Round Trip Distance: 0.2 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
MTB Skill level:
Elevation: 5021 - 5127 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 15 mins.
Trailhead: Tabeguache/Lunch Loop
Fee: none
Attractions: Short technical challenge
Lemon Squeezer is located in the Lunch Loop Trails System in Grand Junction, Colorado. The short trail makes a tight run down a boulder strewn hillside between the Tabeguache and High Noon trails. The trail is open to both uphill and downhill mountain biking, hiking and horse traffic. Mountain bikers will find the downhill direction much more preferable.
This post begins at the top of the trail at a junction with the Tabeguache and Pucker Up trails. The slideshow at the end of the post begins at the bottom and shows the trail in both directions.
The trail is only moderately technical as it starts out. The sign in this picture indicates that the trail is also open to equestrians but it looks like a leg breaker to us.
The easiness of the upper part of the trail is in stark contrast to what lies ahead.
Near the midpoint the Pucker Up trail reconnects to the Lemon Squeezer and they share the same route for a short distance.
After the two trails separate it is time to get your lemons ready.
The trail is now a mix of slickrock, boulders and loose rocks with tree roots and ledges to navigate over.
If this is the first time for this trail feature it might be advisable to stop and have a look at it first if you are on a mountain bike.
A little jump with a side route comes up immediately after passing through the 'V' notch.
The biggest obstacles are over after that.
As the trail finishes up it becomes more moderate but still just a little steep.
Lemon Squeezer comes to an end at the High Noon trail. Going to the right at this point leads to the Moto and Raven Ridge trails. To the left the High Noon makes a scenic passage up to the Tabeguache trail and beyond. Lemon Squeezer is definitely for the more technically advanced mountain bikers. The following slideshow has some good pictures of the trail going in the uphill direction. Many of the trails features are shown a little better from the downhill side. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is grab your bike or 'Take a hike'.
