One-way Distance: 0.6 miles
Difficulty: Easy
MTB Skill level:
Elevation: 7831 - 7902 feet
Cellphone: 2-5 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Cerro Summit
Fee: none
Attractions: Fun singletrack
The Narrow Gauge trail is located in the Cerro Summit Recreation Area near Montrose, Colorado. The trail begins off of the Meadow Loop where it follows a section of an old narrow gauge railroad bed for a short distance before looping back and reconnecting with the Meadow Loop a few hundred feet from where it began.
To get there follow Highway 50 east toward Gunnison from Montrose for about 10 miles to the top of Cerro Summit Pass where the recreation area will be on the right hand side of the road.
The Narrow Gauge trail begins just past the quarter mile point of the Meadow Loop.
The outline of the old railroad bed is obvious as the trail heads out past the end of the meadow.
By the time the trail has gone a quarter mile it leaves the railroad bed and switches back in the other direction.
After crossing the drainage below the meadow the Narrow Gauge trail makes a short climb up the opposite hillside.
Near the 0.4 mile point the Narrow Gauge trail comes to an intersection where it is met on the left by the Elk Run trail.
As the trail continues along the hillside it spends a lot of the way secluded in oakbrush that is overgrowing the trail in places.
Mixed in with the oakbrush are a few other shrubs like snowberries and serviceberries. The snowberries are poisonous but the serviceberries are very tasty when you can find some nice ripe juicy ones. They are a little bit like blueberries. The name serviceberry has an interesting origin as it came about from settlers that would use its white flowers as part of funeral services for loved ones that had died during the winter that couldn't be buried until the ground thawed out which was around the same time that the shrub was in full bloom. You might also find a few red currants and pin cherries in this same area.
