Fruita is Fat Tire Heaven in a Skinny Sliver of Colorado

My first time in Fruita, I didn’t even get on a bike. The fact that there was mountain biking nearby somehow eluded me when I planned the trip.

Instead we were setting off down the Colorado River on an overnight raft to Utah. But right there at the boat launch, I noticed a piece of singletrack winding away from the lot. A sign marked the trailhead, with a picture of this crazy little guy dancing and playing a flute. Kokopelli. The Hopi symbol for fertility.

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Fruita classics such as Joe's Ridge are roller coaster rides, but you won't find a safety bar here, so hold on tight.

The Bookcliffs feature fast trails thru wide open meadows.

Parts of Mary's Loop skirt the edge of a drop that would mark the end of your riding career, so don't get too close!

Let your bike ride YOU down the Horsethief Bench/Mary's Loop connector trail.

I took a brief walk down the narrow dirt path, and after a few minutes, knelt to examine the intricate tread patterns. "Arrrr! Mountain bikers be near," I remember myself exclaiming (whenever I make up this story in my head). And then I turned around and went rafting. It was a beautiful trip, floating lazily down the muddy river. Every now and then I’d peer up the sandstone walls and glance some kind of wildlife in the distance… a big horned sheep grazing… birds living in rock condos… a guy in an Azonic jersey pedaling his hardtail as fast as he can, easily passing us and ducking out of sight again… wait a second!!

That was my introduction to Fruita, Colorado. The rest of the trip went smoothly, but I wasn’t back on the East Coast for 24 hours before I started looking it up. The 142-mile Kokopelli Trail links Fruita to Moab? Fruita has more than 100 miles of the greatest riding in the country? Looks like I missed some pretty significant details!

So I did what any obsessed rider would do- immediately booked another trip, bought a hardshell bike case, and ordered some books on Amazon. The more I looked it up, the better things sounded.

I’ve always had a problem riding in Colorado, and that’s because there’s mountains there. East Coast riders may have a hard time grasping that there are actual mountains that people ride up, which is why, when we write something like "Douthat State Park has a lot of climbing," we mean it in relation to other places nearby. Not in comparison to traversing the Continental Divide. Lets face it- a ride from 6000 to 9000 feet will kill most of us. But Fruita’s elevation profile looked more like the East Coast, except a mile higher. In fact, most of the rides in the Fruita area are between 4000-6000 feet. Not too bad for sea-level dwellers.

Don’t be mistaken; being a mile high is still a handicap. But you can ride, and live to ride another day. Unless you’re seriously injured after your trip because your friends beat the hell out of you for bragging or not inviting them.

For a good introduction to Fruita, start at 18 Road and the Bookcliffs area. Here you’ll find Fruita’s thrill rides, fast and furious, like a plane coming in for a crash landing that keeps missing the ground. How did these trails get to be so amazing? Troy Rarick, owner of Over the Edge Sports said it best in the Fruita Fat Tire Guidebook:

"All of the trails in the area were built by the hands of the local MTB community. Some say the Bookcliffs were just cow trails; well not really. Although that is what we found out there, and we started out riding them, the trails out there demonstrate a flow that I’ve never seen in a cow."

There are plenty of loops here, most of which use the Prime Cut Trail to take you out, and various other routes to get back. For example, take Prime Cut up to the foot of the hills and make a right up Chutes and Ladders, a bit of technical climbing (ladders) and descending (chutes) followed by narrow singletrack cutting across the wide-open prairie. Have you ever cruised a trail at top speed for about a mile and never had to pedal or brake? That’s the best way to think of Chutes and Ladders.

Or make a left at the top of Prime Cut and pedal along the fireroad until you drop in to the Joe’s Ridge Trail. A little more climbing, and you’ll find yourself atop the most awesome expansive view of singletrack you’ve ever seen in your life. Just about every time I stand in that spot, I can’t bring myself to go down first. I have to wait for someone else to go, and then watch as they crest ridge after ridge, descending all the way. It’s beautiful. The next few minutes may be the most exhilarating of your life, so prepare yourself for fat-tire nirvana. Speaking of Nirvana, think about what you want to say when you see Kurt, because if you veer too far to the left or right on this trail, you’ll be on your way to meet him.

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