Review: I have just started back in mountain biking after a 12 year hiatus and I have recently ridden Ute Valley as well as Red Rocks and I will say that for me this was one of the most fun rides I have been on in a ling time. Being 20 pounds overweight I have a hard time with some of the hills - while I did have to walk a few times, the walks were short and did not distract form the ride in any way. This will be my marker for performance this summer - I will ride this trail clean and quickly in no time!

I parked in the lower parking lot and rode; N. Zook > Medicine Wheel > S. Blackmer (up) > N. Blackmer (down) > S. Zook > back to Parking

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/275267212

I encountered lots of sweeping single-track, nice soft dirt, rock gardens, good climbs, sweet downhills, challenging technical sections and lots of trees. I did not see many hikers despite that it was 60° out. Being winter here in Colorado, I did run into a lot of packed snow on the North facing slopes - but very packed and easy to ride. Also, there was a lot of mud form the snow that was melting; I only had to bounce my bike once to get it off - most of the time it just came off on it's own.

Medicine Wheel - this is a very technical rocky section (basketballs to boulders in size) and I rode it up form North to South - an obvious mistake - this trail was designed to be ridden down form South to North. It parallels N. Zook - so if you are with less experienced riders, you can take this fun 1/2 mile detour while they follow Zook and meet you at the intersection.

I did get a rear flat about 3.75 miles in, don't know why yet, but since my son had my pump I had to walk the last mile out.

Details:
4.8 miles
1:13 minutes (including the walk)
892 total elevation gain
Max Elevation 6,636 ft

Review: Cheyenne Mountain State Park offers a multitude of different mountain biking experiences. There are trails that offer a challenging experience regardless of your riding experience. There are multiple trails that can be linked together to offer rides that range from 2 miles to 20 miles. I have ridden over 300 miles in the park and continue to find different ways to change up my rides.

Review: I only rode Sundace trail and then rode up Talon and then did Talon South. Sundance trail was pretty easy climb, then hitting Talon, its almost all climbing for about 1.5 miles. Talon is not to technical, just the climbing that makes it tough. If you want a good work out take Talon all the way up and then do the Talon South/North loops. The downhill coming back down Talon was pretty fun too. The facilities at the Park were very clean and well maintained. I would def go back and camp at this park.

Review: Cheyenne Mountain State Park offers trails for every level of rider. There are countless miles of well maintained trails and beautiful views. They have everything from steep bouldered trails to light groomed family paths. I have recorded over 300 miles on the trails over in the park and continue to find new challenges each time i go out.

Review: Parking/trail access (unless you ride from outside the park) costs $7/visit or you can buy a $70 pass that gets you into all CO State Parks for a year. (Prices current as of April 2012). In the last two months I've ridden every trail in CMSP. My favorite ride that takes about 45 minutes (7.25 miles) starts at the visitor center. Take Coyote Run>Soaring Kestrel>Bobcat Way>Acorn Alley, then stay straight on the road heading south for about .1 mile and there's a wide trail on the right. Take that down to Boulder Run and make a right. Take Boulder Run to Blackmere Loop and do Blackmere counter clockwise. Once you're done with the Blackmere Loop, retrace your route down to the visitor center. Blackmere Loop has some nice technical parts; 99% of the trail is "rideable." Going counter clockwise you get about 2.5 miles of flowing downhill, my favorite part of the loop. Bobcat Way and Soaring Kestrel is a fun downhill as well, not technical except for some spots that are mostly toward the bottom. Boulder Run and Coyote Run are fun trails with some challenging technical spots, mostly rocks, but very rideable for the average mountain biker. The only trail I avoid completely is Medicine Wheel. For me, it's 70% not "rideable." I don't care for Cougar's Shadow as it has a lot of rocks and I have to hike about 1/3 of it, but it's a good place to challenge myself. It's a beautiful trail though and hiking it is great. The southwestern end of Talon will test your lungs and thighs on the way up. North Talon is a good thigh burner and somewhat rocky, but rideable and fun. South Talon (counter clockwise) is a nice flowing downhill once you get past the first .25 mile or so. The main Talon trail is a great downhill. Sundance and Zook Loop trails are great for beginners/kids. My 7 and 9 year old boys love these two trails. Zook Loop has some easy technical spots (rocks in the trail to navigate around) that are just enough to make it interesting and a challenge the beginner. Sundance is mostly 2-4' wide and not technical, but watch out for the loose gravel if you're going fast downhill, particularly on the south/east portion of Sundance. Trail map here: http://www.parks.state.co.us/SiteCollectionImages/parks/Parks/CheyenneMountain/CMSPTrailMap.pdf * Review edited 6/13/2012

* Review edited 6/13/2012

Review: I have ridden a ton of trails in the Springs, including every trail in the Falcon guide. This is my new favorite place to ride. The trails are twisty, fast singletrack. The technical sections are few, but that's alright sometimes. You will not be disappointed in riding this rollercoaster.

Similar Trail: Rampart Reservoir

Review: Talon to talon south to talon north. This is almost all climbing so a good warm up. Legs are now warm for technical. Jump on blackmere to cougar's shadow (going south). Skip first entrance to medicine wheel & take 2nd entrance. Once you give that a whirl, you will see what keeps mtb'ers coming back. Great place for training or skills rides. Also plenty of trail for beginners.

Similar Trail: Monarch Crest

Review: Great trails for all levels. You've got to climb to the higher trails in the park for more technical sections with narrower trails...unless you just want to do Medicine Wheel trail which is not far from the trailhead. The park staff does an excellent job of maintaining the trail systems.

Review: Great trail system. You can change your path from day to day. To save the $6, park at the Fort Carson 9/11 park, just down the road. The road leading to the park is a great warmup.

Review: There is some great stuff here if you know which trails to hit. If you're a beginner, you will love any of the lower trails. If you're an advance rider, be sure to hit Cougar's Shadow, Blackmer Loop, and Medicine Wheel. There are flowy rock moves on tight singletrack. A couple spots on Medicine Wheel require trials-like skills. This is great training if you're planning a trip to Fruita to hit Holy Cross or Moore Fun. Scenery is cool and there's lots of wildlife. It's well worth the fee in my estimation.

Similar Trail: Palmer Park, Ute Vally Park, anything in Cheyenne Canyon.

Review: I don't believe these trails were desinged by IMBA. As I recall, most of the trails were designed by Arrowhead Trails out of Salida with some work subbed out to Trail Arts in Colorado Springs. You are probably thinking of the less than two miles of trails that were designed and constructed by the Medicine Wheel bike club. In any case, I also feel that for biking these trails are not high on my list of places worth driving to. In fact I will typically drive past Cheyenne Mountain State Park on my way to South Lake Pueblo State Park where there are trails that truly were built for bikers.

Review: i actually havent ridden this trail system yet but i wanted to add that in the description the OP said that these trails were not made with the mtn. biker in mind when in actuality the trails were designed by IMBA. heres a link that makes me think IMBA had a part in the design of the trails http://www.imba.com/trailsolutions/services/case_studies/cheyenne_mountain.html

* Review edited 4/20/2010

Review: This is a convenient park for me since I work at Fort Carson. Great ride just to ride. The back south loop is worth riding. Try it both directions. I will grab a trail map tomorrow and post it.

Review: This is a good park to hit when higher trails have snow cover, but the lower areas are melted off. I enjoyed riding here shortly after it opened up, but have not been back because of the drive and fee. If you are at Ft. Carson, then this place would make a great after work ride. Far better than those on post. If you are just visiting town, or live on the North end, then there are better/equally good options closer.

Similar Trail: Fox Run Park; Black Forest

Review: Nice groomed trails. upper back section has some fun trails. Watch out for rabbits in the lower area. They were everywhere digging burrows along the trails. I almost hit one. There was a bear in the park in june. Most of the facilities are still under construction so next summer (2009)im sure this place will be crowded. More trash/more bears. Take a friend make it $3 a piece