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Buttermilk Bowls

Mountain Biking Trail

Hard
8.8 mi
2,151 ft
A straightforward figure-8 ride on Buttermilk Mountain.

This straightforward figure-8 route leaves most of the route finding behind and allows riders to focus on grinding up a stiff dirt road climb through the resort, and railing delightful singletrack on the way back down!

The climb up the mountain takes place mostly on a dirt road that winds its way up through the ski resort. About 1/3 of the way up you’ll pass over the Government Trail—the final leg of your descent back down through the resort.

After grinding and grinding up the mountain, you’ll reach a viewpoint and be rewarded with "amazing views of the [Maroon] Creek Valley [and] Pyramid Peak,” according to []( From here, the remainder of the climb takes place on delightful singletrack that loops around the upper Buttermilk Bowls, before beginning the descent in earnest.

The descent swoops and flows through pine and aspen forest on mostly smooth singletrack. While this trail descends down through a ski resort, don’t expect to find a purpose-built flow trail or a feature-rich downhill test piece. This is narrow singletrack trail riding at its finest, with roots and rocks adding some roughness and challenge to this narrow strip of dirt.

On the lower section of the descent on Government Trail, you’ll encounter the most challenging and renowned sections of Government Trail, known simply as The Rock Garden and The Root. Intermediate riders who prefer long climbs and smooth singletrack can always opt to walk the few challenging sections, as most of this route is quite smooth and flowy.

Sources:


Written by Greg Heil
Created By
Strava Routes

Route and Elevation

Segments

NameDistanceElev. Diff.Avg. Grade
Tie Hack to the End3.68 mi1,854 ft9.5%
Tiehack-Cliff House3.27 mi1,611 ft9.3%
Tiehack to Restaurant3.25 mi1,519 ft8.8%
Buttermilk Service Rd Climb3.33 mi1,614 ft9.2%
Tiehack-Blue Grouse climb2.54 mi1,280 ft9.5%
ButterHack Climb1.33 mi571 ft8.0%
Oregon Trail0.62 mi184 ft5.6%
The George Beatdown2.34 mi1,329 ft10.7%
5 min TT0.55 mi377 ft13.0%
Buttermilk Service Access to Top2.15 mi1,263 ft11.1%
Mantequilla de leche 1.98 mi1,083 ft10.4%
grind up1.72 mi938 ft10.3%
Unnamed Rd Climb0.60 mi400 ft12.6%
CliffHouse to the Tree0.55 mi285 ft9.6%
Sugar Meadow0.46 mi-335 ft-13.5%
Gov't Descent (Buttermilk)2.34 mi-1,040 ft-8.4%
Govt to Shorty cutoff1.09 mi-420 ft-7.0%
Gov't from Blue Grouse2.22 mi-1,148 ft-9.6%
Gov't Shorty Descent1.21 mi-741 ft-11.5%
ButterHack Singletrack DH0.73 mi-344 ft-8.9%
Extra Short Butter-Hack Descent 0.40 mi-259 ft-12.3%