The Colorado Trail is popular with mountain bikers and the great variety along the Trail interests a broad range of cyclists from beginners to hard cores. Families with young kids enjoy biking from the Denver trailhead at Waterton Canyon where there's 6 miles of gentle gravel road along the serene creek that is closed to automobiles except those of land managers. Upper echelon mountain bikers find tremendous challenge on many CT segments, including the 75 miles from Molas Pass to Durango.
Probably most of the cycling done on The Colorado Trail consists of day rides and the most popular sections seems to be those near Denver and Durango, the segments accessible from Kenosha Pass area, sections near the Buena Vista area, and the portion shared with the Monarch Crest route near Marshall Pass.
Most, but not all, of The Colorado Trail is open to mountain bikes. Bicycles are prohibited in each of the six Wilderness Areas.
Upper echelon cyclists consider The Colorado Trail a premier, world class, long distance mountain biking trail. It is possible to do the Trail & detours via bike without any vehicular support by re-supplying in Frisco, Leadville, Buena Vista, and Silverton. Cyclists can also travel the entire Trail with detours in a variety of supported ways, lighten their load and trim their number of days. A mountain bike is a great way to travel the Trail, but expect to push the bike on some of the steeper, rockier pitches.
