Palisade gets its own Enchilada!

[Name Redacted]

I'm kinda glad I'm on another SAR besides Mesa County so I don't have to rescue Joeys off the plunge. This isn't 18 road. Don't bring your kids or newbie girlfriend to this trail.

Agreed, just the short section I rode was not worn in and was still pretty soft on the edges with definitely some good exposure to steeps. Should get better with traffic.

Pretty sure I read somewhere that their SAR had been doing extensive training on picking people off the trail. Hopefully it isn’t full on carnage for those guys. There are some decent access points along the way it looked like though. We will see.

[Wes Mantooth]

I'm kinda glad I'm on another SAR besides Mesa County so I don't have to rescue Joeys off the plunge. This isn't 18 road. Don't bring your kids or newbie girlfriend to this trail.

This is exactly why I say it'll be a shit show. Marketing an Enchilada Part II in an area that already attracts over confident enduro bros and their families walking down Dipsy Doodle and then making it really hard and sketchy with limited bail options feels like a recipe for disaster

[Name Redacted]

I don’t know that it’ll be a complete disaster. Maybe wait and see. I mean the entire state is full of Gumby mountain bikers (like myself)and I don’t know that mountain bike accidents specifically have been overloading SAR teams yet. This might seem pretty remote and tough to access, but compared to some of the other stuff SAR deals with, this trail is pretty tame.

[MakersTeleMark]

Once it is (or probably already has been) internet famous, it will be just like any other Colorado shit show.

[snowaddict91]

I don’t know that it’ll be a complete disaster. Maybe wait and see. I mean the entire state is full of Gumby mountain bikers (like myself)and I don’t know that mountain bike accidents specifically have been overloading SAR teams yet. This might seem pretty remote and tough to access, but compared to some of the other stuff SAR deals with, this trail is pretty tame.

Agreed

[Name Redacted]

Once it is (or probably already has been) internet famous, it will be just like any other Colorado shit show.

For sure. I kinda want to invest in Palisade real estate right now.

[MakersTeleMark]

For sure. I kinda want to invest in Palisade real estate right now.

I have thought for over a decade that I could totally live there. It has so much going for it, just needs a little love.

[simple]

Fastfred and I hoarded all the real estate there. You will have to go through us. Just a few years ago under $300k homes were everywhere. Sound familiar?

[Name Redacted]

Anyone get out on it yet? Reports?

[smmokan]

Heading out there to ride it on Wednesday.... I saw a couple posts on IG about it, not much in the way of a description but it sounds like it's legit, and there's a bunch of exposure.

[snowaddict91]

I'm out of town, but I have some friends riding it tomorrow, I'll see if I can get a report. Unfortunately I don't think I'll get to ride it for another week or two.

[grskier]

Well?
Anyone hit this yet?

[grabtindy]

Judging by strava ride logs, people are pretty stoked about it. Lots of superlatives and the only negatives I've seen are from people spooked by the exposure (or loose trail surface).

[Wes Mantooth]

I've heard there's some pretty serious exposure for long periods. Curious for more testimonials though. If the whole thing is like an extended first half of Portal I'm not too interested. I don't like the one small mistake = death type of riding even if it's not particularly challenging

[grskier]

The Youtube vid I watched of the exposure section looks like it's a little loose and... exposed....

[simple]

Hey guys...does anyone know if this trail has exposure? If Nate Hills doesn't ride it will the crowds never come?

[Hott Butt Mud]

I won't be riding this trail until I see it on Follow Cam Friday.

I heard you're not supposed to bring n00b GF rider gals and trail may have some exposure, but IDK.

[Wes Mantooth]

Hey guys...does anyone know if this trail has exposure? If Nate Hills doesn't ride it will the crowds never come?

I have like 200 instagram followers so as soon as I get up there the secret will be out. Better get your rides in now

I may go check it out one afternoon next week I'll let you know how it is assuming I don't fall off a cliff since I hear there's exposure

[rideit]

[smmokan]

Rode it this morning, thought I would post an honest TR while the ride is still fresh. This is coming from the perspective of someone with no pre-conceived expectations, but I was hoping it would kick ass because I wanted to include it on our Fruita-Moab trips for Chasing Epic.

In a word, I give it a "meh", 6/10. It's essentially a blue flow trail with major exposure and a half dozen tough rock moves; I'm not sure if IMBA was involved in designing and building it, but it sure seems like it. There are SO many grade reversals, it's really hard to get any speed before you hit a short climb or tight, loose switchbacks that totally kill the flow. And a majority of the trail is super, super loose... eroded trail that's deep sand and loose soil. IME, it's not going to "bed in" and pack down, that trail surface is going to erode and disappear. There are already lots of sections where the trail is being pushed off the side of the cliff by people riding too wide. With that exposure and the loose trail surface, I can almost guarantee someone will fall to their death this year. Not because it's a hard trail to ride, but because it's going to be exhausting for a lot of people and if you aren't concentrating the whole time, there are lots of pedal or handlebar grabbers. I hate to see what it looks like after a summer and fall of dry weather and lots of trail traffic.

On the plus side, the bottom few miles are pretty fun, (but still not really up to par with hype)... I'd compare it to some of the downhill flowy sections of Navajo Rocks in Moab. I feel bad since I know it's been a major project and lots of people have put a lot of time and effort into it, but I'm 99% sure we won't bother with permits and I personally won't ride it again. I hoped that I was just having a bad day on the bike and wasn't feeling it, but both my friends that rode it with me thought the same thing.

[MakersTeleMark]

Thanks for the candid review.

[snowaddict91]

Just talked to my buddy, his review was pretty similar to smmokan's. I'm still planning to check it out as soon as I have a chance, but a little bummed to hear.

[summit]

Krash said it resembled some mix between Palisade Rim and Porcupine Rim

[Soups]

Interesting. Thanks for the honesty as there has been, and will be more, hype.

Will obviously still ride it but will now go into it with meh expectations and hopefully end up being a little wowed instead of the other way around.

[Name Redacted]

Rode it this morning, thought I would post an honest TR while the ride is still fresh. This is coming from the perspective of someone with no pre-conceived expectations, but I was hoping it would kick ass because I wanted to include it on our Fruita-Moab trips for Chasing Epic.

In a word, I give it a "meh", 6/10. It's essentially a blue flow trail with major exposure and a half dozen tough rock moves; I'm not sure if IMBA was involved in designing and building it, but it sure seems like it. There are SO many grade reversals, it's really hard to get any speed before you hit a short climb or tight, loose switchbacks that totally kill the flow. And a majority of the trail is super, super loose... eroded trail that's deep sand and loose soil. IME, it's not going to "bed in" and pack down, that trail surface is going to erode and disappear. There are already lots of sections where the trail is being pushed off the side of the cliff by people riding too wide. With that exposure and the loose trail surface, I can almost guarantee someone will fall to their death this year. Not because it's a hard trail to ride, but because it's going to be exhausting for a lot of people and if you aren't concentrating the whole time, there are lots of pedal or handlebar grabbers. I hate to see what it looks like after a summer and fall of dry weather and lots of trail traffic.

On the plus side, the bottom few miles are pretty fun, (but still not really up to par with hype)... I'd compare it to some of the downhill flowy sections of Navajo Rocks in Moab. I feel bad since I know it's been a major project and lots of people have put a lot of time and effort into it, but I'm 99% sure we won't bother with permits and I personally won't ride it again. I hoped that I was just having a bad day on the bike and wasn't feeling it, but both my friends that rode it with me thought the same thing.

Yeah, this is what I’ve been hearing from folks who got to preview it last year and a few who rode it last week. Hopefully it is a work in progress that evolves into a more reasonably fun trail in the future.

So would you say it was exposed?