Level:
Length: 30 mi (48.3 km)
Surface: Other
Configuration: Out & Back
Elevation: -
Total: 2 riders
Mountain Biking Phantom Canyon Road
#933 of 1,392 mountain bike trails in Colorado
The road starts off paved and turns to dirt and climbs 4,300 vertical feet over 30 miles on the way to the dilapidated old mining town of Victor. It passes through low scrubland and climbs into typical central Colorado pine/spruce/fir forest. The grade is relentless but consistent, never really pitching up hard.
First added by John Fisch on May 14, 2017. Last updated Apr 20, 2020. → add an update
Before you go
- Drinking water: unknown
- Lift service: unknown
- Night riding: unknown
- Pump track: unknown
- Restrooms: unknown
- Fat bike grooming: unknown
- E-bikes allowed: unknown
- Fee required: unknown
This trail information is user-generated. Help improve this information by suggesting a correction.
About 5 miles east of Canon City on Highway 50 is an intersection. To the south is
This ride is all road, but it passes through magnificent scenery. Relentless as the climb is, it's mostly moderate in grade. With 4,300ft of climbing spread fairly evenly over the middle 25 miles or so, the average grade is doable, and it is remarkably consistent. This road is parallel to the more common Shelf Road, traveling from the Canon City area to the Cripple Creek-Victor Mining district, but where Shelf is dry, this one is more green and where Shelf gets wicked steep, this keeps its moderate grade.
It's long, but you need not do the whole thing. Go up as far as you want and cruise back down. Some will also do this as a shuttle starting from Victor, which makes for a fun downhill run.
It is possible to combine this and Shelf into a mega dirt road epic with some highway at each end to complete the loop. Climb the 30 miles on Phantom to the town of Victor, take the 5 miles of paved highway to Cripple Creek, turn south on the Shelf Road and bomb all the way back to Canon City for a big ride slightly longer than a metric century. If you to this monster, start at the intersection of Phantom Canyon Road and Fremont Country Road to avoid time on the very busy US highway 50.
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