Cat Walk

Total Miles
1.8

Technical Rating

3

Easy

Best Time

Fall, Summer, Spring

Trail Type

Single Track

Accessible By

Trail Overview

Cat Walk is a short narrow single track that side hills across a mountain in the Hardscrabble Trail system south of Gypsum, Colorado. From the west end of the trail, it starts as a narrow dirt trail through sage brush, then turns into a shelfy trail on the side of the hills. There is a sharp corner early on that turns left onto a narrow shelf trail that is a bit washed out, so slightly more difficult. Since this trail goes into higher elevation than some of the lower trails, and is pretty shaded, there's potential to run into snow drifts and downfall in the early riding season. The trails open April 15th, but still could have snow on the higher elevation trails in early May. The trail has mild ledge exposure as you ride along the shelf trail traversing across the mountain, but you are surrounded by low bushes and sage brush, and even pine trees in spots lining the trail. At the east end of the trail, there's a short alternate route to the left. If you stay right on the main trail, it goes through a scenic section of thin scraggly bare trees, then opens up to a green wide meadow to connect back up with the alternate route. It ends at a dirt road you can connect to Itch trail. Cat Walk is fun because it has scenic mountain views out towards Eagle as it starts to get into high elevation and has less whoops.

Photos of Cat Walk

Cat Walk
Cat Walk

Difficulty

This is an easy trail with no significant obstacles, scenic views, and mild ledge exposure.

Technical Rating

3

Access Description

The Hardscrabble Trail System is located at the Gypsum exit from I-70 on the south side of the highway, off of Spring Creek Rd. There is a small staging area and several dispersed camp sites on the BLM land. Most of the trails in the area are of easy to moderate difficulty, and can probably all be ridden in a day. This trail system is seasonally open from 4/16 - 11/30, because the trails go from low desert sage brush to higher alpine, so have potential for snow in early spring and late fall. This is a great riding area for a day trip from Denver, or an afternoon ride for the locals.

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