The Kokopelli's Trail (also known as the Kokopelli Trail) is a multi-use trail (but primarily used by mountain bikes) in Grand County,

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and Mesa County,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

in the western United States. The trail was named in honor of its mythic muse, Kokopelli. The trail was created by the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Association (COPMOBA) in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...

(USFS) in 1989. __TOC__

Description

The Kokopelli's Trail begins near Loma, Colorado in the

McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area The McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area (MCNCA) is a National Conservation Area located in Mesa County, west of Grand Junction, Colorado. The MCNCA has rugged sandstone canyons, natural arches, spires, and alcoves carved into the Colora ...

. The trail follows Mary's Loop through the Mack Ridge mountain biking area before crossing Salt Creek and entering Rabbit Valley. From Rabbit Valley, the trail winds south roughly following the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

until it crosses Utah State Route 128 and the river in Dewey, Utah, where it begins the uphill section, eventually looping around the La Sal Mountains, then descending into Moab, Utah, via the Porcupine Rim Trail. The trail is widely varied in difficulty, terrain, and elevation. It has intense downhill sections and steep climbs, but several gently sloping road sections help to balance the trail and make it accessible to advanced and beginning mountain bikers alike. The terrain mostly consists of either single track, 4x4 roads, or country roads. The elevation changes can be daunting, with the lowest point near and two massive climbs reaching elevations of . The lush Colorado River valley is seen several times from high cliffs and the beautiful La Sal Mountains grow in size as riders continue on the trail. There are eight small

campsite A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using te ...

s along the trail, some of which require a fee. While each campsite has toilets, none have drinking water available and most do not provide shade. Because of a lack of drinking water on the trail, support vehicles must be used to meet riders at certain camping spots in order to replenish their water supply. The trail normally takes about 5 to 6 days to finish, but more advanced riders can do it in much less time. Riding season in the higher elevation (La Sal Mountains) is limited to mid-June through September, depending on the

snowpack Snowpack forms from layers of snow that accumulate in geographic regions and high elevations where the climate includes cold weather for extended periods during the year. Snowpacks are an important water resource that feed streams and rivers as th ...

. The trail descends into Moab, Utah, via Sand Flats Road, passing the

Slickrock Trail The Slickrock Trail, is a popular mountain biking destination in Grand County, Utah, United States, a few miles northeast of the city of Moab. This trail takes riders over a landscape of petrified sand dunes and the eroded remnants of ancient ...

. Riders may elect to finish via Porcupine Rim - and many do - although this is not the official end to the trail as mentioned in the above description. On May 30, 2020,

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

biker, Lachlan Morton, set a new record for completing the trail. His time of 11 hour 14 minutes beat the previous record holder's (Kurt Refsnider) time of 11 hours 52 minutes. Following his ride Morton stated that he did not begin the ride planning on setting a new record on his trip from Moab to Loma, but after the ride went so well on the first section, he decided to push himself to toward the end.

References

External links

Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Association

Rim Tours
Mountain Bike Tour Operator in Moab, Utah with expertise (great beta) regarding outfitting The Kokopelli Trail.
Bikerpelli
- A free guidebook for self-guided MTB tours * * {{authority control Bike paths in Utah Bike paths in Colorado Bureau of Land Management areas in Colorado Protected areas of Grand County, Utah Protected areas of Mesa County, Colorado American Discovery Trail

Description

See also

References

External links