Among the many types of camping trips which are infinitely better in the comfort of one of our state-of-the-art campervans is the ever-popular mountain biking adventure. As the home of some of the greatest mountains in America, Colorado is among the premier destinations for mountain biking throughout the Spring, Summer, and Fall. Here are the top five destinations that make for an excellent van camping excursion for mountain bikers from novice to expert.
Buffalo Creek
Close by Denver along Highway 285, this enormous and well-loved trail spans a variety of landscapes including amazing mountain tops, and gorgeous rock formations near Pine, Colorado. This huge track can easily make for a multi-day van-camping trip, and if you have a non-biking camp partner to drop you off at your origin point and drive to meet you at your destination for each day, all the better.
This beautiful trail includes double-tracks and single-tracks, and the town of Pine also makes a nice getaway if you want a little quaint taste of civilization to break up with wilderness time.
Government Trail
This Aspen trail is another quite famous trail, in fact, perhaps one of the most famous in Colorado. The area around Aspen is of course quite picturesque, and the trail itself is a single-track made of dirt and gravel.
The difficulty on this 19+ mile trail is moderate, making it dog and perhaps even family friendly, and only requires 5 hours or less to complete, which means that it’s more likely a single stop along your multi-stop mountain bike camping trip, rather than a place you’ll want to set up shop for an entire weekend.
Colorado Trail
This gargantuan, 500 mile trail is a relatively high difficulty, with more serious requirements, and therefore only for the serious mountain biker. Luckily, with your campervan, you can simply find campgrounds along the trail, and you don’t necessarily have to ride the entire trail, if you don’t want to, and certainly not in one day.
One of the best stretches to do, if you want a Cliffs Notes version of this trail, is the Durango-to-Silverton stretch, which consists of multiple mountain passes and summits, and the most majestic views of the whole trail.
Monarch Crest
Near Salida, this single-track trail starts quite flat and easy, but becomes much more difficult when you reach some rocks and roots later on. The scenery is delightful, surrounded by mountains and valleys, so it’s well worth the difficulty, but be sure to stay hydrated and bring supplies.
Doctor Park
This relatively short and rough trail is another amazing potential stop along a multi-trail campervan mountain-biking journey, near Crested Butte. Expect rocks, roots, and sharp corners along this beautiful but challenging 14.5 mile trail, and includes some steep inclines, as well.
One of the most remarkable things about this trail is the long distance views it provides you with, and also it’s ending at a river-side swimming spot on Taylor River, a fitting reward for a challenging trail. Best of all, your camping need not be as rough as your riding will be, as you can finally return home to your luxurious campervan, for a good night’s sleep, and move on to the next mountain biking adventure.
There is still plenty of mountain biking weather this season, get a quote for an autumn campervan rental