After connecting with Juan Delaroca from Explore Las Animas website, we were excited to try out some of their gravel routes for ourselves. This Trinidad gravel route is featured on their website under the “25-50 miles” section and is listed as “Alfalfa Desperado“.
Watch Juan’s “The Far Quarter” movie trailer. The film explores the past, present, and future of rural Colorado through the lens of gravel cycling!
This is also a great training ride for LifeTime's The Rad Dirt Fest which takes place in Trinidad in the Fall each year.
As always, Colorado provides great views of snow capped mountains, mesas and wide open plains.
Seeing both the wildlife and farm animals in Las Animas County: antelope, baby cows, mules, hawks, etc…
The final 3/4th of this ride had great gravel roads alongside working farms and beautiful pastures.
The first 1/4 of this Trinidad gravel ride was full of dilapidated farms that reminded us of how difficult it must be to live in rural Colorado.
The ride starts and ends on a busy highway (160) with fast-paced traffic. Although there is a big shoulder, it still felt uncomfortable when large semis flew by.
Some of the initial gravel roads had bad washboards which made for a bumpy beginning.
Always a low for Rose was being chased by a loose dog! Ahhhhhh!!!
It was a very windy day when we rode this route.
Do this ride if you want to get a taste of rural life in Trinidad. There is minimal elevation gain and almost no technical terrain which makes this a good beginner route.
We looked at the weather beforehand and noticed that there was a red flag warning (high winds advisory). We chose this route because there was limited elevation gain and the direction of the route gave us a tailwind on the way home. Always a good reminder to check weather and plan accordingly before heading out on a ride. (We had a motto for this ride. It was, “we knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but we did it anyway”.)
Visit a convenient store for water and bathroom in town if needed since there really aren’t any places along the route to refuel or use the restroom.
We started this ride from the AirBnB we were staying at, but nearby Kit Carson Park is a good alternative.
Laura & Rose
Laura Karpinski and Rose Barcklow are the creators of Gravel Bike Adventures. Click on the About page to learn more about them.
