Grindstone

Total Miles
3.9

Elevation

3,499.47 ft

Duration

0.75 Hours

Technical Rating

5

Moderate

Best Time

Summer

Trail Overview

Grindstone is a fun single-track trail in the San Juan Mountains that has a lot of switchbacks up a hillside through an aspen tree forest. There are a few rocky sections on the switchbacks, but not too bad, so it's an intermediate challenge. The trail gains 2,300 feet over 4 miles as you ride west to east. Most of the trail is cut, but there's potential for downfall. There's one downed aspen tree on a diagonal slope that makes it harder to set up to cross it without flying into a tree right after. The trail side-hills through some beautiful mountain meadows on a pretty narrow trail. You have to pay attention to your front tire to not accidentally slide off the trail, but the views are wide open. The trail continues to circumnavigate around the mountain and then comes to an intersection with the Hillside Drive connector trail.

Photos of Grindstone

Grindstone
Grindstone
Grindstone

Difficulty

Intermediate trail with some rocky switchbacks, but overall a moderate trail.

Technical Rating

5

Status Reports

There are no status reports yet for this trail.

Access Description

There is a staging area at the start of the Gold Run Trail on West Mancos Road with space for a few trucks or small trailers. There are several other staging areas and dispersed camp sites along West Mancos Road as well.

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