People sometimes assume a company like ours has one home trail — a single loop we point to in every photo and call it a day. That's not really how it works around here. The Grand Valley is big enough, and varied enough, that we end up all over it, and which trail we ride usually just depends on the week, the weather, and who's got a free afternoon.
If we had to pick one default, it's 18 Road and the North Fruita Desert next door — long, rolling singletrack cut through gray bentonite clay, a different look and feel than the red rock most people picture when they think Fruita, and honestly, it's just closer. We're based in Fruita, so that whole network is practically out the back door, and it's the easiest place to squeeze in a ride without burning half the day on the drive. When we're after that classic red rock and slickrock look, Kokopelli is the move — it's out past Loma, west of Fruita, but still a quick jaunt from town, and it's where the terrain turns into the sweeping sandstone most people picture when they picture this part of Colorado. Lunch Loops, closer to Grand Junction, is where we go when we want something more technical — it keeps you honest in a way flowier trails don't. And when we want something bigger, we point the truck up toward Powderhorn, where the terrain shifts entirely — alpine instead of desert, and a completely different kind of ride once you're up there.
That's the honest answer to "where do you ride": all of it, depending on the day. It's also, not coincidentally, most of the same ground where our gear gets tested, because there's no substitute for finding out how a rack handles real washboard roads and real trailhead parking lots instead of a lab bench.
Worth knowing if you're headed to Lunch Loops soon
If it's been a while since you've ridden Lunch Loops, there's real work happening there right now. COPMOBA — the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Association — is leading a rebuild of the Lunch Loops Bike Park in partnership with the City of Grand Junction. The first phase, a new dual slalom course, is already built and open. The bigger piece, a full rebuild with new jump lines built for riders progressing from small rollers up to bigger features, is funded through community donations and is aiming to wrap up by the end of the year, with most of the construction happening this fall. It's a genuinely good problem to have: more trail, better built, funded by the community that rides it. If you want to support it, COPMOBA's website has the details on where donations go.
A bigger access story worth watching, even if it's not our backyard
A little further south, Moab opened roughly 211 miles of singletrack to Class 1 e-bikes this spring, across sixteen trail systems in the area. It's one of the largest single expansions of e-bike trail access anywhere in the country, and it's part of a broader national trend of land managers rethinking where pedal-assist bikes fit alongside traditional mountain bikes. A handful of trails stayed off-limits — a few routes that cross Forest Service land or sit inside wilderness study areas, where mechanized use isn't allowed regardless of bike type — but the overwhelming majority of what used to be analog-only terrain is now open to e-bikes too. We don't have a specific stake in how Moab manages its trails, but if you're the kind of rider who's been waiting on wider e-bike access to a destination like that, it's worth planning a trip around.
Trail status update
As of this writing, and to our best knowledge, the McInnis Canyons trail system — including Kokopelli and Rabbit Valley — is open again after this summer's closure. Conditions can shift fast with weather and fire risk this time of year, so if you're planning a trip out that way, it's always worth a quick check with the BLM Grand Junction Field Office or a local shop before you load up.
Bottom line
There's no single trail that defines the Grand Valley riding scene, and there's no single trail that defines ours either. 18 Road, North Fruita Desert, Kokopelli, Lunch Loops, Powderhorn — different days call for different terrain, and that variety is a big part of why this valley draws riders from everywhere. Get out and ride some of it.
← Back to the Journal