The Mancos Spur Trail is a 23 ½ mile route that combines three trails. From its western end in Mancos State Park, the Mancos Spur follows the Chicken Creek Trail, the West Mancos Trail, and the Sharkstooth Trail. At its eastern end it connects with the Colorado Trail, along the way passing through several climatic zones and ecosystems. The Spur was part of the Colorado Trail as it was conceived in the 1990s and is shown on original maps of the CT. Its elevation rangers from 7900' at the west end to 12,000' when it crosses two high passes in the La Platas. At its eastern end, at Taylor Lake at the head of La Plata Canyon, the trail is at about 11,000.' From there you can connect to the Colorado Trail to descend to Junction Creek and Durango for a 46-mile point-to-point route.
The Mancos Spur Trail supports multiple uses, and sections range from easy to extremely difficult.
For mountain biking, the route is rated very difficult, with steep terrain, technical features and high altitude. There are several one-way shuttle options: To do the whole Spur, begin at Kennebec Pass and ride west to Mancos State Park, climbing two 12,000' passes before beginning the descent. Or you can shuttle from the Sharkstooth Trailhead which cuts off 6 miles and makes it a mostly downhill (but still difficult) ride.
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Trails in Route
| 699 ft | |||||
| 7 miles | |||||
| 9 miles | |||||
| 6 miles |
Details
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Riding area
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Primary ActivityMountain Bike
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Other Activities
- Horse
- Hike
- Trail Running
- Snowshoe
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Difficulty ratingBlack Diamond
More Stats for Mancos Spur Trail mountain bike route
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Avg time10 hr 31 min
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Altitude change-3,790 ft
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Altitude min7,662 ft
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Altitude start11,637 ft
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Altitude end7,848 ft
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Grade-3%
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Grade max-47.9%
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Grade min56.2%
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Distance climb6 miles
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Distance down16 miles
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Distance flat1 mile
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Recent Trail Reports Along Route
| status | trail | date | condition | description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
May 26, 2023 @ 10:30am May 26, 2023 | ||||
Oct 25, 2021 @ 4:56pm Oct 25, 2021 | About 10 inches of snow at the trailhead. |
- By MancosTrails
MTG & contributors - #28050 - 1,415 views