18 Road
One road up. Your pick of the way down.
Fifteen miles north of town the pavement gives out and the road tips up into the North Fruita Desert. The first time you come over the rise and find the Book Cliffs standing there, the riding almost becomes secondary.
Almost. Because what is cut into this desert floor is some of the most generous singletrack anywhere — the kind that makes everybody who rides it feel a little better than they actually are. That is the thing we love about this place. It gives more than it asks.
Climb once,
then choose
Nearly every trail here runs downhill only. You will never meet a rider coming the other way.
Pedal up 18 Road itself, or take Prime Cut — the one trail built for going up. Gradual the whole way, and honestly quite pleasant.
From the top the whole menu opens up. Pick a descent that matches your mood rather than your ego.
Roll back to the lot and go harder. A family can cruise Kessel Run while somebody in the same group drops into Zippity, and everyone meets at the car twenty minutes later grinning about different things.
The trails
Whoever you are and however long you have been riding: start on Kessel Run. Nearly everybody’s first lap here is Kessel Run, and a lot of people’s last lap of the day is too.
Our one piece of advice
Two BLM systems, fifteen minutes apart, that could not be less alike.18 Road flows · Kokopelli bites
Seasonal closures
Part of the system closes each winter so wintering wildlife can use it. These trails are typically closed December 1 – May 1:
Cloud City / Sarlector / Lane Mine
The core system — Prime Cut, Kessel Run, PBR, Joe’s Ridge, Chutes and Ladders and Zippity — stays open all winter.
Dates and trail lists change year to year. Please confirm at the trailhead kiosk or with the BLM Grand Junction Field Office before you make the drive.
Wake up at the
trailhead
North Fruita Desert Campground sits right inside the trail system. It is cheap, it takes RVs and trailers, and you can ride from your site to the trail without loading a bike onto anything.
Coffee, cold morning air, and singletrack fifty feet from the tent. We would argue that is the best weekend Fruita has to offer. Sites go quickly in spring and fall.
Prefer a bed and a hot shower? Downtown is twenty minutes away and we will happily point you somewhere good.
When to ride
Know before you go
There is none at the trailhead. Two liters minimum once it warms up.
Desert clay takes a rut and holds it all season. If it rained in the last day, ride pavement and come back tomorrow. The trails will thank you and so will everyone behind you.
Loose sand over hardpack is the local specialty. Not in the turn — before it.
Downhill only means downhill only. Climb the road or Prime Cut.
There is no cell service to speak of once you are out there.
This system is open to them.
Getting there: head north on 18 Road for about twenty minutes. The pavement runs out and the road climbs. There is a lower lot and an upper lot — most riders start from the upper one. An ordinary car handles the dirt fine when it is dry.
Make a weekend of it
You have the trails sorted. The rest is the easy part — somewhere to sleep twenty minutes from the trailhead, and somewhere to put a burrito afterwards.
