Mountain Bike

31.5 miles

Distance

1,622 ft

Climb

-7,624 ft

Descent

2 miles

High Point

The Palisade Plunge provides ~32 mi of trail atop the Grand Mesa and along its stunning west flank as it traverses and descends to the Colorado River and the Town of Palisade below.

It navigates remote, backcountry terrain with some sections of extreme exposure that require high levels of confidence and skill to ride. Less experienced riders may easily get in a difficult position with no alternate routes except backtracking to Lands End Road. Trail enthusiasts are encouraged to carefully consider their experience, skills, and preparedness before taking “The Plunge”. Be sure to bring plenty of food and water with you and appropriate clothing and bike repair supplies. No directly potable water is available at the route start point or on the trail.

Detailed Description

The Full Palisade Plunge is a 31 mile popular expert route located near Palisade Colorado. This mountain bike only route can be used one direction and has a hard overall physical rating. This route includes 4 trails. This route climbs 1,622 ft with a max elevation of 10,730 ft then descends -7,624 ft.

11 Reviews & Comments

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Trails in Route

	Palisade Plunge Upper				11 miles
	Palisade Plunge - Lower Canyon				1 mile
	Plunge to Rim Connector - Lower				469 ft

Route POI

Shirttail Point Trailhead

Parking

Details

Riding area

Palisade
Primary Activity

Mountain Bike
Difficulty rating

Black Diamond
Route Type

Shuttled
Bike type

AM
Direction

One Direction
Physical rating

Hard
Ridelogs

2

More Stats for The Full Palisade Plunge mountain bike route

Avg time

5 hr 53 min
Altitude change

-6,002 ft
Altitude min

4,714 ft
Altitude start

10,723 ft
Altitude end

4,721 ft
Grade

-3.6%
Grade max

-70%
Grade min

58.8%
Distance climb

6 miles
Distance down

20 miles
Distance flat

5 miles

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Trail Conditions

1 Day
1 Week
1 Month
All Time

Unknown
Snow Groomed
Snow Packed
Snow Covered
Snow Cover Partial
Freeze/thaw Cycle
Icy
Prevalent Mud
Wet
Variable
Ideal
Dry
Very Dry

Trail Flow (Ridden Direction)

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The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.

> 96%
> 90%
> 80%
> 70%
> 50%
< 50%
bi-directional trail
no data

Trail Last Ridden

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< 2 days
< 1 week
< 2 weeks
< 1 month
< 6 months
> 6 months

Trail Ridden Direction

The intended direction a trail should be ridden.

Downhill Only
Downhill Primary
Both Directions
Uphill Primary
Uphill Only
One Direction

Contribute Details

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Description
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Only trails in this region hierarchy

Trail Popularity ?

Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.

most popular
popular
less popular
not popular

ATV/ORV/OHV Filter

ATV - 50 inches
OHV, SxS - 60 inches
Jeep - 72 inches

Max Vehicle Width

inches

Ridelog Year

Radar Time

x Activity Recordings

Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.

mountain biking recent
mountain biking (>6 month)
hiking (1 year)
moto (1 year)

Activity Recordings

Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.

Downhill Ski
Backcountry Ski
Nordic Ski
Snowmobile

Winter Trails

Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.

x Missing Trails

trail	date	description
Palisade Plunge - Lower Canyon	Oct 22, 2024 @ 12:23pm Oct 22, 2024	Trail impassable as of 10/19/2024 within half mile closest to bottom (paved road) due to washout and significant rockfall blocking approximately 150 feet of trail. Hazard for additional rockfall may also exist. Trail users are advised to detour along the lower Palisade Rim cutoff. reporter
Palisade Plunge Upper	Jul 14, 2024 @ 8:04pm Jul 14, 2024	Lots of trail pocking and erosion from grazing cattle. There are also 6 water crossings inbetween Deep Creek and the lower TH. I rode this as an out and back starting at the lower TH riding towards Mesa Top/Main Plunge TH. I turned around and went down from there. On the way back I bailed out on Deep Creek to avoid the water crossings and poor trail conditions. IMO the whole upper portion of the plunge needs some trail work to repair the damage from cattle.
Plunge to Rim Connector - Lower	Jun 11, 2023 @ 3:01am Jun 11, 2023	Great shape, not many people either