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Smuggler Mountain -> Sunnyside Loop

Mountain Biking Trail

Hard
16.89 mi
3,386 ft
A big backcountry loop located right in Aspen's backyard.

While most of the best mountain bike trails in the Roaring Fork Valley are located closer to Snowmass, the Smuggler to Sunnyside loop is right in Aspen’s backyard. This loop begins by climbing up Smuggler Mountain and then connecting to the Hunter trail, VanHorn, Hobbit, Secret, and ending by descending Sunnyside. []( calls it "one of the must-do routes within the Aspen area.”

Most of the climbing on this loop takes place on dirt roads—most notably the initial climb up Smuggler Mountain. Once on top of the ridge, the ride switches to singletrack. Here, a mostly mellow backcountry trail traverses up, down, and along the ridge crowned by 10,414-foot Red Mountain. Most of this traverse trail is smooth, flowy, classic singletrack bobbing and weaving through beautiful aspen groves and wide-open meadows.

The final descent down Sunnyside ratchets the difficulty up quite a bit, with more challenging rock features and a steeper trail pitch. Thanks to its south-facing aspect, gone are the massive aspen groves, with dry grass and low scrub oak replacing them. Consequently, the dirt on this section of trail is much drier, rockier, and dustier than other trail segments along this route. The mountainside here is also quite steep, with some respectable exposure on the downhill side of this narrow trail.

Sources:


Written by Greg Heil
Created By
Strava Routes

Route and Elevation

Segments

NameDistanceElev. Diff.Avg. Grade
The Smuggler Switchbacks0.55 mi279 ft9.4%
ACC - Smuggler TT1.48 mi823 ft10.5%
Smuggler Climb 1.83 mi955 ft9.6%
housewife hill1.24 mi728 ft11.1%
SmugglerMidPart1.82 mi722 ft6.3%
2-minute hill0.37 mi92 ft4.3%
Old School0.48 mi-259 ft-10.2%
Lower Plunge Climb0.95 mi502 ft9.9%
Red Mtn Van Horn Reverse Hobbit Climb3.16 mi1,194 ft7.2%
HC Overlook Singletrack Up0.76 mi236 ft5.8%
Hobbit East to West1.59 mi256 ft0.3%
Hunter Creek + Hobbit UH0.42 mi285 ft12.9%
Hobbit-Secret-Jedi-Sunnyside XC5.48 mi-295 ft-0.2%
Hobbit DH1.17 mi-253 ft-3.6%
Jedi E-W1.57 mi233 ft2.0%
Secret to Plunge0.61 mi154 ft3.2%
Secret-Jedi-Sunnyside-XC3.39 mi-305 ft-0.1%
Ewoks and StormTroopers0.22 mi-59 ft-5.2%
Sunnyside Enduro5.02 mi-2,159 ft-7.7%
Sunnyside gut punch0.12 mi89 ft13.1%
Sunnyside DH2.87 mi-1,893 ft-12.4%
From Spring Snow to Parking DH2.11 mi-1,316 ft-11.8%
Just the tech0.18 mi-203 ft-20.7%
Watch out for hikers!1.96 mi-1,217 ft-11.8%
Tech to ditch0.69 mi-472 ft-12.8%
Ditch 2 Ditch0.59 mi-394 ft-12.5%
SunnySide Bonus0.16 mi-121 ft-13.7%
Rio Grande: Cemetery to trail0.46 mi33 ft1.4%