Email this article

Raiders of the Ridge

A historic singletrack trail - always a challenge

story and photos by Brandon Mathis

Getting Started

WHERE Raider Ridge Trail is part of the Telegraph Trail System near Durango, Colo. The difficult 5-mile counter-clockwise loop begins at the entrance of Horse Gulch Road at 8th Ave. and 3rd St. Access the trail by riding up the road for about a mile, taking a sharp left up broken shelves of sandstone. Turn right at the first and second intersections, zigzagging uphill.
CONDITIONS Steep, loose and rocky, including points of exposure. Use caution while riding near any edges. A high level of bike-handling skills is necessary to navigate the trail safely.
OPTIONS Several spurs have popped up over the years, each worthy of checking out. The ride can be shortened by turning left at “Black Dirt” about 1.5 miles up the trail.
MAP A free map of the Telegraph Trail System, which includes Raider Ridge, is available from both Trails 2000 (trails2000.org, 970-259-4682) and in local bike shops.

Every crank up this rock-strewn trail feels like my last, my energy fading. Because I am familiar with the trail, I negotiate the path of least resistance up the meandering singletrack through a relentless orange and loamy rock garden. Near the top of this section on a rare stretch of soft, flat trail, I grab a branch of a pi�on tree, drop my head and rest my burning eyes and legs and heaving lungs.
This short, steep 5-mile trail is a local favorite: 2.5 miles of demanding climbing, 2.5 miles of a bull-riding descent. Raider Ridge, overlooking Durango, Colo., is challenging mountain biking at its best.
Perhaps what is most inspiring about the "Ridge" - an expert's gem in Horse Gulch that sits quietly to the side of the popular Telegraph Trail System - is that it was one of the first mountain-bike rides pioneered in Durango, a quintessential biking town.

Long before saw-toothed fat tires were mounted on 3- to 7-inch travel lightweight bikes, aggressive riders adopted trails for fully rigid, heavy hard tails. Around 1980, Durango bicycle enthusiasts were happy to ride in the nearby locales, one of which is Horse Gulch, a destination now known for its variety of trails. The early riders of Horse Gulch pioneered trails by cranking up the rocky road from town on heavy bikes and turning them onto game trails in search of new terrain.
"[The bikes] were rigid, inadequately geared with inadequate brakes, inadequate tires - inadequate everything," recalls John Glover, manager of Mountain Bike Specialists in Durango. Glover has been riding the area for 30 years, and remembers the Ridge as being one of the only rides around. "Back then, just going mountain biking in Horse Gulch was a big deal," said Glover. "The Ridge got ridden a lot. It was a challenge. But everything was a challenge because the equipment was so crude."

Reaching the top of Raider Ridge, a jagged lookout provides a rest spot where riders can see the landscape opening into a breathtaking panoramic view of the Durango area. Smelter Mountain stands tall above downtown Durango across the Animas River. To the west, the La Plata Mountains rise out of the Junction Creek drainage. Perins Peak, the Hog's Back ridgeline and Animas Mountain take center stage and Fort Lewis College sits below. The Animas Valley stretches north to the distant San Juan Mountains.
On a ridgeline footpath, which is part of the Raider Ridge ride, the trail get dicey. The riding explodes into action, careening over slabs of broken sandstone, twisting around tight turns and testing skills on unforgiving narrow trails. After two hair-raising exposed corners, squeezing between boulders and countless hidden rock drops, spines and other features, the trail gets even rowdier. In what could be described as blind faith, riders try their luck in a game of destiny using bike skills. Open up here and anything can happen as you launch off a concrete slab, navigate through rocky staircases, carve around bends or glide over hillcrests.
The Raider Ridge trail has always been a challenge and continues the tradition of progressive mountain biking.
"The Ridge was a big deal," said Glover. Decades later, it's still a big deal. And in spite of its short 5 miles, it's a tough deal.

Brandon Mathis writes from Durango, Colo., where he enjoys painfully hard climbs and downhills that defy the laws of physics.