Eagle Valley

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 2.8 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
MTB Skill level:
Elevation: 5709 - 6097 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 1 hr. 30 mins.
Trailhead: Eagle Valley
Fee: none
Attractions: Scenic canyon

The Eagle Valley trail is in the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area and Wilderness east of Olathe, Colorado. The trail leads through a narrow ravine into a canyon that it follows up to its junction with the Sunset Rocks trail and further on to the Eagle Valley Road where there is a four-way junction with the Sidewinder and Wave trails. The Eagle Valley trail is designated multi-use so it is shared between hikers, horseback riders, mountain bikers and dirt bikes.

The best way to get to the Eagle Valley trailhead is to follow the Falcon Road east from Olathe. If you are coming from Grand Junction or Delta the Falcon Road is 1 mile south of the stoplight at Olathe on Highway 50. Follow the Falcon Road east for about 3.7 miles and then continue straight ahead on the Peach Valley Road to the Chuckar Road and the trailhead. The last 1.5 miles is on gravel roads.

A pole fence along the side of the trail channels traffic through the wash.

After several bends the wash turns into a fun little narrow ravine.

The ravine opens up into a canyon where it follows the bottom continuing to work its way eastward up the drainage.

The only real climbing on the trail is right about the 1 mile point where the trail climbs the hillside to get around a spillover in the main canyon.

The Sunset Rocks trail comes in from the south near the top of the little hill. The Eagle Valley trail continues past this junction to the left.

The last little bit of the trail changes little in elevation as it works its way toward the Eagle Valley Road.

At the Eagle Valley Road we turn around and head back. The trail continues across the Eagle Valley Road as the Sidewinder trail. The Sidewinder trail is 20 miles long running north and south from H75 Road to the Elephant Skin Road.

A couple of dirt bikes coming up the trail from the narrows.

Dirt bikes can be heard for a good distance. It shouldn't be any problem going through the narrows if it is quiet.

As we were finishing up a couple of mountain bikers were getting ready to take their turn at the canyon. The Eagle Valley trail doesn't see very many visitors at any one time. On the road to the trailhead you pass a staging area where there is a campground with canopied tables, fire pits and vault toilets. The Gunnison Gorge area has a lot of trails for hiking, mountain biking and dirt bikes so some people like to spend a few days at a time riding them. It can get pretty hot in the summertime with no water and very few trees that provide any shade so be prepared for that. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.