4.2 miles
Distance
1,167 ft
Climb
-968 ft
Descent
01:22:49
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Bowmans Shortcut (1851) Trail

  • USFS
    Land Manager

Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
  • Riding Area
    Vail Pass
    Vail, Colorado
  • Difficulty Rating
    Black Diamond rate
  • Voted Difficulty
    Black Diamond (1 vote)
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Direction
    Downhill Primary
    Popular direction shown
  • Climb Difficulty
    Black Diamond
  • Physical Rating
    Hard
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • eBike Allowed
    No
  • Global Ranking
    #48083 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #25416 in Trail Running
    • #67931 in Hiking
  • Local Popularity
    95 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 80 in Trail Running
    • 70 in Hiking

Steep climbs and short rippin downhills through high alpine pine forest. The views are incredible. Not an easy trail so please be prepared to hike your bike. Used primarily as a connector to Two Elk.

Access from Shrine Pass Rd.

Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Bowmans Shortcut (1851) mountain bike trail trail
  • Altitude change
    199 ft
  • Altitude min
    10,819 ft
  • Altitude max
    11,699 ft
  • Altitude start
    10,819 ft
  • Altitude end
    11,018 ft
  • Grade
    0.902%
  • Grade max
    -83.447%
  • Grade min
    74.943%
  • Distance climb
    2 miles
  • Distance down
    2 miles
  • Distance flat
    602 ft
  • Avg time
    01:22:49
  • Avg reverse time
    01:43:11
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Jul 16, 2024
Dry
Avg: 3.71 (9 votes)
Your vote: 0

view (838)
close
  • BasemapMap 
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
    • Pro
3D
Trail Conditions
  • 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)
Trailforks scans users ridelogs to determine the most popular direction each trail is ridden. A good flowing trail network will have most trails flowing in a single direction according to their intension.
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
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine the last time a trail was ridden.
  • < 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
Colors indicate trail is missing specified detail.
  • Description
  • Photos
  • Description & Photos
  • Videos
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
Max Vehicle Width
inches
US Cell Coverage
Legend
cell carrier legend

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
Most Popular
Least Popular
Trails are colored based on popularity. The more popular a trail is, the more red. Less popular trails trend towards green.
Jump Magnitude Heatmap
Heatmap of where riders jump on trails. Zoom in to see individual jumps, click circles to view jump details.
Trails Deemphasized
Trails are shown in grey.
disable
Only show trails with NO bikes.
enable

Save the current map location and zoom level as your default home location whenever this page is loaded.

Save
      Directions to bowmans-shortcut-1851 trailhead (39.563450, -106.268630)
      update trails status or condition

      Bowmans Shortcut... Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Jul 16, 2024 @ 3:20pm
      Jul 16, 2024
      		 reporter Remaining trees cleared as of 7/16
      Jul 6, 2024 @ 12:32pm
      Jul 6, 2024
      		 Tress down between top of world and last climb, than 3 or 4 more before you come out into back bowls
      Jul 3, 2024 @ 1:15pm
      Jul 3, 2024
      		 Removed 9 trees in the first 2.5 miles of trail. Found some patches of snow but nothing that you can't hike through.
      Jul 2, 2024 @ 9:48am
      Jul 2, 2024
      		 reporter
      Oct 22, 2023 @ 2:50am
      Oct 22, 2023
      		 Patchy snow, possible with regular bike, some hiking
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 0 rides
      •  
      6 Months
      • 0 rides
      •  
      All
      • 77 rides
      • Last: Oct 17, 2020

      Photos

      more »
      44 |
      Aug 5, 2023 @ 1:05pm
      Aug 5, 2023
      36 |
      Aug 5, 2023 @ 1:05pm
      Aug 5, 2023
      84 |
      Sep 29, 2021 @ 8:44pm
      Sep 29, 2021
      92 |
      Sep 15, 2021 @ 4:56pm
      Sep 15, 2021

      Routes with this trail

      more »
      titledistance
      Grand Game Traverse - Shrine Pass to Minturn featured20 miles
      Bowmans Shortcut to Grand Traverse to Vail19 miles
      The Two Elks30 miles
      TransRockies Run: Stage 5 - Red Cliff to Vail race24 miles

      1 Review & Comments


      We hope you've been enjoying Trailforks!

      Create a FREE account to view trail comments and much more.

      Create a Free Account

      Videos

      more »
      Bowmans to two elk
      5:01 | 145 | Aug 5, 2023 , Vail

      Nearby Trails

      Vail Pass

      • By toddTF Pro Trailforks & contributors
      • #14153 - 3,097 views

      You must enter a description before submitting.