Tipperary Creek Ride

Columbine Along The Trail

Capital of Mountain Biking, USA

When Denver started growing in the late 1800’s its population demanded resources for construction and development, including a ready supply of timber. The Fraser Valley, 20 miles west and 4000 feet higher, on the western slope of the Front Range had an abundance of trees, and soon a rail line was constructed over 11,600-foot Rollins pass linking to a labyrinth of roads that extended into the long valleys and broad slopes around Fraser to extract and transport the valuable wood down to Denver. The boom subsided and the valley converted its economy to tourism, made famous for it fishing, hiking, and skiing. Winter Park Resort opened in the south end of the valley in 1939. The timber and mining roads from Winter Park’s early history are now left to mountain bikers-over 600 miles that have been signed and maintained, one of the largest networks anywhere. I’d been wanting to explore the trails for some time so my friend Jake and I set out to do just that this morning. We met in Idaho Springs, an old mining town along Interstate 70, Jake driving down from his home in Nederland and me coming up from Denver. We loaded up our bikes and wound our way over Berthoud Pass into Fraser Valley. The area is still some of the best scenery in the state but visitors to the valley will wonder about the vast numbers of trees  that appear brown and dead. Over the past decade an infestation of the mountain pine beetle has killed thousands of trees in the expansive lodgepole pine forest that covers the region. Despite the rusty color of the trees we found a splendid route up the Tipperary Creek trail, a length of surprisingly smooth singletrack that climbed about 1500 feet at a steady pitch through aspen groves and spruce forest. The climb had us sweating right from the start and we were glad to be up in the high country with cooler temperatures than those down in the plains and foothills. After the climb, the trail banked south, traversing above the valley for a couple miles before a quick, steep descent down Spruce Creek Trail to the road along St. Louis Creek. Another smooth, gradually descending trail brought us to a system of trails and jeep roads just outside the Winter Park ski area boundary. A few uphill sections along the way and a couple of wrong turns in the confusing and unfamiliar maze of trails sapped my energy, and the roots and rocks littering the trail seemed bigger, the roads seemed steeper, and the miles seemed longer at the ride continued. The final trail dropped us along the railroad tracks which we followed to the concrete Fraser Valley Bike Path and a couple miles of pedaling hard against the wind finally returned us to our starting point, five-and-a-half hours after we’d departed. We’d definitely earned the pizza and beer that we devoured at a local restaurant before the long road home.