Mud Lake and Caribou Ranch
LocationMud Lake Trailer Parking:
2034 Co Rd 126, Nederland, CO 80466 |
WebsiteMud Lake
Caribou Ranch
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PDF Map
Trail Map
Trailer Parking
On the Mud Lake website it says there is room for 5 trailers to park. There is no trailer parking at Caribou Ranch. When we arrived for our ride there was a truck parked in the trailer parking and an SUV leaving that had parked in the trailer parking. We arrived at 11am on a Sunday but it might be a good idea to get there earlier if you go on a weekend. When we came back from our ride there were FIVE trailers crammed into the parking spots and lined up on the straight away. Luckily we caught the other riders before they started out because one of their trailers was blocking me in. I recommend doing this ride in the off season or during the week to make sure you have a place to park. I also parked facing the wrong direction. A volunteer mounted ranger told me you are supposed to pull all the way around the circle and park facing inward so your truck nose is toward the bottom of the picture. This is because the road is one-way. I parked the opposite way but had no problems leaving the parking lot once I was no longer blocked in.
Park FeesFree.
WaterNo spigot.
MountingNo obvious table or rock. Mounted from the ground.
FootingWonderful sand/gravel footing for most of the trail. There is a section of the trail we chose that was rockier but very doable.
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BathroomsYes, permanent potties. There is a bathroom at the Mud Lake and Caribou Ranch trail-head. There is no trailer parking at the Caribou Ranch trail-head.
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Horse Hazards
No bikers are allowed on the Caribou Ranch trails!! This is a big deal if you have a spooky horse. You do need to ride through the Mud lake trails to get to the Caribou Ranch trails. We did cross one very long bridge. It was fairly rocky at parts. Lots of children and people walking with walking sticks.
Chosen Trail
We started out on the north-west trail from the parking lot that took us to the Caribou Ranch Link trail. We walked through the Caribou Ranch parking lot by crossing a small road then got onto the DeLonde trail. Reaching the first fork we did the Blue Bird Loop heading counter-clockwise going right first. We did a short out and back to see the old mining cabin then headed back down the Blue Bird Loop going right or counter-clockwise. We rode for about 2 hrs and covered around 6 miles.
Right from the beginning the trail was easy and wonderful, winding through the pine trees and giving us beautiful views. The blue diamonds let us know we were on the trail. The trail was well marked with signs at every fork.
The Aspens were changing colors. The bridge was quite beautiful between the aspens. All of our horses did the bridge without a problem.
We kept winding in and out of the pine trees.
We crossed a beautiful meadow.
And hooked up with the Blue Bird Loop trail. At the first fork we turned right to go counter-clockwise. Really nice clear trail markers.
We stopped to look at the homestead.
The trail got a little rockier after passing the homestead, everyone else went a little slower up the rocks but Sam charged full speed ahead.
We did a short out and back that forked north to the right of Blue Bird Loop to see the old mining cabin. Cathy said you can walk from here to a waterfall, horses were not allowed past this point.
The rest of the Blue Bird Loop was easy and stunning!
Trail Experience
This was a wonderful trail! It was horse friendly, clearly marked and not too difficult. It was so beautiful and we picked a great day in September with the temperature in the 70s to do this trail. It was a windy day, 12-20 mph winds, but we rode between the pine trees and were pretty comfortable despite the weather.
Trail Videos
Caribou Trail Link
DeLonde Trail
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Caribou Trail Link
Blue Bird Trail
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Rating
Moderately Easy. Wonderful trail! This may be in my top 5 trail-rides. We rode in late September and the Aspens were changing colors. Very mild horse hazards, mostly good footing, well marked trail signs. I may have trotted more if I was riding by myself but my gaited companions were able to keep up with Sam's big walk.