Trail Overview
Calico North Trail is one of southern Colorado’s quintessential high alpine singletracks with scenic views and rocky challenges. The trail is 7.6 miles long, starting on the north end at the Calico Trailhead off of Eagle Creek Road. The north end of the trail is more mellow and easy, flowing through gradual forested hillsides and across big meadows, on mostly smooth dirt with small roots. Lots of trail maintenance has been done here, creating water drainages off the trail and crowned sections through wetter meadows, with long wooden bridges. As it goes south, there are several moderate rock and root obstacles, rutted climbs, and narrow side-hilling. It becomes a skinny ridge-line single-track above timberline with incredible views, and starts to have more embedded rock in the trail surface. It gradually climbs up to above 12,000 feet, riding past Sockrider Mountain. You’ll ride over big chunky layers of rock, and through a bigger rock ledge obstacle through a tight rock pinch. There is a really narrow section just north of the intersection with Johnny Bull where the trail becomes very exposed, while covered in chunky loose rock. This is a high-risk area where the exposure is significant, and the slope angle off the side of the trail is very steep. It is a very challenging short section that requires good balance and careful foot and tire placement. The south end of the trail rides across a scree field at the base of Calico Mountain, but the trail is benched into the scree. At the south end, it intersects with the Calico South Trail, which is slightly harder than this trail. The trail is open to motorized use from 6/1 to 10/31.
Difficulty
The majority of this trail is of upper-intermediate difficulty, with moderate side-hilling and a few more challenging rock obstacles. The narrow section below Johnny Bull Mountain makes it more of an advanced trail, as the exposure becomes more severe. The trail side-hills across a steep slope over chunky loose rock. This may be an area where less experienced riders feel more comfortable walking their bike due to the exposure. The rest of the trail is easier than the nearby Priest Gulch Trail, with a lot of flowy and mellow sections. Riders need to be prepared for high-elevation riding where weather conditions can change rapidly.
