This Clear Creek County mountain bike park is rolling | Trail Trax

Trail construction and maintenance season at Colorado's Front Range hiking and biking trails is in full swing, and for one Clear Creek County trail system, it is ... all, systems, go.

Phase one construction at Virginia Canyon Mountain Park (VCMP) in Idaho Springs, Colorado, was completed in spring 2022, which included a main, 4-mile climbing trail through the park's middle spine, offering trail hiking in both directions and bike uphill-only access.

Currently with phase two construction underway — which began in September 2023 — maintenance crews are continuing work on several newly-named trails, the Colorado Mountain Bike Association (COMBA) announced earlier this week.

"We’ve been working primarily on the bike-specific trails which will make up most of this system," COMBA Executive Director Gary Moore said in an email. "There are also multi-use and hiking-only trails in the plan, which we’ve been building as well."

COMBA helped the city secure a construction grant from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) in 2020 to build VCMP to the tune of $354,000, but the Mighty Argo Cable Car project — a proposed uphill shuttling gondola within the 400-acres plot at VCMP — stalled and COMBA was shy of the needed funds to continue building trails on the ground.

But the Trek Foundation issued a $250,000 grant to COMBA earlier this year and construction at VCMP pushed forward.

"Construction of the new trails in Idaho Springs has been running continuously since September 2023 with a combination of contracted trail builders from Flowride Concepts and McGill Trails, COMBA staff and volunteers, as well as some volunteer partners at Colorowdies and Renegade Trails," Moore said.

• Phase two will offer trails, West Downhill, Rosa Gulch Downhill and Buttermilk Loop when completed.

"Due to the steep and rugged nature of the city-owned property, construction has been difficult and expensive compared to other similar COMBA projects such as Floyd Hill and Maryland Mountain," Moore said. "We are still looking for additional funding for this project and would love to connect with any person or company that is interested in helping us complete the park as quickly as possible."

Roughly eight trail-miles, of 28 planned, have been completed to date.

"Our immediate goals are to complete the trail construction on the western side of the property so that we can safely separate construction activities from the recreating public," Moore said.

• Phase three additions are slated to include Gilson Enduro and East Downhill trails, both on the eastern side of the park, but will not be worked on until after the western-side trails are done.

"We are finishing up our plans for informational signs for the (western side) trails," Moore said. "Once those are in place, we can move our crews to the eastern side of the park. After that, we will be in a position to invite folks out to enjoy the open trails."

The finalized first batch of trail names:

• Eureka
• Drop Shaft
• Rosa Gulch Trail
• Morning Star
• Labyrinth
• Gauntlet Gold
• Buttermilk Peak Trail
• 10 Day Jacks

Anyone interested in volunteering on the build can find more information on comba.org/volunteer and comba.org/calendar.

Virginia Canyon Mountain Park project timeline:​

• 1999 - The property was endowed to Idaho Springs by Clear Creek County under the Recreation & Public Purposes Act.​
• 2005, 2008, 2017 - Various planning documents were created.
• 2018 - The City received a Great Outdoors Colorado grant to begin planning and design of phase one.
• 2019 - Final master plan was completed, prioritizing high-quality trail experiences and the start of construction.​
• 2020 - COMBA helped secure Colorado Parks and Wildlife and GOCO grants totaling $350K for construction of Phase one.​
• 2021 (December) - Broke ground on Phase one, completed and opened Spring 2022​.
• 2022 - COMBA helped secure an additional GOCO grant for $354,000 for bike trail construction​.
• 2023 - Awarded Trek Foundation grant for $250,000 construction of the bike trails is anticipated for Fall 2023​.
• 2024 - Phase 2 under construction.

Crested Butte Mountain Resort's Bike Park gets some upgrades for 2024

Summer operations started June 8 at Crested Butte Mountain Resort, however, guests might not fully know the resort installed new bike loaders on the Red Lady Express chairlift, along with a few other upgrades.

CBMR made the investment of all-new bike loaders to make the bike haul process easier and more efficient, resort officials said.

The new tray loaders can hold three bikes at once instead of two, allowing groups of three to take their bikes up top together.

"We are so excited to roll out this new carrier system that will make the bike haul experience a breeze,” Steve Duke, CBMR director of mountain operations, said. “This technology is simpler and easier to maintain from season to season. It is easy for our teams to operate and allows guests to load their own bikes. It’s a win for everyone.”

• To load a bike, guests use the handlebars to lift their front tire into the carrier’s tray groove, then place one hand on the bike seat as they roll the front tire forward into the wheel chock.

• The rear tire will follow. Finally, the guest loads the chair behind the bike carrier for the ride to the top, where an attendant will unload their bike and have it waiting for the ride down.

E-bikes at CBMR

Class-1 e-bikes fit the new bike loaders, meaning they are allowed on CBMR trails. Class 1 e-bikes are classified as pedal-assist only, with no throttle and a maximum assisted speed of 20 mph.

Class-2 and -3 e-bikes are still not permitted in the CBMR bike park.

New mountain biking trail

Sharpshooter is the newest trail at CBMR's bike park. The intermediate rated trail opened mid-summer 2023, however, is fully ready for summer 2024. Sharpshooter splits off from Downtime and leads to the base of Red Lady Express, with several small- and medium-sized jumps flowing on the trail.