If South Central Colorado is your next destination for an ATV ride, check out The La Garita Creek Trail, it's a great place to ride your ATV!
This trail is part of the Rio Grand National Forest. You will need to register your ATV prior to riding with the Ranger's office and get a permit that must be in plain sight on your ATV. The Rangers will also do a light inspection of your ATV and make sure that you have your spark arrestor and muffler installed correctly on your ATV.
This is a relatively short ATV trail as it is only about 11-miles long and the riding season is from spring through fall. Snow is a great possibility during the early and late part of the riding season and if you have never drove your ATV across snow before, have someone show you the ropes because as with all terrains, there are special nuances to handling your ATV on snowy roads and trails.
La Garita Creek ATV Trails have a rating of difficult and the trails do not get a lot of traffic except during hunting season. Be aware when you are riding your ATV that these are multi-use trails and your likelihood of encountering other ATV riders, foot traffic and horseback riders is possible. Turn off and park your ATV when a horse is approaching, horses may or may not be spooked by ATVs, you have no way of knowing so err on the side of caution.
At the present, this ATV trail goes through private property. Be sure to ask permission of the property owners before you ride your ATV across their land. In the near future, plans are underway to relocate portions of this ATV trail around the privately owned land areas to eliminate this problem for ATV riders. The trail goes through many types of terrain ranging from very easy to navigate on your ATV to downright difficult.
This short, challenging ride at La Garita Creek is a great challenging ride for most experienced ATVers, but if you're looking for a new trail to conquer, this should be your next destination.
