Hermosa Creek Trail, San Juan National Forest
The entry to the trail runs along the edge of this large and beautiful meadow.
Mountain Biking the Hermosa Creek Trail in Durango
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For a longer ride, this trail can be ridden as an out-and-back starting from the Lower Hermosa Trailhead.
In many locations the trail narrowly fits between the sheer rock wall outcroppings and the creek.
Nestled below a lush canopy of spruce, pine and cedar trees is a thick understory of bright grasses and shrubs.
The meadow has a rocky ledge that offers refuge for many animals.
The porous rock outcroppings offer a perfect habitat for many Yellow-Bellied Marmots, where they can hide, forage and socialize.
Can you spot the Coyote in this photo (center frame in front of bush)? If it hadn’t been moving we would never have seen it.
The Hermosa Creek Trail follows alongside Hermosa Creek for the majority of the 24-mile ride.
This trail never lets up. You are constantly weaving between boulders, navigating through drainages, and managing the exposure along this singletrack trail.
Riding through a gateway of boulders covered with New Mexico Rim-Disk Lichen.
With the recent rainfall, the trail was quite muddy. By the end of the ride we were covered head to toe.
Without a doubt, this Warted Giant Puffball mushroom is the largest shroom we have ever seen!
Beneath the spruce, pine and cedar trees is a thick understory of bright grasses and shrubs.
