Trail Overview
The south end of the Alder Bench single-track starts on Alder Road, north of the town of South Fork, Colorado. The first couple of miles before connecting to the Palisades Trail are very technical. It climbs up several very sharp switchbacks that will require advanced maneuvers to make the turn. The trail is very rocky, narrow, and exposed, with a big rock ledge obstacle, and several smaller embedded rock ledges and steep rocky hills. The trail continues north through the trees in a unique drier terrain with desert-looking rock in the pine trees. It side-hills, but is still pretty wide, and goes up a couple more rocky switchbacks. It gets faster for a section, but then it has another really big obstacle up a steep off-camber embedded rock climb with loose dirt. It's like doing Hard Enduro with a lot of rocks. This big move has an easier line to the right, but is still very tricky. It's off-camber with embedded rock, so it's hard to stay smooth. Most riders will push here. This is a cool trail to ride if exploring the Creede area or the Wheeler Geologic Area, with several other single tracks nearby to combine it with.
Difficulty
This is a challenging single-track trail due to several big rock ledge obstacles - one requiring a hill climb up a loose and off-camber embedded rock surface, another that is narrow and exposed. The trail is rocky throughout the entire route, with shelfy and exposed sections, making it more ideal for advanced riders.
