Medicine bow beta?

**Crinkle** · 05-02-2008, 12:55 PM

Thinking of planning a trip up to Medicine bow, as I have heard whispers of good riding at happy jack and surrounding trails. This is a complete new voyage for me. I put out a few emails but have no responses or new info yet.

Looking for a good place to camp, dog friendly, space between neighbors or generally empty.

What is on the "holy shit don't miss this trail" list?

When is it dry and ready to ride?

I started doing some searches and have a bit of random info, but nothing that is really helping me. Some first person maggot info would be killer.

thanks

**BigDog00** · 05-02-2008, 02:21 PM

I haven't ever biked them but have been on the majority of them around the medbow. The Happy Jack/Tie Siding area has a lot of good trails along with camping. Some of it is in fee areas and some isn't. Its not hard at all to find a good spot. The Snowies also has some decent trails but snow will be an issue. As for happy jack i would bet its rideable now....well in a week or two due to new snow.

**MrZach** · 05-02-2008, 03:14 PM

There's a ton of great riding all along the "summit" between Cheyenne and Laramie.

The Pole Mountain/Happy Jack area is very fun & just north of Exit 323 off I-80 (east of Cheyenne). There's a convenient day-parking lot ($3 I think) as well as a couple simple Forest Service campgrounds (tent site & small RV's - nothing fancy). The area used to be a ski area years ago & what were the lift alignments and trails have been taken advantage of for some zippy downhill routes.

Curt Gowdy state park (south side of Happy Jack Road, ~8mi. east of Exit 323) has 15-20 miles of brand-new IMBA designed singletrack that is sweet - a definite do-not-miss. There is more single track being built as we speak which should get the grand total to around 25-30 miles. There's everything there from rolling 4' wide swaco trails to some burly slickrock style riding (albeit granite instead of sandstone). Most of the trails there are multi-use, so all of the "burly" features (i.e. 6' drops, crazy turtles rock formations) have "alternate" paths around them for sallies like myself

. The camping fees are very reasonable there as well (WAY cheaper than CO) & dogs are OK on leash.

Vedauwoo is in-between the two and is full of fun multi-us single and double track. Not the greatest as far as epic riding, but worth it for the zany geological features there (excellent bouldering/climing there as well). "Rustic" camping is also allowed at Vedauwoo as long as you're a fair distance from the road (I don't remember the exact measure).

Shoot me a PM and I'll send you all sorts of trail maps, linkys, etc. for the area.

Edit:
I forgot to mention that all of what I talked about is rideable now. Well, maybe not today since it just snowed a bit up there, but most of the seasonal snowpack is gone.

**LaBelle23** · 05-02-2008, 04:20 PM

Happy Jack trails are really fun, but not too technical as I remember them. I raced out there on a rigid single and handled it fine. I have been wanting to explore that area at some point.

**truth** · 05-02-2008, 05:52 PM

If you head that way let me know.

Some info here: http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=392725

**Crinkle** · 05-03-2008, 01:18 PM

thanks mr zach. looks like I'll be holding off for a bit, as I got a response from a friend of a friend that reads:

Rock Creek will definitely be out of the question until June at the earliest. I
also think Happy Jack in two weeks may be optimistic, at least on the north
facing slopes. Especially since we've had a blizzard going most of the day and
I-80 has been closed between here and Cheyenne since I woke up this morning.
The truck stops are filling up once again...

Better bets in two weeks would be Turtle Rock (at Vedauwoo) and the new trails
at Curt Gowdy State Park (Don has ridden them last summer and really liked
them). A call to the Pedal House may be in order before coming up to check
trail conditions (307-742-5533).

truffth, i'll let you know when it gets back on the radar, maybe june/july

**truth** · 05-03-2008, 01:45 PM

Roger that. Maybe we'll get GT to load up the camper and drag flyk along. I'm trying to get them on board for a Durango / CB run this summer as well.

FYI: Bike is here. Pics to follow once the wheels arrive next week. Until then, I'm gonna pound on these crappy deore LX / bontrager loaner wheels.

**Crinkle** · 05-03-2008, 01:52 PM

awesomeness. yeah, i did durango 2 years ago and i am ready to get back for some telegraph hill and Hermosa creek love. big snow year, might be julyish before this can be accomplished. enjoy the bike, spending time on those Lx wheels will make the stan's wheels feel that much better.

**truth** · 05-03-2008, 03:02 PM

Horse Gulch / Telegraph is good to go now from what I'm hearing. HC will be another month at least. I'm dying to get out to Telegraph, there's been 20 miles of new single track put in since I left there in '98.

**Danno** · 05-04-2008, 07:36 PM

Originally Posted by truth

Horse Gulch / Telegraph is good to go now from what I'm hearing. HC will be another month at least. I'm dying to get out to Telegraph, there's been 20 miles of new single track put in since I left there in '98.

I left Durango in 1998 too. If you haven't been up Horse Gulch since then, you will be amazed at what they have done up there with signage and new trails. To have that kind of in-town riding is just not fair for those of us who don't live there.