Mountain Biking The 18 Road in Fruita, Colorado

The 18 Road in the North Fruita Desert of Colorado is our favorite family mountain biking area.  Most of the trails aren’t super long, and difficulty ranges from fairly simple to fairly intense.  It’s great for anyone from little guys on balance bikes all the way to their hard-charging moms and dads.

When you go, you’ll want to camp at the North Fruita Desert Campground, which is 11 miles outside of town and easy to find.  It’s an easy-going place, and it’s right in the center of the action, staying there is ideal for some.  The campground is first-come first-serve, so get there early if you think it might be a busy weekend.  It’s primitive camping with a few pit toilets throughout.  There is plenty of vegetation, but it’s not very tall so shade is sparse.

If you can’t find a space in the main campground, there is an overflow area down below the main parking lot.  If you’re coming from Fruita, the entrance for this area comes before the main parking lot and is on the right side of the main road.  (On this map, you’ll see a lower TH where the main parking lot is.  The camping area is where the trails converge to the right of that, but the entrance is the primitive road further back… the red one that forms a “V” with the main road.)  There is no shade at all in this area.

The best thing about being in the upper campground is the opportunity to see the many moods of the Fruita sky.  In the overflow area, things tend to be a little more relaxed and you’re not as close to your camping neighbors.  There are still some views, but it’s lower so they’re not as breathtaking as up top.

In either place, bring your own water!

As you can see on the map, Kessel Run goes right through the campground, which is super fun for kids.  Older ones can run laps on the top half while parents are setting up or taking down camp, and it’s also a flowy trail that meanders downhill, which is perfect for younger riders.

We also love PBR (Pumps, Bumps, and Rollers) as a beginner ride for kids.  It’s a great challenge after Kessel has been mastered.  It’s also really flowy and fun, but it’s longer and requires a 3/4 mile climb.

Joe’s Ridge is another favorite.  It’s a fun ride, and there is a spot of exposure that freaks me out just enough to get the heart pumping a bit.  It’s a great challenge for my 9 year-old.  My husband loves the more difficult riding on Chutes and Ladders and Zippity Do Da.

What’s fun about the 18 Road is that most of the trails lead from the campground to the main parking lot, so if you’re with friends, different groups can ride different trails and then rendezvous at the end.  The trails are also fairly short, so having a home base in the campground is great:  everyone does a ride together, then dads do a ride, then couples ride while kids stay with the other adults, etc.  We run laps all day and take breaks in camp for snacks, sitting in the shade, catching lizards, and desert excavating.

You’ll need to decide what your family policy is, but we learned quickly that our boys would ride A LOT more if they didn’t have to climb back up to camp from the parking lot every time they rode.  When we do ride, we’ve learned that Prime Cut, an uphill only trail, is easier than riding the road.  We always ask the boys to ride up at least once (and this will grow as they get older and stronger), but we also run shuttles.  (This rack changed bike hauling for us forever.  It’s awesome.)  Sometimes that means an adult sits out for a ride and takes the car down, and sometimes that means an adult rides back up to get the car after a group ride.

Generally when we’re at the 18 Road, we just stay there and enjoy it.  If we need water or if we forgot something, we run into town.  There is a City Market near the interstate that has the essentials (they even have a camping aisle!).  There are three full-time bike shops in town, an ice cream shop or two, and some cafes and a brewery.

Fruita is a small town that seems to love that tourists and bikers come to their town.  Everyone we’ve met is super friendly and helpful.  It’s definitely a worthwhile weekend destination!

Must-haves:

WATER! Bring a 5-gallon jug at least.

Extra tubes. It’s the desert. If kids leave the trail, they will get a flat.  You might too.  😉

Sun protection–hats, sunscreen, etc.

A roll of toilet paper.  Generally the pit toilets are well-supplied, but occasionally I’ve seen them run out, so I try to remember to stash a roll in our car just in case.

All of the other obvious camping and mountain biking gear.