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-->Fruita - Kokopelli Trails area
Overview
- Date Reviewed : March 2005
- Type of trail : Multiple connected Loops
- Distance as rode : ~15 miles
- Total Miles (Available) : >30 miles (plus connects to the 140 mile Kokopelli trail)
- Climbing Distance : ~950'
- Driving Distance : 14 hours from Stockton
- Difficulty : 6 (8 on Moore Fun) (Scale of 1-10)
- Trail Type : 70% Singletrack, 30% Rough Dirt Road
- Cardio : Moderate - Strenuous (Moore Fun)
Summary
A great trail system with trails for all levels of riders. The Moore Fun trail is some of the most challenging fun singletrack anywhere. Horsethief Bench and Handcuffs offer great intermediate trails with awesome views of the Colorado River and surrounding cliffs and Mary's loop is a fairly easy doubletrack/ dirt road that ties it all together. There are enough trails and enough miles here to satisfy just about any rider.
Location
Just outside West of Fruita along Highway 70. Take Exit 15 (Loma) and take the dirt road south of the highway to the trailhead. I suggest going over the first hill and parking at the second trailhead.
Videos
Low Quality (31MB)
High Quality (146MB)
Links
We started our day off exactally opposite of what I had planned and rode Moore Fun first. The guy at Over the Edge bike shop suggested that Moore Fun was more fun in this direction (sorry I couldn't resist). I'm not entirely convinced but I must say that this was an awesome section of trail.
Rod and Rob (in the distance) climbing up the switchbacks to the top of Moore Fun. The climb up seems longer than the listed 950' and includes lots of little technical twists to keep it interesting.
Rod and Joe still on the climb. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the more technical sections of Moore Fun. Video coming soon :) When we finally reached the top of Moore Fun we were freezing cold and even saw a few snow flurries flying by. Unfortunately Rob's knee was hurting bad so much he decided to turn back to the car.
The descent from the top of Moore Fun is a blast including many tight switchbacks, steep sections an impossible switchback and a 3' vertical step (up) which we all walked.
After riding Moore fun we took Mary's loop to Handcuffs and were treated to some very cool cliffside riding. There were a few slightly technical spots with some short steep climbs. I got the feeling we were riding this section oposite to what everyone else did.
Scott and The Other Rob on Handcuffs
Joe and Rod riding along one of the faster sections of Handcuffs.
We took Handcuffs back around to Mary's loop and the dropped down to Horsethief Bench where we took a short break near the river.
One of many gorgeous canyon views from Horsethief Bench trail
Horsetheif Bench was a fun/ fast trail beginning intermediate trail with a few expert technical sections thrown in. Overall it's a great trail which can be enjoyed by riders of all skill levels.
After we finished Horsethief Bench we zipped back to the car on Mary's loop. Unfortunately I was zipping a bit too fast and managed to get an pinch flat while flying down the Mary's trail doubletrack. This is a great trail area and I look forward to returning to explore it a bit more as soon as possible.
