more stats
3.1 miles
Distance
1,063 ft
Climb
-44 ft
Descent
00:51:16
Avg time
1,021 ft
Altitude change
7,987 ft
Altitude min
9,007 ft
Altitude max
7,987 ft
Altitude start
9,006 ft
Altitude end
6.2%
Grade
-12.6%
Grade max
18.8%
Grade min
2 miles
Distance climb
942 ft
Distance down
2,648 ft
Distance flat
00:51:16
Avg time

Pot-O-Gold Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • Hike
    • Trail Running
  • Riding Area
    Methodist Mountain Trail System
    Salida, Colorado
  • Difficulty Rating
    Blue Rate
  • Voted Difficulty
    Blue (1 vote)
  • Local Popularity
    80 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 60 in Trail Running
    • 50 in Hiking
  • Global Ranking
    #15184 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • #109422 in Trail Running
    • #106344 in Hiking
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Bike Type
    AM, XC
  • Climb Difficulty
    Blue
  • Physical Rating
    Hard
  • Trail Visibility
    Always easy to follow
  • Season
    May - Nov
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • eBike Allowed
    No
  • TTFs on Trail
    Berm
  • Year Opened
    2020
  • Land Owner
    Bureau of Land Management

NOTE: Seasonal Wildlife Closure of this trail Dec 1st - Apr 15th.

The Pot-O-Gold trail is an intermediate trail with a few tough (climbing) turns.

The purpose of this new trail was to create a singletrack connector on the west end of the Methodist Mtn Trails system, west of King Gulch, between the Rainbow Trail from Bear Creek to Mears Junction, and the Double Rainbow Trail, to avoid the two-track road going up or down Sand Gulch.

This trail works well in either direction:
As a climb (shown), it starts off mellow before grades get pretty steep while working its way up the first ridge. You'll need your granny gear, and you might need to walk up a few armored climbing turns. Once on top of the mesa, things get a little easier but it's still some work to get to the Rainbow Trail. All in all, Pot-O-Gold is a tough climb, don't underestimate the time and energy to do this three-mile trail.

As a descent, it begins by winding through some trees on the top off a ridge then opens up with some awesome views of the Arkansas Valley looking north toward Mount Shavano and the Chalk Cliffs. As it leaves the ridge, it descends into a drainage, then back out onto the opposite ridge. From there, it descends through many steeper climbing turns down to Sand Gulch. The last mile is a fun, flowy trail that connects with the Double Rainbow Trail.

This new trail provides several fun loops to consider:
The long loop is the Triple Rainbow starting from Salida, going up Bear Creek Road (CR101) all the way to the Rainbow Trail. Turn right (west) onto Rainbow Trail heading towards Mears Junction until you get to Pot-O-Gold. Go down it, turn right onto Double Rainbow. Add Spartan West and Spartan East, and either continue east on Little Rainbow, or enjoy Solstice back into town.

Another great loop is coming up from the Double Rainbow up Pot-O-Gold to the Rainbow Trail, then left/east on the Rainbow Trail, down Gutz and perhaps Sol Train East and down Race Track - or - Sol Train West, Little Rainbow down Solstice.

A shorter loop would be to go up Double Rainbow up Sand Gulch Road, left on the Rainbow Trail, down Pot-O-Gold and back on Double Rainbow. Or just ride Double Rainbow and Pot-O-Gold as an out-and-back ride. It's a hard, fun ride with some good, tight, stacked turns, nice ridge views, and some flowy sections.

The Pot-O-Gold trail was built by Dirty Candy Design and the Colorado Mountain Club, for Salida Mountain Trails and the US Forest Service.

Access Info

No parking near this trail, no shuttling of this trail. Get to it on your bike via the options listed in the description.

Trail Supporters
Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory

Recent Activity on Trail

Past Week
  • 0 rides
  •  
6 Months
  • 30 rides
  • 19 miles avg distance
All
  • 153 rides
  • Last: Jul 18, 2026
c1c2c3c4
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
update trails status or condition

Pot-O-Gold Trail Reports

statusdatedescription
Apr 29, 2025 @ 7:28pm
Apr 29, 2025
Oct 12, 2024 @ 8:40am
Oct 12, 2024
Sep 20, 2023 @ 6:17pm
Sep 20, 2023
 trail was siiiiick!
Apr 15, 2023 @ 5:04pm
Apr 15, 2023
 99% dry
Jul 12, 2022 @ 5:54am
Jul 12, 2022
 Trail is clear and riding good
more »
Status:
on Apr 29, 2025
Dry
Avg: 3.91 (6 votes)
Your vote: 0

view (750)
close
  • Basemap  Map 
    • 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 activity logs 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 users are riding a trail in its intended direction.
  • > 96%
  • > 90%
  • > 80%
  • > 70%
  • > 50%
  • < 50%
  • bi-directional trail
  • no data
Trail Last Ridden
Trailforks scans activity logs 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 activity logs 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 activities = 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
Activity Recordings
Trailforks uses anonymized public activity data. ?
Activity Recordings
Trailforks uses anonymized public activity data. ?
Personal Heatmap
▶ Activity Types
all / none
▶ Options
2
Date range month
–
Winter Trails
Warning A routing network for winter maps does not exist. Selecting trails using the winter trails layer has been disabled.
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 users jump on trails. Zoom in to see individual jumps, click circles to view jump details.
BC Backroad Status

Service Road Atlas is a free to use, community-driven service for viewing and creating reports on the numerous back-country service roads around B.C. and Alberta.

map legend
Slope Aspect
Direction the slope faces
Flat N NE E SE S SW W NW
Trails Deemphasized
Trails are shown in grey.
disable
Only show trails with no bike usage.
Enable
Suggested Layers
Based on selected activity type

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

    Save
        Directions to potogold trailhead (38.493360, -106.042610)

        Photos

        6 more »
        193 |
        Aug 6, 2021 @ 4:57pm
        Aug 6, 2021
        262 |
        Jul 5, 2021 @ 9:42am
        Jul 5, 2021
        278 |
        Jul 5, 2021 @ 9:42am
        Jul 5, 2021
        269 |
        Jul 5, 2021 @ 9:42am
        Jul 5, 2021

        Videos

        no videos have been added for Pot-O-Gold yet, add a video.

        Routes with this trail

        22
        Raining Gutz
        16 miles • 2,561 ft • 9 • Loop •
        Nice little tour of some fun trails in the Methodist Mountain Trail System, can be ridden starting from...

        2 Reviews & Comments


        We hope you've been enjoying Trailforks!

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

        Create a Free Account

        Nearby Trails

        Methodist Mountain Trail System

        • By shutter2rideTF Pro & contributors
        • #407678 - 1,985 views

        Frequently Asked Questions About Pot-O-Gold

        ▼ Where is Pot-O-Gold located?
        Pot-O-Gold is located in Methodist Mountain Trail System, Salida, Colorado, United States. It is part of the Methodist Mountain Trail System trail network. The trailhead is located at coordinates 38.49336, -106.04261.
        ▼ How hard is Pot-O-Gold?
        Pot-O-Gold is rated as Blue difficulty. The physical rating is Hard. The average grade is 6.2%. The climb difficulty is rated Blue.
        ▼ What is the elevation gain for Pot-O-Gold?
        Pot-O-Gold has 1,063 ft of elevation gain. The trail has 44 ft of elevation descent. The elevation ranges from 7,987 ft to 9,007 ft.
        ▼ How long is Pot-O-Gold?
        Pot-O-Gold is 3.1 miles long. The trail type is singletrack.

        Hit the Trail

        Open in App

        Get this trail on your phone instantly.
        open trail in app

        Download Trail

        Save to wishlist, Garmin & download.
        save the trail

        Find Related Routes

        Find routes and users activities that include this trail.
        find routes for this trail

        You must enter a description before submitting.