5.4 miles
Distance
170 ft
Climb
-2,660 ft
Descent
00:37:42
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Cougar Ridge Trail
SonnenalpSponsor
USFSLand Manager
Cougar Ridge Details
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Activities
- Mountain Bike
- Horse
- Hike
- Trail Running
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Riding AreaVail Pass
Vail, Colorado -
Difficulty Rating
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Voted DifficultyBlack Diamond (1 vote)
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Trail TypeSingletrack
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DirectionBoth DirectionsPopular in reverse
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Climb DifficultyBlue
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Physical RatingHard
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Trail VisibilityAlways easy to follow
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Dogs AllowedYes
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eBike Allowed
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Global Ranking
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Local Popularity90 in Mountain Biking [+]
- 70 in Trail Running
- 5 in Hiking
- 5 in Horseback
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Land Owner
Descent into Minturn from Vail Mountain/Grand Traverse, for a Summer version of the Minturn Mile, or climb to access multiple loops or as an out and back from Minturn. From the top, starts with some flowy turns in an open meadow with incredible views before dropping into new flowy switchbacks in the timber, stopping to pop out at Lionshead Rock, ending with a creek crossing and the last bit of the Game Creek Trail.
Riding up starts with small walking sections to access the Cougar Ridge Trail start, but is a great but lung busting climb afterwards - link it up with Two Elk (west or east), Game Creek, Grand Traverse, or down the front side of Vail Mountain and across the highway for longer ride options.
Be aware that the lower section up to Lionshead Rock lookout point is extremely popular with hikers on weekends.
Local Trail Association
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Please consider joining or donating to the local trail association to supportdonate to earn trail karma!
trail development & maintenance.
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Cougar Ridge multi-use trail trail
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Altitude change-2,490 ft
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Altitude min8,190 ft
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Altitude max10,680 ft
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Altitude start10,680 ft
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Altitude end8,189 ft
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Grade-8.7%
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Grade max-53.9%
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Grade min21.8%
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Distance climb3,340 ft
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Distance down5 miles
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Distance flat220 ft
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Avg time00:37:42
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Avg reverse time01:45:03
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Trail Conditions
- Unknown
- Snow Groomed
- Snow Packed
- Snow Covered
- Snow Cover Inadequate
- 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.
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
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
Jump Magnitude Heatmap
Heatmap of where riders jump on trails. Zoom in to see individual jumps, click circles to view jump details.
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Directions to cougar-ridge trailhead
(39.594750, -106.379750)
update trails status or condition
Cougar Ridge Trail Reports
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Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail
Past Week
- 0 rides
6 Months
- 12 rides
- 20 miles avg distance
All
- 339 rides
- Last: Oct 7, 2020
Photos
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Routes with this trail
3 Reviews & Comments
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+ 0
hi-dr-nick
Reporter (Jul 12, 2021 at 6:21)
Confirmed what the other dude said above. Just a boring flow trail with bad flow and grade reversals. Another loss of a trail due to “sustainable” trail building.
[Reply]
EMTsnow
(Oct 19, 2020 at 11:44)
Trail got neutered. DH on cougar ridge is actually boring, not challenging, weird flow, went flying off trail 4 times due to awkward trail “flow”, lots of uphill mtb traffic, unable to sustain “trail speed”.
Not a fan, not worth the effort.
Pretty views, boring bike ride.
Would consider this blue trail 100%
[Reply]
Not a fan, not worth the effort.
Pretty views, boring bike ride.
Would consider this blue trail 100%
andy-legrunge
(Aug 22, 2020 at 13:41)
Steep, a bit loose, and a little chunky, but nothing too wild (coming down, anyway.) Just watch your brake fade. Big thanks to the volunteers and FS for making the improvements happen! Decent number of hikers from Minturn to Lionshead.
[Reply]
Videos
more »
9:23 |
263 |
Oct 26, 2020 , Vail
20:26 |
394 |
Sep 6, 2019 , Vail
26:14 |
313 |
Sep 6, 2019 , Vail
Nearby Trails
- Game Creek Express Lift (7) 1 mile
- High Noon Express Lift (5) 2 miles
- Wildwood Express Lift (3) 2 miles
- Mountain Top Express Lift (4) 2 miles
- Main Vail Road 3 miles
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