Posted here is a continuously updated list of road and gravel bike routes within 100 miles of the Beekhaus, our home base, studio and launchpad on the Southside of Basalt, CO. The Roaring Fork Valley is also known for its mountain bike trails, but those have been extensively listed on multiple trail websites and can be accessed easily on either MTB Project, Aspen Trail Finder or Trailforks. These are great resources, please use them thoroughly with our compliments.

There are plenty of ways to organize the rides here, but let’s get this started by distance. Most of the adventures here are what is known as “mixed surface” so you should expect to find at least some part of your ride on a dirt road. But, this being near Aspen, almost all of the dirt roads you will traverse have been treated for both dust control and ice with a substance called mag-chloride multiple times per year. Two very important things to know about mag-chloride is that if you discover you are riding on a road that has recently (with 24 hours) been treated, turn around immediately and go wash your bike off: wet mag-chloride will rust every steel part on your bike within a day. It’s truly nasty stuff and will eat metal very quickly. Once dry, however, it creates a riding surface unlike any other, think firm clay with a light sand layer, forgiving and supple in a way that pavement is not. You will need to avoid the occasional pothole, but gravel around here enhances the riding experience rather than detracts from it. In almost all cases a road bike with 25mm or larger tires will handle it no problem. A gravel bike with 35mm tires or above is fine and, with the new gravel norm being 45mm and above, supreme suppleness is built into the bike. It’s up to you to run whatever tire you’d like here but we have found that 30-33mm for a road bike is ideal and 38-42mm on a gravel bike handles even the single track sections of what will be described below. Enjoy. Get lost. Get found. Share it all. Cheers

The routes listed here are pulled from Strava with links attached- click on the underlined words to reach the detailed ride info. Apologies if you need something else, reach out and we will do our best to share it properly with you. Most of the rides involve at a least a portion of the Rio Grande Trail (RGT). It is the cycling spine of our valley and connects Glenwood Springs to Aspen with 42 miles of 2% railroad grade bike path. We have also added what our favorite bike to ride on each of these rides is. Feel free to use anything you’d like.

0-30 mile rides

Beekhaus to Aspen, 18 miles, 1600’- this is a simple one way, follow the Rio Grande Trail to Aspen, paved except for the few miles below Stein Park. Road bike 

Willits Starbucks wander loop, 27 miles, 1959’- start and end at the Starbucks in Willits, see the backroads from Emma to old Snowmass, return on the RGT with a side trip through Basalt. Road or gravel bike

Woody Creek Tavern loop, 24 miles, 1552’- here is a great way to see several parts of the upper valley and enjoy the tavern as your finishing point. Pretty much all on bike paths- RGT, Brush Creek path and Owl Creek path with a stroll through Aspen. Road bike

Easy New Castle loop, 30 miles, 2011’- If you haven’t heard about the riding in New Castle, Silt and Rifle, let me be the first to rave about it. The back roads are awesome, quiet and plentiful. It’s hot in the summer there though so these make for great spring and fall rides. Here’s an easy intro ride starting in New Castle and looping through Silt. Road bike

30-60 mile rides

New Castle- Silt classic, 43 miles, 2815’- if you haven't heard about the riding in the New Castle-Silt-Rifle area, let me be the first to rave about it. Quiet back roads, easy cruising, great scenery, shoulder season bliss this area has a little bit of everything. Here is your starter ride to see all that there is to offer. Begin and end in the New Castle City Market parking lot. 

Snowmass sampler, 53 miles, 5493’- Starting and ending at the Beekhaus, this ride has the RGT, a nasty little euro style climb and descent followed by singletrack perfectly suited for a gravel bike and a tremendous downhill dirt road through spectacular scenery. Nothing short of everything, just a little bit of it. Gravel bike, road bike if you skip the singletrack.

Basalt backroads, 41 miles, 3245’- Starting and ending at the four way stop sign in downtown Basalt, find out why it's so great to live here. Take the RGT downvalley to Emma, ride the perfect dirt into old Snomass and climb the out and back eop gems of Capitol cr road and Snowmass cr road before returning over Watson Divide to the RGT and Basalt town trail. Road bike

Woody Creek climbing fest, 49 miles, 6902’- start and end at the Brush Creek park and ride and earn every inch of the marg at the Woody creek tavern afterwards. Use your gravel bike to climb to the top of the world and loop Larkspur mtn above Lenado, descend back to town and hit the singletrack to Four Corners above Hunter cr, descend into Aspen and refill your bottles for the last two climbs (hardly bumps after what you’ve done) of Owl creek and Juniper hill. If you want to wimp out, take the singletrack over airline to viewline to return quicker. Gravel bike for sure.

New Castle-Flat Tops loop, 57 miles, 5647’- Start and end at New Castle City Market and head west out of town to the sublime Peach Valley road to begin your 20 mile warmup for the big climb. Winding your way through the valleys, you will trun right head up through Rifle Falls state park, and up and up and up to the top of the Flat Tops. It’s a little rough on the jeep road after Rifle Falls so be prepared to grunt but the downhill on the Buford road back to Grass Valley is totally worth it. Gravel bike for sure

Old Snowmass and Ashcroft, 60 miles, 4967’- start and end at the Old Snowmass park and ride to access the backroads of Snowmass creek road, through the back side of Snowmass ski resort, roll across Owl creek road to get to the out and back glory of Ashcroft and beyond. Return on the RGT to the parking lot. Road bike

Beekhaus to Hagerman pass, 47 miles, 6261’- Beware that this is an out and back so the mileage will be double for the return. Start from the Beekhaus and ride through the gloriousness of the Frying Pan river valley. 14 miles brings you to the base of the dam, 18 miles to the top of the first climb, 33 miles to the end of the pavement, 40 miles is the end of the smooth dirt, only the last 7 require bravery and larger tires. Road bike unless you go to the top, then you might actually need a mtn bike for the last part.

Midvalley swooping, 60 miles, 5555’- start and end from the CMC park and ride to decide whether you want to get to the climbing right away, or spend 10 miles warming up to get to the base of Prince cr road. If you want to start the climb right away, cross the highway and head up the CMC road to the top of Cottonwood pass before returning through MIssouri heights and into Willits before you tackle the brute of West Sopris cr road and the descent on Prince cr road. Either direction on this ride is great. Road or gravel bike is a fine choice

New Castle-Rifle classic- 59 miles, 3655’- start and end from the New Castle City Market, head west down the glorious Peach Valley road before crossing I-70 and climbing Divide cr road, crossover Jenkins Cutoff (the only dirt part of this ride) to get to Mamm cr road. Pick your way carefully through the town of Rifle to find the bucolic back road connecting Rifle Falls to Harvey Gap and the Grass Valley descent back to New Castle. The climb back to the parking lot shouldn’t be as hard as it is so save a little something for it. Road bike heaven

Tour of Missouri Heights, basic, 59 miles, 4805’- there might be better road biking in America than Missouri Heights but this is as good as it gets in our neighborhood. Start and end from the roundabout in Carbondale and head downvalley to work your back across the plateau, drop down, climb back up and wander across the upper stretches before dropping down the speedy corners of Green Meadow and Catherine Store steeps. Rejoice on the RGT for the last 5 miles back into town. Road bike is the only way

Paonia-Hotchkiss-Crawford loop, 54 miles, 4295’- the North Fork Valley has more than great wineries, organic farms and spectacular scenery, it's got a perfect bike loop to see it all in one day. Stat and end at Qutori wines to fuel up before and after, roll down the back lanes of Paonia into Hotchkiss before switching to the gravel roads that lead you to the Smith Fork of the Gunnison river gorge, climb out the other side to descend into Crawford and climb out to Needle rock. The wind will decide how much you like to roll back to Paonia but the food and wine you find will easily help you forget. It’s truly awesome here. Road or gravel bike.

Beekhaus downvalley loop, 60 miles, 5907’- this is the RFV essential ride, it takes in all the best sections of roads, climbs, views and immersions that the lower valley has to offer. Go either direction on this ride but at some point every rider has to go down Dry Park road, really freaking fast to understand why road biking is so addictive. So, go both ways and tell us which one is best. Road bike is great but gravel bike is safe.

60-90 miles

Beekhaus upvalley loop, 63 miles, 6352”- this is the slightly larger cousin to the downvalley loop- a little longer, more rugged, increased challenge. Start with a nice RGT trail warmup cruise, turn left at Woody Creek canyon and start climbing up the road to Lenado, take a right and tackle the steep Tinpot trail singletrack to Four Corners and zoom down the old jeep road into Aspen for a refill. Hit the easier singletrack up Airline to Deadline before one last nasty grunt up Divide road to the legendary Snowmass creek road descent. If you have it in you, one last climb with a secret trail involved before rolling back down to the clubhouse. Gravel bike for sure

Cottonwood Pass and Glenwood Canyon, 63 miles from Glenwood, 68 miles from Carbondale or 75 miles from Willits- this is a true classic and should be ridden by everyone at least once, start and end wherever you’d like. The maps show the basic route to Cottonwood pass from each starting town, note that each road up to the pass is different for each town. The descent off Cottonwood is rough on a road bike, reasonable for a gravel bike, but the rest of the ride is good pavement so choose your bike wisely. Make sure to double check that the bike path through Glenwood canyon is open before you go over the pass (it closes regularly for high water which is typically May and June) because you will get ticketed for riding on I-70 in the canyon, not to mention it’s a terrible idea anyway. From Glenwood each route returns on the RGT but you can add difficulty and creativity with Dry Park and Missouri Heights. Road bike for all but 7 miles

Glenwood to Old Snowmass backroads, 74 miles- this route starts and ends at the Beekhaus but feel free to start this route from anywhere. This is one of the great bike rides in American and takes you on a fine adventure with great roads, fantastic scenery and nice little towns to resupply. The climbs are legitimate but never too much so, the roads will be more crowded with cyclists than cars, there are dirt road sections but all of them are treated and the views combined with the setting makes this ride a true bucket lister. At 75 miles this is a fairly big effort but if you give yourself the whole day, you will be fine plus there are easy bailout points every few miles. Road bike 

Grand Mesa loop, 61 miles, 7068’- Start and end at the intersection of hwy’s 65 and 330, just below the town of Mesa, either directions of this loop has its bonuses, but it is still 7000’ of climbing each way. But my oh my what a world there is to discover on top and all around the largest flat top mountain in the world. Be aware that there are not many public water stops along the way so make the most of all of them. Also watch out for mosquitos, seriously. Road or gravel bike

Bells and Ashcroft from the Beekhaus, 81 miles, 5616’- the two legendary road bike climbs in Aspen are the Maroon Bells (Maroon cr road) and Ashcroft (Castle Cr road) wth the third being Independence pass. Starting form the Beekhaus gives you a 15 miles warmup before the climbs and a 15 miles easy descent back down. It’s a simple out and back to add bonus miles for when you need it. Road bike heaven

New Castle-Rifle Deluxe, 76 miles, 5168’- a little larger adventure on familiar roads in New Castle and Rifle. Either direction of this loop is good, has nice sustained climbing without being leg busters, great back roads and scenery with the sense of really understanding how this part of the valley works and lives. Road bike heaven

Beekhaus upvalley with Larkspur lollipop, add a little wildness to the upvalley gravel loop with Larkspur mountain. It’s wicked steep and feels way out there without adding a ton of extra miles. Most def gravel bike

Glenwood-New Castle-Sunlight loop, 76 miles, 7049’- Know this up front, this ride involves the shoulder of I-70, if that freaks you out, get a shuttle to New Castle and start there. But, if you like loops and can handle the stress of I-70 traffic (yes it sucks, yes it has a super wide shoulder the whole way, do this ride in the order described so that you are moving at 25 mph to get it over with as fast as possible) this is world class cool country. Start climbing from New Castle and don’t stop for the next 30 miles. But in that time you will have gone from the valley floor through the farmlands to the real backroad wild places that make Colorado magical. Top out at Buzzard Basin, grunt your way up one more climb above Sunlight ski resort for the descent of a lifetime down into Glenwood. Bring a filter and your gravel bike

Basalt to Silt the hard way, 73 miles 6347’- so you want to get from the Beekhaus to Silt without going on I-70 you say? No problem, it’s awesome and hard and you’ll need someone to pick you up when you get there because you’ll be tired when you get there. We wouldn’t be mean enough to send you over Prince cr road, but you should take the shortcut over Dry Park. Even then the climb to the top is legit and the last part is absolutely the steepest. Then you roll down the back side and one more climb sees you into Buzzard Basin where you jump on the bobsled course of two track berm turn craziness (watch out for the stream crossings, they can be pretty deep)that eventually takes you down to Divide road and Silt, New Castle if you prefer to make the shuttle driver work a little less. Bring a water filter and your gravel bike

Tour de Misery, 83 miles, 6988’- Missouri Heights is road bike heaven, here’s how to make it a little more like hell. This route starts and ends at Hump’s house, the worst driveway ever invented (28% grades to get up there, don’t do it unless you are a masochist, but there is beer at the top) so you want to just start from the bottom of Cattle cr road instead. Connect every road in Missouri Heights with as little overlap as possible. There is some RGT action for water fills and down time but otherwise go up, down and around the gloriousness. Road bike heaven

90 miles and above

The best ride in Colorado, 91 miles, 8662’- yeah it’s a big, bold statement, but it might be true. Come find out. This one has it all- 4 testing climbs, every kind of road surface imaginable (there is a way to add singletrack but, honestly, that’s a bit much here), either direction is a major challenge, unreal scenery, spectacular descents, blah blah blah. Be prepared when you go- water is a challenge, once you commit to the other side, it's kinda hard to get back if something goes wrong. Best done with a group both for drafting and camaraderie. Gravel bike all the way

Round the bomb site hundy, 107 miles, 8501’. The first attempt at fracking in America happened in 1969, with a nuclear bomb, near the town of Rulison, so to celebrate this momentous idiocy, we came up with this ride. Start and end in Silt to make it 100 miles (finish at the Miners Claim to really celebrate) but this is not an overly difficult century. There are pros and cons to going either direction around the loop but know that the top of Silt-Collbran road is dirt so if it looks cloudy in the morning, chances are it will be raining at the end of the day when you are going over the top. There are steep sections to this route but mostly you will be rolling along at 17-20 mph so doing it in a small group is ideal, drafting and pacing the whole way. Resupply at the towns of Debeque and Collbran at roughly 1/3 and 2/3 of the route. Road bike

New Castle Hundy, 101 miles, 8753’- this will be a tricky one to pick a bike for; either you ride your gravel bike for 70 miles on pavement or your road bike for 30 miles on legit gravel. It’s very cool country to wander through though so you’ll be wrong at some point either way, just let the views and backroads inspire you to try it differently the next time.

Roaring Fork Valley hundy using HWY 82 underpasses, 100 miles, 8624’- bikes and cars don’t always mix well together so here is a route that avoids crossing HWY 82 in anything but the safest conditions. We start and end at Crown Mountain Park for this one but anywhere on the loop is a fine place to go from. It’s a big day out so plan accordingly and enjoy the public infrastructure. Road bike heaven

Ringing the Bells from the Beekhaus, 122 miles, 10,067’- Aspen has three legendary climbs and when you do all of them in one ride it’s called “ringing the bells.” This one adds a 15 miles warmup and cool down just because we can. Do the climbs in any order you prefer but pay the most attention to Indy pass because traffic up there is not getting better so go when the traffic for that time of day is at the lowest, your guess is as good as mine anymore though. Road bike all the way

Silt- Collbran loop, gravel bike version, 132 miles, 12,951’- this is a legit day out filled with commitment once you round the corner. Ride this one either way but make sure you get the weather right or it’ll be a nasty, wet slog. The climb up to the grand mesa is big and steep so figure out if you want to put it at the beginning or the end. Take some time to look at maps to figure out how to get off the top if needed, there are a couple of bail out routes. Gravel bike with all the gear you care to carry.

Back roads from Basalt to Moab, 247 miles, 23,212’- got a long weekend and nothing to do, well here you go, the catch is Gateway Canyons has a two night minimum on the weekends so you might have to stay an extra day. This route is setup as a two night credit card tour with stops in Collbran (there's a motel there) for the first night and Gateway on the second. If you want to bikepack it, adjust the route to keep you on top of the Grand Mesa so you don’t have to do the extra 5000’ of climbing. Get gloriously back there and through. Could be a huge one day ride too… Gravel bike with bags of some sort or a support vehicle

Creeks ride from Glenwood Springs, 101 miles, 9095’- the creeks are numerous on the way up valley (Prince, West then East Sopris, Snowmass and finally Owl) before reloading in downtown Aspen for the ferocious zoom downvalley. Make sure you keep it under control because you ain’t done climbing yet. Up the El Jebel hill and across the top of MIssouri Heights for the slick downhill finish back into Glenweird. Or head out the other direction so Dry Park is your finish land. Road bike heaven

Beekhaus to Twin Lakes and back, 111 miles, 9068’- this is old school hard, do it when it’s not a crazy traffic day. Ride the RGT to Aspen, fill up, top out at Independence pass 20 miles later, jacket on, fly down the 17 mile descent to Twin Lakes, coffee and sandwich, climb back up for another 17 miles and drop like a stone for 40 miles back to the Beekhaus. Simple, it’s only two climbs and half of it is downhill. Lightest road bike you can find