:durango,+co&hl=en&geocode=%3BCcK4dIuL_kPpFdMaUQId0X6f-Snj0ziKPnJAhzGf8-fVGW4ANw%3B&mra=ls&sll=38.876601,-106.987782&sspn=0.028131,0.072613&g=crested+butte,+CO&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=7

Good luck and enjoy the ride of your life!

A.

Posted: Apr 12, 2010 at 15:17 Quote
neex - with all due respect you're describing a driving vacation - not a riding vacation!

Grand Canyon from Fruita is almost five hours. Flagstaff is another hour. Let's keep some perspective here.

Crested Butte is marvelous but it doesn't get clear of snow till late May - June

neex wrote:
fiftyfour-46 wrote:
I am contemplating a mountain bike safari from Calgary to Fruita/Moab. Looking for suggested rides to do along the way. Of course and ideal scenario is a loop of sorts.

Does anyone have any suggestions?


We drove straight through from Niagara to Fruita and it was a bit of an exhausting 40 hours. We flew next time and it translates to more ride time so I would suggest looking into it. It's about the same to drive or fly once you factor everything in (except getting hit hard for freight charges on your bike/s on the way back). $350 USD to bring my bike back from GJ to Toronto. $50 down no issue. Fruita has the best riding I have ever witnessed. I've only been there twice but it's unbelievable. The riding in Moab in epic and riding up Porcupine and bombing down the other side is worth it if you feel the lungs are in shape. There's supposed to be some higher alpine riding in Moab similar to upper UPS that we didn't get to explore. My personal opinion if you want some great alpine riding is to mix up your trip with a jaunt to Flagstaff. As I recall, you can day trip from Fruita to Moab in maybe 2 hours. You can day trip from there to either Flagstaff, Sedona, or Prescott. I've only ridden Flagstaff and Sedona. If I were to hit AZ again, I would spend much more time in Flagstaff as the trails were a little more epic and flowing compared to the mazes of smaller trails in Sedona.
Crested in doable from Fruita in about 4 hours as I recall and another few hours will get you to Durango. In my opinion, if you've ridden one high alpine run in Crested, you've ridden them all (unless you're looking for shuttle/resort riding or freeride in which case there's a lot there). 401 is a decent climb with a somewhat mellow decent that doesn't quite pay back the effort in my opinion. In Fruita, the lunch loops are fun and make sure you make a day out of bombing down Kessle's Run, Prime Cut, Zippidy Doo Da, Mack Ridge, etc (even Mary's loop is a great epic ride when mixed up with some of the other trails). Some of those trails I mentioned are pretty damn close to the most fun you can have on a bicycle in my opinion. All for different reasons but I noticed that the common theme with Fruita is technical riding and flow. Two things I love in a good ride.
You could also switch it up and go to the Grand Canyon?? Depends on how much driving you want to do. If you flew into Grand Junction from Denver and day tripped to Moab, you could still get to Durango. The riding in Durango is awesome and the best thing about it in that on one ride you can hit desert riding, techinal descents over rock ledges and high alpine climbs. I regret not spending another week in Durango and also feel robbed by not exploring flagstaff more. The DH runs in flagstaff are pretty serious from what I hear (if that's what you want).
I almost forgot, from Crested, you can dya trip to a place near Gunnison called, Hartman Rocks?? or something like that. It's a great place to play for the day just watch the climb out of the first parking lot as it will kick you hard.

FYI:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=fruita,+CO&daddr=Crested+Butte,+CO+to:durango,+co&hl=en&geocode=%3BCcK4dIuL_kPpFdMaUQId0X6f-Snj0ziKPnJAhzGf8-fVGW4ANw%3B&mra=ls&sll=38.876601,-106.987782&sspn=0.028131,0.072613&g=crested+butte,+CO&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=7

Good luck and enjoy the ride of your life!

A.

Posted: Apr 12, 2010 at 19:03 Quote
[Quoten]neex - with all due respect you're describing a driving vacation - not a riding vacation!
Grand Canyon from Fruita is almost five hours. Flagstaff is another hour. Let's keep some perspective here. Crested Butte is marvelous but it doesn't get clear of snow till late May - June[/Quoten]

leelau,

That's fair. I do think, however, that it's worth it to make these day trips. Maybe save AZ for another time and go the other way into CO. The ride time is much more flexible if not riding in the mid to late summer (yes, we rode the desert in July/Aug).
I was trying to offer an alternative in terms of putting the driving miles to better use rather than spending multiple days driving across (needless to say, I wish Fruita was 20hrs from here. Smile . When trying to ride 'on the way down' it can be a little more demanding and underestimating not being able to leave all your _)(*&%$ at 'home base' can be a real eye opener. We did a fair bit of driving but also rode almost every day and I think that making the stretch to include a few of the locales I mentioned it is well worth it. I guess that for us when we looked at how far we travelled to get to the trails, it was all worth it in the end. As I said, we did the drive straight through the first time and it was over 40hrs. Flying in and daytripping makes much more sense and ends up giving less highway miles and more riding. You can fly and day trip a bit for about the same price if you have a pile of guys in on the truck rental.
I had forgotten that the higher alpine stuff in Crested would be a no go for awhile due to spring thaw/runoff/etc. If hitting one end of things for the whole trip was the goal, I would stay in Fruita the whole time. What about a stop off in Breckenridge on the way down? You could ride Fruita every day of your life and never get bored. For me, Moab isn't worthy of the same attention as Fruita but some of the epic rides there are awesome. Ignoring the arrows and getting lost on Slickrock in the afternoon in July is not such a great idea but it did build a little character nonetheless.

A.

Posted: Apr 12, 2010 at 20:54 Quote
You see I agree with you that the Flagstaff area is fantastic but I think we disagree about the driving. I think the OP could drive from Calgary to say St George (20 hours) then hit

Hurricane
Gooseberry and area
Grand Canyon area
Flagstaff
Brian Head
Thunder Mountain (unbelievable views - one of those rides you should do before you die)

That, alone, could take up two weeks. That's without hitting Sedona trails which are also unreal.


neex wrote:
[Quoten]neex - with all due respect you're describing a driving vacation - not a riding vacation!
Grand Canyon from Fruita is almost five hours. Flagstaff is another hour. Let's keep some perspective here. Crested Butte is marvelous but it doesn't get clear of snow till late May - June[/Quoten]

leelau,

That's fair. I do think, however, that it's worth it to make these day trips. Maybe save AZ for another time and go the other way into CO. The ride time is much more flexible if not riding in the mid to late summer (yes, we rode the desert in July/Aug).
I was trying to offer an alternative in terms of putting the driving miles to better use rather than spending multiple days driving across (needless to say, I wish Fruita was 20hrs from here. Smile . When trying to ride 'on the way down' it can be a little more demanding and underestimating not being able to leave all your _)(*&%$ at 'home base' can be a real eye opener. We did a fair bit of driving but also rode almost every day and I think that making the stretch to include a few of the locales I mentioned it is well worth it. I guess that for us when we looked at how far we travelled to get to the trails, it was all worth it in the end. As I said, we did the drive straight through the first time and it was over 40hrs. Flying in and daytripping makes much more sense and ends up giving less highway miles and more riding. You can fly and day trip a bit for about the same price if you have a pile of guys in on the truck rental.
I had forgotten that the higher alpine stuff in Crested would be a no go for awhile due to spring thaw/runoff/etc. If hitting one end of things for the whole trip was the goal, I would stay in Fruita the whole time. What about a stop off in Breckenridge on the way down? You could ride Fruita every day of your life and never get bored. For me, Moab isn't worthy of the same attention as Fruita but some of the epic rides there are awesome. Ignoring the arrows and getting lost on Slickrock in the afternoon in July is not such a great idea but it did build a little character nonetheless.

A.

Posted: Apr 12, 2010 at 22:25 Quote
leelau wrote:
You see I agree with you that the Flagstaff area is fantastic but I think we disagree about the driving. I think the OP could drive from Calgary to say St George (20 hours) then hit

Hurricane
Gooseberry and area
Grand Canyon area
Flagstaff
Brian Head
Thunder Mountain (unbelievable views - one of those rides you should do before you die)

That, alone, could take up two weeks. That's without hitting Sedona trails which are also unreal.

You seem to have more experience in these areas than I do as I haven't ridden half the stuff you listed. The deciding factor is how much driving the OP is willing to commit to. I agree with you that many of these destinations can be biking trips in and of themselves but one thing I really like when on a bike trip is varied trails, varied terrain/difficulty. This is why I suggested Durango as I am in awe of how a desert trail seems to lead to bermed switchbacks in the woods which follow a river to a grinder alpine climb to a bomber tech DH run. I wish I remembered the trail (the beginning is a real loose grind through the desert and the locals are hucking bikes 15ft right beside your car in the lot (scared the _)(*&^%$ out of me as I had no idea there was a trail or a drop hidden up there). FWIW I think the higher alpine stuff near Moab is called, 'Burro's Pass' or something.


A.

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