Distance - 5.1 miles
Climbing - 520 feet
BGR (Brad's Gravel Rating) - 45
CRF (Cage Rage Factor) - low
Scenery - good
Location - Monument / Palmer Lake - west of I25
Parking - Pothead Corner (Schilling Ave and Lindbergh Rd)
General Description - This is the good stuff. A short loop through the Monument Preserve, consisting of fire road, doubletrack, and singletrack. Wander through the nice ponderosa pine and gambel oak forest. Mostly non-technical, with some loose sand, rock water bars, some roots, and one rock ramp thrown in for good measure. Loads of more technical riding around the area if you want to challenge yourself or come back w/ your mountain bike. Explore and have fun. Easy to lose the trail, but hard to get truly lost.
Head west from the trailhead past the green gate.
Continue to the Memorial Grove, where the road winds up and right.
Continue til you can veer left up the skinnier trail (Wishy Washy).
If you hit a gate, you've gone slightly too far.
Continue up Wishy Washy til you can veer left, then right, taking you up to Mt Herman Rd.
Near the corner of Mt Herman Rd and Red Rocks Dr, take the singletrack that heads north.
Take a right at the sign for the Watkins Memorial Trail.
Head down hill on the twisty singletrack through scrub oak.
Keep an eye out for the downhill rock ramp, which is totally rollable on a gravel bike.
Shortly after this keep left and continue 'til you hit the left turn into the Maze.
Take this left and wind through the rows of trees, eventually popping out into a more open area.
Head east and take a right at the 3rd row of giant trees.
Head over to MHR and cross into the Preserve on the dirt road heading towards the Hot Shots area.
At the gate (sometimes closed) across the road, take a right at the singletrack and head West.
At Monument Rock and the small pond, head south and re-cross the same dirt road.
Bend left and ride this singletrack through the meadows all the way back to Nursery Rd.
Take a right on Nursery, stay right on Schilling, and arrive back at the trailhead.
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