There are a lot of dirt or gravel forest roads and unpaved country roads in the Mancos Valley to explore. Derek and I rode this a few years ago when we were in the area and enjoyed it so I rode it again the other day.
What I like about this ride is that the small part that is on pavement is on country roads without much traffic. In fact, only a few cars passed me. I started from the town park and headed out into farmland on a small paved road that heads west towards Mesa Verde National Park. It turns south and also turns to gravel/dirt after about 4 miles. After a small climb up to the intersection with 41 I turned right and rode that dirt road to the end.
This section feels pretty remote after the first few miles because there are only a handful of dwellings out here and the road doesn’t go through to anything. It dead ends at Ute Mountain Tribe private property. The route rolls along mostly downhill until the turnaround point. I had to wait for a peacock to cross the road, and I saw some horses but other than that, nobody. The canyon views and walls give this ride a lot of interesting things to look at. After recent rains I had to do a lot of line picking at a handful of mud sections. This road isn’t maintained so it’s an adventure every time. After turning around, it is mostly uphill to the last pavement section where you bomb down into town.
There is no shade on this ride and the vegetation is mostly sage, pinyon and juniper so I wouldn’t recommend riding this on a hot afternoon unless that’s your thing. I had perfect weather and a light breeze to keep me cool. I’ll definitely ride this again.
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