Trailhead condition requests, questions, alerts, etc.
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NOT looking for bike recs but more - has anyone taken their e-mtb or e-moto up to any of the more difficult to access trailheads? Not talking full on cliff-scaling (Nellie/S Colony I'm looking at you) but more...
Like Uncompahgre's TH? Massive's N Halfmoon; South La Plata, or even Castle's upper TH?
Or heck, going up Princeton and not clogging the road w/ my 2500 and instead, finding a place to lock my bike...
Not only looking to save my vehicle from some wear-and-tear but also just being a bit more enviro friendly (as my Duramax roars behind me lol) and not to mention, silent. Plus it makes for an awesome DH after you're done w/ a hike.
I’ve thought similarly, but with a stock jeep wrangler I don’t mind most of the roads you have mentioned.
I have ridden my non-electric MTB to many trailheads (while respecting wilderness boundaries). South Colony could be a good option. After a long day over Broken Hand Pass to Crestone Peak last summer, riding my trusty MTB downhill from the wilderness boundary to SCL trail head (and taking my trusty jeep down to the 2wd trail head) was a relief on my old knees.
Of note, all of us agree that the Road to Lake Como and the Blanca Massif is not fit for MTB, e-bike, nor motorcycle. IYKYK. Ya just gotta suffer on your feet.
"History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of men."
--Blue Oyster Cult
I'm curious about this as well, as I've done most of the peaks with trailheads I can reach in my low-clearance vehicle. Plus, I would like to start exploring more of the alternate routes, although I may be wrong to assume these have more difficult to reach trailheads.
In my case, I'm currently limited to a gravel bike, but using the 4/6 rated 4wd road to the Huron trailhead as a barometer, I would think anything rated 3 and under would be easily doable and 4 would maybe be on a case by case basis.
As for locking the bike up, would the trailhead sign be acceptable? I think that would be better than a tree...
I've had an e-bike that I've been using for like five years now to get me up to the Incline. With the cost of parking in Manitou and my having done the Incline over 600 times it's saved me a ton of time/money. I've also taken it a few dozen times from Devils Playground to the summit of Pikes back when I was training for the PPA. Loads of fun flying up the PP highway so fast that I'm passing the shuttle busses going uphill! In contrast, at 77 lbs with the battery, and with fat tires it's a beast of a bike when it comes to handling. I literally grew up riding bikes, but find it to be difficult to ride on technical terrain. Having dumped it, or gone over the handle bars more than once I have decided to keep it on more mellow terrain! E-bikes are great for circumventing the trailhead parking hassles, but I would definitely recommend a light weight bike if you're planning to ride more technical terrain...
When I last did Pikes Peak via Barr, I locked it right by the trail kiosk payment machine. $25/day? Y'all are crazy to park there.
I pop an airtag in one of my bike bags and then I can periodically check that the bike is still there.
It's been well over a decade since I've been riding to 14er trailheads, I've never had a problem with someone messing with my bike. I was just at North Cottonwood Creek for 4 days. Other hikers don't care and no thief is prowling around looking for bikes to steal (to then do what with?)
justiner wrote: ↑Mon Aug 04, 2025 10:11 am
I just lock my bike to the back of the info sign.
When I last did Pikes Peak via Barr, I locked it right by the trail kiosk payment machine. $25/day? Y'all are crazy to park there.
I pop an airtag in one of my bike bags and then I can periodically check that the bike is still there.
It's been well over a decade since I've been riding to 14er trailheads, I've never had a problem with someone messing with my bike. I was just at North Cottonwood Creek for 4 days. Other hikers don't care and no thief is prowling around looking for bikes to steal (to then do what with?)
Usually the thief steals the bike and then sells it for money.
Selling goods demand a market. For large cities, bike theft crime is at least partly organized and it's been theorized bikes stolen are shipped to other countries. The thieves themselves stealing in exchange for drugs. And it's a crime of opportunity -- for what you get, it's an easy catch -- if you can catch it. How many bikes have I seen at a trailhead this year? Only mine.
So, for all this to work, we need enough bikes that are tempting to enough thieves that have bad enough drug problems to serve some sort of bike cartel that's posted up in a trail town of a few thousand.
And bikes themselves are kind big and awkward, so need transportation from the TH to whatever the pick up point is. North Cottonwood is something like 10-15-ish miles to town? A cracked-out thief is going to do what? Drive their car up hoping there's a bike? That's a lot of fuel! Or what: ride the bike down, themselves? Cue yakkity sax.
The economics don't work.
Far easier to smash-and-grab something you can see from your car dash. Fits in your pocket, useful to the thief almost immediately or they can try to pawn it. Easier to pawn something small and ubiquitous then say: my bike that's been modified, customized, registered, and tracked with an Airtag (and only one -- as far as you know).
And maybe after all this someone DOES still my bike? I'm out what? $1500 I paid for it if the home insurance policy doesn't cover it? A bike I've had for 6 years? $0.70/day over 6 years -- think I got my money's worth.
I've been using my e-bike to go from lower to upper TH's where my low clearance vehicle will not make it. I really like it since it gives me a great warmup before the hike. I have not been on the 4WD roads mentioned but can always walk through spots I may not be able to ride. When I get to the TH I find a spot in the woods and lock my bike to a tree. I find that I am just as fast or faster on 4WD roads then 4WD's on the e-bike going up and fly past them on the way down. I tend to use turbo mode to save my energy for the hike.
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