Strand Hill

Nice downhill thru the woods, have to take a gravel road climb from Brush creek road to get to it. It is the first trail you get to, continue up to get to strand bonus. This trail dumps you out onto canal for more downhill fun.

Terrific downhill trail thru wildflower meadows with awesome views of the mountains. Not technical but fast and fun. Small stream crossing right at the end by Brush creek road.

Awesome trail.

I rode the Strand Hill Loop by riding up Strand Hill Road - steep but not unfriendly - and descending on Strand Hill Trail then Canal Trail. I didn't find the magic... The ride up is without merit and the ride down features some interesting rock drops but little else. Nice scenery. I think that the Strand Bonus Trail may be a better climbing option than Strand Hill Road.

Clearly I am a fat piece of crap as I was dying by the time I got to the top of this Hill.

I started off at the brush creek trailhead and rode down to the entrance of the trail. It had just rained the night before, so it got fairly mucky at several points and I got mud spattered from my tires on the way down.

I stopped to enjoy the views several time on the way up (read, catch my breath and wait for the blood to stop pounding in my ears). It was really gorgeous, the hills speckled with wildflowers.

Once you get to the top, it was bombs away. I should have rested a bit more before starting as my legs were pretty shot from the climb and I was nervous about that on the way down.
really great trail that zips through aspen groves with one or two sections I felt were pretty technical.
An overall great ride, will ride it again once I get back there.

This is a great, scenic ride. Take Canal up and the turn right on Strand Bonus, then left up the double track Strand Hill. This is the easiest way up. Then descend down Strand Hill on the section above canal.

The lower sections of this trail are uber-scenic with some gradual climbs that evolve into steeper climbs to the summit. The decent is fast, flowy, filled with roots, rocks, and small drops. A great add on trail for Deer Creek or Upper Loop

A great little ride close to CB, lots of cows and aspens. Fairly easy climbing and a really fun downhill sprinkled with semi-technical sections to keep you focused.

One of my newest favorite trails in CB. Drove up the road a ways and parked next to Canal Trail, then rode up Canal, up Strand Bonus, then down Strand. A ridiculously fun ride, great flowy singletrack, climbing isn't bad at all, riding through aspens, a few steep sections with roots keep you on top of your game. Just an awesome trail, highly, highly recommended.

Very fun trail. You can park right next to the start of the climb or start a little ways back on the dirt road. Either way, the trail will start when you hit the climb. Very steep at times and definitely an awesome workout. The road will climb for a ways on the hillside and then continue climbing in the trees where there are some rocks to deal with as you climb. When you finally hit the top the descent is just amazing. very scenic as well. Very nice dirt and flowing single track. Gets a little technical in a few spots but otherwise pretty smooth. We had to walk through a 3 foot stream toward the end. Very fun.

Strand Hill is one of the best little descents I have ridden in the Crested Butte area, and consequently it is one of the best little downhills I've ridden anywhere! It's swoopy up top with just amazing turns and excellent dirt. Further down it gets steeper, while still being pretty swoopy. More rocks and roots crop up along with some fun drops to bust off of. Definitely 5 stars!

Roughly intermediate difficulty

This is a beautiful section of trail!

sometimes the road up to strand is closed, its part of a ranch, so if it is just keep going and find the canal trail. Which is singletrack so its much better to ride and then take a right at strand bonus which is fun singletrack aswell! once your at the top It has great views of Condrum, Teocalli, and Castle Mountins! Along with wonderful views the down hill has a bit of everthing!

The road climb does have some very steep sections, but you can avoid some of the boring and steep section of Strand Hill by taking the Canal Trail to the Strand Bonus option. You get more great singletrack that way as well and basically T into Strand Hill about 3/4 of the way up that climb. The descent is one of the best around - maybe not long enough for some, but well worth it nonetheless. Another option to make it a great day is to take Upper Upper Trail (and any links like Tony's or Whetstone) either on the way to or on the way back from Strand/Canal.

Ferocious climb at the beginning, but the ride from the top is killer. Great scenery of Mount crested butte and the valley below. It rains alot in Crested Butte, so packing some rain gear would be a good idea.

Did this ride 6/24/06. The climb was killer but the ride was awesome. Some really nice downhill sections. Watch your back - some of the riders scream down the hills. Also watch for fallen trees. We had to lift the bikes over one large tree and it was hidden until we were right on it. A second tree had been pulled off the trail (or fell just right) but still blocked part of the main trail.