Round Trip Distance: 0.6 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
MTB Skill level:
Elevation: 6332 - 6403 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 15 mins.
Trailhead: Phil's World
Fee: none
Attractions: Challenging beginning
The Elbow trail is located in the Phil's World Mountain Bike Trails System near Cortez, Colorado. The map for Phil's World on their website shows the Elbow trail as an alternate route but at present it is just an extension of the Lemon Head trail. Their map shows a short connecting route from the beginning of the Elbow trail that leads back to where Lemon Head begins and Coco Race ends. Maybe by the time you read this post the short connector will have been built.
If you want to ride the Elbow trail you are going to have to ride the KBB, Coco Race and Lemon Head trails to get there.
The Elbow trail begins with some rocky ledges.
The toughest feature comes up right off the bat where the trail ramps over a rocky outcrop between a short cliff edge and a juniper tree.
A closer look reveals an uneven approach on the ramp followed by a slight drop into a cradle with a narrow uneven exit all while trying to keep your pedals from getting hung up.
The trail climbs over one more ledge and then picks up some uneven slickrock that courses along the rim of the hill.
As the route along the rim continues everything remains moderately easy.
One more ledge comes up to bust over at the point the trail begins turning away from the edge of the hill.
The trail does some climbing as it heads away from the rim.
From its high point it is an easy roll as the trail finishes up.
