West Magnolia | Corps of Discovery

West Magnolia Trailhead:: N39°57.009’  W105°30.275’

In May 1804, following the Louisiana Purchase from Napoleon Bonaparte, Thomas Jefferson commissioned the expedition of Lewis and Clark to explore the west.  One can imagine the excitement felt by the Corps of Discovery as they set out to explore a new land with nothing more than apprentice knowledge of astronomy and a helpful native named Sacagawea.  Riding a trail system for the first time can be just as exciting, a variety of unknowns, new landscapes, new challenges and up here on our mountains there’s always the possibility of losing your way.  Armed with my satellite tracking I set out on a solo exploration mission of West Magnolia near Nederland, CO; what I found was a maze of mountain bike trails of varying terrain sure to satisfy riders of all abilities.

The maze began at the 925A trailhead, located at the intersection of W. Magnolia Road and Hwy 72.  The tread was mostly dry but hardly dusty.  At the 925A/925 split I went right on a moderately difficult descent to some horse stables.  There is a lot of exposed rock, much like an eroded river bed so be careful.  At the stables you’ll reach a split with 925B, keep your eyes peeled because you could miss it.  Trail 925B starts mild enough but the climb that comes later is pretty tough.  Trail 925B intersects with Trail 342A at about 1 mile and I went right - this section was one of my favorites.  You will reach some good speeds on even tread so stay in control because there are some areas that loosen up a little and require some skillful braking.  You reach a split with 342A and 342 (Aspen Alley) and I stayed straight on 342A.

I came up to a link at 1.32 miles that took me to 926A then I went right to another trail split with 342 and continued on 926A.  At 1.55 miles I came to a split with 926B and 926A and set off on 926B to the right.  Now at 926B and 926 at 1.64 miles I went right on 926.  At 1.68 miles I reached another split and stayed right – from this point to 2.04 miles was the coolest part of the ride by far; you’ll reach another split and I stayed right.  At 2.17 miles (Sugar Mag Trail) I stayed right and at 2.33 miles you reach another West Magnolia trail head with no parking – N39°57.271’ W105°31.442’ where I turned around.  

Now back at the 926 and 926B split and continued straight on 926 at 3.06 miles.  At 3.16 miles you reach the 926/926A split (drop off point – N39°56.925’ W105°31.358’).  Back on 926A I headed right to 3.30 miles and 926A/926B split and continued on 926A.  At 3.41 and 926A/342 split I went left on 342 (rough and rocky at first) and one word to describe this trail; SAND.  I began my trip back from here but what an amazing adventure.

The most difficult section was easily the climb on 926B early on my ride because it was really loose river bed type tread and coupled with the grade made this quite challenging; it will take some strong legs and strong lungs.  I stayed for the most part on marked trails but you may be tempted to try the more discreet options; my guess is that they’ll link you up to a marked trail at some point.

Deforestation removed a lot of the shade so bring your sunscreen.  I was lucky, clouds hovered above for most of the day so direct UV’s were not much of an issue.

To get through the sand sections, switch to an easy gear and power through.  I was surprised to find how much of this route was relatively flat.  Other than the climb up 926B, the climbs were rather mild but some of the rocks and loose tread made it a bit more difficult in sections.  This is a multi-use trail so you may want to dodge the horse patties along the way.

I didn’t want it to end and it seems that there were a couple of other options I missed (Whoop Di Doos) but weather was approaching and I didn’t want to worry about lightning.  The trail was mild by Nederland standards but the fact that it was new to me made this a pleasure on many levels.  One quick note, from 0.88 to 0.93 miles there is what appears to be a spike in elevation perhaps due to interference.  This spike was non-existent; I don’t recall any climb that steep on my route.

You can view my route at http://connect.garmin.com/activity/361918960 and don’t forget to check twitter updates at www.dirt-life.com.  Complicated directions for sure but you should get a sense of West Magnolia’s characteristics.  This was a welcome adventure and if you’ve never tried this trail system you must put this one on your ‘to do’ list.  I had a great time and you will too; thanks for checking in and I hope to see you on the trail.

Alan