The Paradox Trail is a hiking and mountain biking trail located in western

Montrose County, Colorado Montrose County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 42,679. The county seat is Montrose, Colorado, Montrose, for which the county is named. Montrose County com ...

, United States, which traverses a route of over through various terrain. The trail was rerouted 17 miles due to a trespass issue near the

Tabeguache The Uncompahgre Ute () or ꞌAkaꞌ-páa-gharʉrʉ Núuchi (also: Ahkawa Pahgaha Nooch) is a band of the Ute, a Native American tribe located in the US states of Colorado and Utah. In the Ute language, means "rocks that make water red." The band ...

area north of Nucla in 2017. The trail links with two other long-distance trails in the region: the Tabeguache Trail to the east on the

Uncompahgre Plateau The Uncompahgre Plateau in western Colorado is a distinctive large uplift part of the Colorado Plateau. is a Ute word that describes the water: "Dirty Water" or "Rocks that make Water Red". The plateau, with an average elevation of , rises from ...

and the Kokopelli Trail to the west in the

La Sal Mountains The La Sal Mountains or La Sal Range is a mountain range located in Grand and San Juan counties in the U.S. state of Utah, along the border with Colorado. The range rises above and southeast of Moab and north of the town of La Sal. This range i ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. These three trails together form the "Grand Loop", a grueling course.

History

The trail was established in 1995 by the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Association, Montrose West Recreation, the

US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

and the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

. Funding for the 17-mile reroute project came from the Telluride Foundation, the

Colorado Historical Society History Colorado is a historical society that was established in 1879 as the State Historical Society of Colorado, also known as the Colorado Historical Society. History Colorado is a 501(c)(3) organization and an agency of the State of Colorado ...

, Montrose County, and the

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages the state parks system and the wildlife of the U.S. state of Colorado. Responsibilities include state parks, wildlife areas, and the Colorado Natural Areas Program. History *1937 – The state legislature ap ...

Trails Grant fund and brought the Paradox Trail within a quarter of a mile of the Town of Nucla.

Route description

Most of the trail is a two-track path ranging in altitude from on the

to the lower elevations of along the

Dolores River The Dolores River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah. The river drains a rugged and arid region of the Colorado Plateau west of the San Juan Mountains. Its name derives from the Spa ...

. Some areas qualify as single-track because of the trail width and there are at least five "hike-a-bike" sections to be negotiated. While there are trail sections that utilize some seasonally graded

county roads A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the County (United States), county highway departm ...

, much of the Paradox Trail is inaccessible to motorized vehicles, although vehicle access points exist at many places. Wildlife such as elk, mountain lions, coyotes, and rattlesnakes abound throughout the region traversed by the trail.

References

External links

West End Trails Alliance
{{authority control Protected areas of Dolores County, Colorado Bureau of Land Management areas in Colorado Uncompahgre National Forest Mountain biking venues in the United States Protected areas established in 1995 1995 establishments in Colorado